To Turn the World Around

A stirring exploration of abolitionist thought and Black feminism to articulate a transformative theory of repairAmid the relentless news of ICE raids, Supreme Court rulings that dismantle our civil rights, and egregious violations of democratic norms, people in the United States are struggling to visualize an actionable path forward. In To Turn the World Around, Ali Aslam proposes a transformative approach that pairs inner healing work with collective external engagement challenging oppressive forces. To actualize W. E. B. DuBois's concept of abolition democracy, drawing from Black sociality grounded in the refusal of white institutions, Aslam advocates for not working within a broken system nor fleeing it, or merely enduring injustice, and instead offers combined personal healing and embodied action.Aslam's vision of transformative selfhood centers healing justice, self and mutual aid, and a somatic approach informed by Black women's history of navigating bodily dispossession and violations of autonomy and personhood. Simultaneously a tool of personal survival, political refusal, and collective care, inner work incubates new forms of resistance and prepares participants to engage with the outer work of abolition. The movements that rise from the foundation of this inner work are collaborative and experimental, a collective "figuring out" that creates holistic approaches to abolition that transcend conventional politics.Reimagining inner work as resistance that is ongoing, expansive, and relational, To Turn the World Around offers a stirring framework for the creation of transformational movements. Aslam's unique theory of repair carefully bridges constituencies, acknowledging the politics of refusal while embracing the hopefulness of sociality.Retail e-book files for this title are screen-reader friendly.