An argument becomes an organizing framework
Davis helped convene the 1998 Berkeley conference of Critical Resistance . The program lists her on its organizing committee and a panel, using the prison industrial complex as a shared framework. (p.xii) [1] (printed pp.1–2,8) [7]
Assessment (moderate confidence): The shared agenda shows organizational use. Later campaign records are needed to judge its effects. (printed pp.1–2) [7]
Carrying critical theory into abolition
In her address on Marcuse 's legacy, Davis connected his work to the kind of conversations she sought at Critical Resistance. She wanted scholars, activists, artists and people in prison to work across the lines that usually kept them apart. She also used his argument about political language to explain her own abolition work. (pp.xii–xiv) [1]
The next question is practical: which later groups or public programs used these arguments, what did they change, and with what results? Critical Resistance's early program and Davis's own account establish a clear starting point for that investigation. (pp.xii–xiv) [1]