Open AccessFeminist Abolitionist Nursing
Author(s) -
Martha Paynter,
Keisha Jefferies,
Leah Carrier,
Lorie S. Goshin
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
advances in nursing science
Language(s) - Uncategorized
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.574
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 1550-5014
pISSN - 0161-9268
DOI - 10.1097/ans.0000000000000385
Subject(s) - abolitionism , racism , oppression , sociology , state (computer science) , prison reform , criminology , police brutality , prison , nursing , political science , gender studies , law , medicine , politics , algorithm , computer science
The converging crises of COVID-19 and racist state violence in 2020 shifted public discourse about marginalization, public health, and racism in unprecedented ways. Nursing responded to the pandemic with heroic commitment and new politicization. But public engagement with systemic racism is forcing a reckoning in nursing. The profession has its own history of racism and of alliance with systems of state control with which to contend. In this article, we argue nursing must adopt an ethics of abolitionism to realize its goals for health and justice. Abolitionism theorizes that policing and prison systems, originating from systems of enslavement and colonial rule, continue to function as originally intended, causing racial oppression and violence. The harms of these systems will not be resolved through their reform but through creation of entirely new approaches to community support. Nursing as a collective can contribute to abolitionist projects through advocacy, practice, and research.