No One Is Disposable: Towards Feminist Models of Transformative Justice

This article looks toward a future of prison abolition by arguing for feminist models of Transformative Justice (TJ), a strategy that responds to harm by aiming to transform the conditions that make violence possible. Autoethnographic reflections of the author’s experience volunteering with Circles of Support and Accountability (COSA), a TJ initiative based on friendship and accountability working to reintegrate people incarcerated for perpetrating sexualized violence back into communities, are combined with a critical analysis of the existing literature about TJ principles and initiatives. Insights from the author’s experience with COSA are examined for their potential use in a feminist TJ context. This article considers Philly Stands Up as an example of a more radical, grassroots TJ model, explores what examining this model in light of COSA’s techniques might suggest for a sustainable feminist TJ framework, and proposes several small steps forward for TJ movements to work toward a future in which no one is disposable.