Freedom Is a Constant Struggle

“It is essential to resist the depiction of history as the work of heroic individuals in order for people today to recognize their potential agency as a part of an ever-expanding community of struggle.”

This quote reflects an important recurring theme in Davis’s book of wariness of the capitalist concept of individualism. Davis repeatedly warns of sanctifying single individuals at the risk of erasing the collective impact. Her warning here is significant in reminding people that we do not have to wait for a hero or single charismatic leader to fight for freedom. Each person has the ability to be a part of a collective struggle.

“The soaring numbers of people behind bars all over the world and the increasing profitability of the means of holding them captive is one of the most dramatic examples of the destructive tendencies of global capitalism.”

While Davis focuses on capitalist individualism as a dangerous way of thinking, she also cites mass incarceration and the prison-industrial complex as the main symbol in her sharp criticism of global capitalism. To Davis, the exponential rise in the number of people incarcerated in recent decades is a result of a failing, not successful, system, which she attributes to the profit-driven nature of the prison-industrial complex due to capitalism. Davis envisions a future based on abolitionist theories that does not prioritize profits over people.