On Property

Description

Nominated for the Heritage Toronto Book Award Longlisted for the Toronto Book AwardsAGlobe and MailBook of the YearACBC BooksBest Canadian Nonfiction of 2021From plantation rebellion to prison labours super-exploitation, Walcott examines the relationship between policing and property.That a man can lose his life for passing a fake $20 bill when we know our economies are flush with fake money says something damning about the way weve organized society. Yet the intensity of the calls to abolish the police after George Floyds death surprised almost everyone. What, exactly, does abolition mean? How did we get here? And what does property have to do with it? InOn Property, Rinaldo Walcott explores the long shadow cast by slaverys afterlife and shows how present-day abolitionists continue the work of their forebears in service of an imaginative, creative philosophy that ensures freedom and equality for all. Thoughtful, wide-ranging, compassionate, and profound,On Propertymakes an urgent plea for a new ethics of care.Praise forOn PropertyMasterful. A powerful tract Rinaldo Walcotts gift is that he makes what seems preposterous to most seem like common sense: abolish property as a completion of abolishing slavery as a means to solving the savagery of modern policing. A mad idea? Perhaps, but I found it hard to argue with his logic. As the Rastafari would say: bun Babylon!Globe and MailA clear-eyed assessment of the links between property, policing, and the subjugation of Black people Walcotts analysis of the ways in which white supremacy is baked into the legal systems of Canada and the U.S. is stimulating. Progressives will embrace this well-conceived call for change.Publishers Weekly[A]n eye-opening sequence of ideas in coolly passionate prose.Mark Abley,The WalrusRunning a brief but far-reaching and punchy 96 pages,On Propertyhas an absolute certainty of purpose: calling for the abolition of private property ownership [If] statements such as the problem of property is resolved through its removal or calls to abolish everything can make some people quake, when Walcotts pamphlet argues for the human ability to reconsider and rebuild societal structures, the stances come across as sensible and, better yet, doable.Toronto StarOn Propertyis a must-read not only for those already responsive to the call of abolition but also perhaps more importantly for those who are not.University of Toronto QuarterlyRinaldo Walcott locates his contribution to the Field Notes series on current issues,On Property, in the present political moment, while using historical references and events to argue for the abolition of police and property Walcott concludes his case by asking for a new ethics of care and economy that does not keep feeding into the incarceration system, a system rigged to continue Black suffering It is a question we must ask ourselves after reflecting on the ways in which we, too, are complicit.Quill & QuireUrgent, far-reaching and with a profound generosity of care, the wisdom inOn Propertyis absolute. We cannot afford to ignore or defer its teachings. Now is the time for us-collectively-to take up the challenge in this undeniable gift of a book.Canisia Lubrin, author ofThe DyzgraphxstandVoodoo HypothesisProvocative and persuasive. Rinaldo Walcotts insightful unmasking of the historic baggage associated with private property challenges us to face up to what might be the source of our most pressing social problems.Cecil Foster, author ofThey Call Me George: The Untold Story of Black Train Porters and the Birth of Modern CanadaRinaldo Walcott is one of the most renowned and dynamic articulators of the Black radical tradition. His writings are essential for anyone seeking deeper engagement with the social and political movements urgently afoot today.David Chariandy, author ofBrotherandIve Been Meaning to Tell YouWritten with a thoughtful tone and divided into three primary sections, this slim volume packs a punch without leaving readers fatigued. Walcotts main argument is that abolition is not possible without the elimination of our societys idea of property as we know it. He thoroughly explains how he came to this conclusion, taking readers on a historical field trip through slavery, policing, and uprisings around the world Our only hope? That which was made can be unmade, and that which was learned can be unlearned.Mary Wahlmeier Bracciano, The Raven Bookstore (Lawrence, KS)Praise for Rinaldo WalcottEssential reading. From its first paragraphs Rinaldo WalcottsThe Long Emancipationshifts the axis of thought about Black freedom. The astonishing and devastating idea at the center of this book lays out the condition of Black being in the Americas as existing, still, in a state of juridical unfreedom. Once that ideas recalibrating weight and urgency strike you, you must think again where analysis and theory begin. You must begin again.Dionne Brand, poet, novelist, essayistInThe Long EmancipationRinaldo Walcott has opened up whole new avenues for thinking about the causes and conditions, the global logics of unfreedom that continue to haunt and imperil Black lives. This rich collection of provocations challenges us to consider the terms and possibilities of living beyond the death zones and extractive economies of capitalism; it invites us to see and feel the audacious eruptions of a blackness exceeding these limitsmoving and struggling toward freedom.Deborah E. McDowell, University of VirginiaEach chapter ofBlackLifecarefully weaves together analyses of history, philosophy, policy, art, and activism to create a fuller picture of Black Canadian existence.Briarpatch MagazineBlack Life: Post-BLM and the Struggle For Freedomis a short volume, but one of the most important intellectual interventions to emerge in Canada in recent years. It ought to be required reading in Canadian Studies and other social science and arts courses at both secondary and post-secondary levels across the country. Above all, it ought to be taken seriously by thoseespecially white Canadianswith the ability to apply its insights in public policy and private lives alike.Rhea Rollmann atPopMatters