Gwenola Ricordeau: ‘Dominant feminism remains fundamentally carceral’

On 23 March 2023, a petition was launched calling for the dissolution of the BRAV-M, this motorized police unit whose violence was illustrated during the latest demonstrations against the pension reform. ” Far from ensuring a return to peace, his action contributes to increasing tensions, including vis-à-vis the police. ” reads the text which today collects more than 250,000 signatures. The rapporteur of the file must share, this Wednesday 5 April, his decision to submit (or not) the petition to parliamentary scrutiny. Essential act of citizen resistance or just a drop in the ocean of a deeply unequal system? Analysis with Gwenola Ricordeau, associate professor of criminal justice at California State University, Chico, criminal abolitionist activist and author of several books on the criminal justice system (For all of them. women against prison ; Crimes and penalties. Thinking about penal abolitionism ; 1312 reasons to abolish the police).

Interview with Gwenola Ricordeau, author of “ 1312 reasons to abolish the police” (ED. LUX)

To miss. On the same day of the petition, the The CNCDH has released a report warning of the explosion of police violence during the spontaneous demonstrations following the appeal to 49.3 to get the pension reform approved by the Assembly. Should we be concerned about this increase?

Gwenola Ricordeau. I understand the interest there might be in having this type of organization producing this type of report. But this is obviously not a new phenomenon and only these reports ” discover “What the movements against police violence, especially in popular neighborhoods, have been denouncing for a very long time. The news is regularly peppered with debates about police killings or state violence.

The murder of George Floyd in the United States was followed by a flood of testimony from people who seemed to know about police racism and the fact that police kill. But this ” scandalous discovery in the face of police actions is part of a well-tested media-political cycle.

What is this cycle about?

It can be compared to the cycle of domestic violence. In many ways, we find the same dynamics of abuse as the denial of victimization ” (To say ” police violence does not exist ”) and the reversal of guilt. We are currently in this phase in France. Emmanuel Macron underlines the responsibility of the people who would be ” come to war in Sainte Soline. The government and the entire reactionary camp attribute the very high number of seriously injured to the demonstrators, as if ” in the end it was their fault “. We also observe forms of denial on the part of victims (“ S was stuck “) as if what happened to them was deserved.

This is typically what abusers and perpetrators of domestic violence do. After this stage comes the stage of false promises. We talk about reform and change, when really it’s just an eternal restart. These promises of reform serve to change nothing and to maintain dependence on this system.

How to exit?

I put myself in a current called penal abolitionism. It is a current of ideas, but also a political movement with struggles in favor of the abolition of the penal system, and therefore of institutions such as prison and the police. Abolitionism starts from the observation that the latter do not work compared to what they should do. If we expect the police to reduce the level of crime, to fight what we now call ” crime », then he does not fulfill his missions. On the other hand, it works for many other things, starting with maintaining a deeply cruel and unequal social order.

We, abolitionists, question the legitimacy of the police institution. We think it is not legitimate because it is maintained by always promising to reform, to do better. But, in our view, it is not reformable. We can’t improve it. We are often accused of being utopian, but we think that, on the contrary, the belief that the police can serve our security is utopian.

Then there is the question of strategy. How to break? Not all abolitionists agree on how to proceed. For some currents it is necessary first to attack the police, in an insurrectionist perspective, of direct confrontation. Others wish to create police-free living spaces, alternatives that would make the police obsolete. For still others it is necessary to proceed step by step, starting from the weakening of the police institution. It is in this tactic that the United States claims in favor of ” Defund The Police (definance the police, in French), for example.

Is the petition against Brav-M part of this effort?

In fact, we can see this kind of initiative as a way to weaken the police institution. But, to assess whether this breakup would be a real victory, we need to look at how it is achieved. Is it a concession given, at a certain point, by the power in place? The police will remain racist and will continue to kill. This type of maneuver is a usual way of reformism to present what would be improvements, but which, in reality, change absolutely nothing in the institution itself. AND, it is known that disbanded forces are usually replaced by other police forces…

However, there may still be a tactical interest in calling for the dissolution of the BAC or BRAV-M, for reasons related to mobilization, broadening the struggle, spreading a radical critique of the police.

We observe the same some advanced?

Indeed, in recent years, I think that in the French feminist space there have been more questions, more challenges to the penal system. There are questions that didn’t exist five years ago, which are also the result of dissatisfaction with #MeToo. Of course, #MeToo has allowed an outlet, but it has also led to its share of injunctions, complaints, and recourse to the criminal justice system. This dissatisfaction raises important questions, even if mainstream feminism remains fundamentally a prison feminism, i.e. a feminism that argues for better policing, better training, etc.

However, punishment does not resolve the domination relationship. For example, punishing perpetrators of violence against women will not end patriarchy or rape culture. Here’s why in my book I invite you to “deflect” feminism, like other progressive struggles. Because I don’t think the police can contribute to the advancement of our struggles.