Death Panel Teaser - The Anti-State State w/ Ruth Wilson Gilmore and Craig Gilmore (01/26/26)
Jan 26, 2026
Ruth Wilson Gilmore, a leading prison abolition scholar and author, and Craig Gilmore, organizer and researcher in prison abolition, discuss the idea of the “anti-state state.” They explore how the state shifts from welfare to policing, how institutions adopt carceral logics, and why this reorganization matters now. Short, sharp conversations on austerity, institutional change, and carceral expansion.
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State That Shrinks By Growing Force
- The anti-state state expands coercive power while rhetorically promising smaller government.
- It divests social provision even as it builds policing and carceral infrastructure.
Ask The Three Strategic Questions
- Ask 'Why this? Why here? Why now?' to understand state projects and target organizing.
- Use historical study to revise present strategies based on new senses of the past.
Neoliberal Labels Hide Reorganization
- Labeling the moment 'neoliberal' or 'state retreat' misses deliberate reorganization.
- The anti-state state reveals how leaders preserve power while discarding social supports.
