Session 6:

Abolish Crime and Intent:

its social construction and roots

Thursday 15 April 2021 ~ 7:55 - 8:45pm Pacific

Recording available here (32 mins)

Punishment, Retribution, and Revenge: A Buddhist Approach

Karsten J. Struhl

In this talk, I will argue that from a Buddhist perspective there is no justification for punishment. My main focus will be on the retributive justification of punishment, and I will attempt to demonstrate precisely why this justification is incompatible with a Buddhist perspective. I will argue first that it is impossible to separate the retributive idea of justice from the reactive emotions, specifically the desire to retaliate and to seek revenge; and second, that the desire to retaliate is not only based on an illusion of self but is also a fundamental impediment to the development of Buddhist compassion. I will, however, consider and argue against several possible attempts to justify some form of Buddhist retributivism – that the idea of karma entails retributive punishment, that Buddhist forms of compatibilism entail that persons are morally responsible (and may therefore deserve punishment) at the level of conventional truth, and that, short of enlightenment, it is impossible to extinguish the reactive emotions. In my analysis, I will also explore the implications of an early Buddhist sutta about the serial killer Angulimala, and I will consider one contemporary attempt to retell the story and its implications for the criminal justice system and for the war on terrorism. Finally, I will briefly discuss the deterrence and rehabilitative justifications for punishment, and, in opposition to some contemporary Buddhist thinkers, I argue that it is unlikely that Buddhism could be compatible with either of these justifications, and I consider some alternatives to punishment which Buddhism could endorse.

Karsten J. Struhl teaches political philosophy and cross-cultural philosophy at the New School for Public Engagement. Until very recently, he taught for many years at John Jay College of Criminal Justice (CUNY). In addition, he has taught in a number of adult education programs and at the Queens House of Detention. He has co-edited Philosophy Now, Ethics in Perspective, The Philosophical Quest: A Cross-Cultural Reader, and When Young People Break the Law: Debating Issues on Punishment for Juveniles. He writes about Buddhist philosophy, human nature, problems of revenge and punishment, ecology, just war theory, global ethics, and Marxism. His articles have appeared in a variety of journals, books, and encyclopedias.

Vimukta Futurity and Abolition Praxis

Shweta Goswami

Pre-recording available (18:32 mins)

In this abolition gathering, I would like to introduce my community, my people are known as Vimukta, and their vision of abolition from their unique situatedness. In a literal sense, Vimukta means one who is free or set free. Vimkuta lives embody both the freedom and incarceration. These communities were self-governed nomadic, semi-nomadic tribes that rejected the graded hegemonic social system of caste. The vimuktas interacted with the sedentary communities for mutual trade of forest goods, herbs, cultivated crops, stories, esoteric visions, spiritual wisdom, etc. The Brahmanic law book ‘Manu Smriti’ and policy book ‘Arthshastra’, prescribe that the vimukta shall either befriended or treated as a threat to the king and his kingdom function on the principle of the caste system. During British colonial rule, through the Criminal Tribes act 1871, nearly 200 vimukta communities were branded as hereditary criminals. Post-Indian Independence The act was renamed, the Habitual Offenders act 1952 and continue to incarcerate vimukta in the name of reform and keeping the crime in check. I argue that the intention of the term ‘reform’ is anti-life-world; we indeed need to adopt abolition praxis that is rooted in the possibility of discourse. I draw inspiration from the legacy of ancestor Mahatma Jotiba Phule and Savitri Phule, supporting my argument.

In India, the script of the criminal justice system is written over the bodies of Vimukta. They are like the child of Omelas from Ursula Le Guin’s short story, whose well-being and futurity demand radical imagination of world where human thriving and justice is not conditional upon human oppression. A world where human-life and its interconnection with the other and the world is precious.

Shweta Goswami is a PhD candidate at the Centre for Philosophy, Jawaharlal Nehru University. In my work, I am using feminist phenomenology as a method to understand Sexual Violence and Violence based on caste. Through my organization, Nirmal Initiative Trust I have been exploring the ways to engage with the community and create space for discourse on the primary prevention of sexual violence that is focused on harm reduction and collective practice of accountability. I continue to nurture it with immense love and care.