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MMT and Abolition
What is the usefulness of an MMT perspective for defunding the police and abolition? Why should more MMT proponents explicitly advocate for abolition? We will explore these questions, considering how budgets are moral and political documents. Taking as a point of departure that abolition is not just about absence, but building presence, we will consider how both MMT and abolition involve clarifying our political horizons beyond a deficit approach.
Tamara K. Nopper is a sociologist, writer, and editor. She is the editor of We Do This ‘Til We Free Us: Abolitionist Organizing and Transforming Justice, a book of Mariame Kaba’s writings and interviews (Haymarket Books), researcher and writer of several data stories for Colin Kaepernick’s Abolition for the People online series and book, and guest editor of the recently published Critical Sociology forum “Race and Money.” Her current scholarship examines the credit scoring industry and the push for alternative data among elected officials, policy makers, and community advocates. She is a 2021-2022 Faculty Fellow at Data & Society as part of a cohort focused on race and technology,
an Affiliate of The Center for Critical Race and Digital Studies, a member of the inaugural cohort of the NYU Institute for Public Interest Technology, and a former Fellow at Data for Progress.