Transformative Justice
Books that provide solutions to navigating and resolving harm without / in opposition to the presence of carcerality (i.e. the interconnected systems of police, prisons, criminalization, punishment, surveillance, etc). In other words, it is a form of abolition + decolonization in practice re: accountability.
As an introduction, here is a primer to transformative justice.
Feedback and recommendations welcome!
created by literatedyke
last updated August, 2026
Comments
Disclaimer #2: After seeing new information related to Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha perpetuating emotional abuse, fraud, and financial as well as intellectual theft come to light from survivors which I learned here from @bellaklatan, @keyaunna, and @EsotericHoe, I wanted to make a disclaimer and gauge thoughts about whether or not I should keep the books they co-edited on this list.
While my pinned comment makes clear that this list isn't meant to provide ideal models of transformative justice that exist in a vacuum, I'm concerned that keeping the books this person co-edited might still encourage and direct people to consume them as models to follow when this person has vehemently perpetuated the same things the book subjects are supposed to be in opposition to; thus, I don't believe they'd be a credible source to rely on for learning more about transformative justice – does that change the fact that the books they co-edited do provide alternative, anti-carceral solutions to harm that could be informative and expanded from? Additionally, the question of how removing the books might impact their co-authors/editors who may not condone their behavior is something to take into consideration. Supporting and believing survivors is paramount regardless and if keeping their books on this list would be considered as upholding their abuser's platform, then I believe the books should be removed and can do so. I'd appreciate feedback on this if there's capacity, especially from other survivors, but no pressure. Take care, everyone!
I think I'd rather maintain giving credit and seeking ideas from their co-editors etc, than eliminating resources because they're associated, especially in the light of transformative / non-putative justice. Others should not be cut off in conjunction with them because Lakshmi's name is also there. I believe in people's ability to be critical and thoughtful readers! However, that's just my one opinion.
Have been thinking about this too, about co-editors that have invited them and continue to platform them. I've made the decision to personally remove this author's books from my TBR and removing ratings and reviews from the couple of titles I've read by them. And I think for the time being, I might engage less with books that have invited them on as a co-author or collaborator.
This is because I don't know to what extent the visible, resourced, and platformed disability and transformative justice activists, authors, and editors have enabled their abuses, especially the identity theft of pretending to be poor and bipoc, by giving this author a platform for all these years (unless there are concrete statements to acknowledge and clarify this that I'm not aware of, plz correct me if so).
I want to keep learning about transformative justice practices, and I know from personal experiences to never pedastalize anyone, but celebrity culture has seeped into activism which had made it hard to learn from others outside of access to collective grassroots efforts. I want to learn from those who are, even with messes and mistakes, truly working to embody transformation and justice and safety. And that might mean reshuffling my TBRs, it might mean keeping some of these anthologies on my shelves and just skipping this author's contributions – maybe quietly wondering who's supporting them and who's supporting their victims. Sigh. Idk honestly, but I'll keep questioning and observing and making sure I'm not "following" any one person or network's ideology so I can keep learning and not get stuck on biases.
I'll respect whatever decision you choose for this list. Also, thank you for making this list! đź’š
The parasocial aspect of this definitely complicates how people who do not know any of the people involved personally can or should move forward with this new and limited information; what I do know is that these behaviors don't begin nor end with Piepzna-Samarasinha and shouldn't be framed as such. 100% on not putting anyone on a pedestal and the entrenchment of celebrity culture which is dehumanizing on all fronts; I think this is a big reason why it's so common for many public reactions to situations like this to fall back to emphasis on the individual as a monster and carcerality as "justice" including in supposedly 'progressive' spaces – they don't actually see the humanity of all people involved and it becomes some kind of spectacle and symbol of moral posturing and punishment. I think this makes the positions of all people involved worse, including for those on the 'audience' side of the parasocial coin.
Accountability for the survivors directly involved may be a clear possibility that they and Piepzna-Samarasinha can explore, but considering this is visible on a public scale now, what about those who witness this and may be a survivor of the same thing in a different circumstance? What would Piepzna-Samarasinha's accountability to them look like and/or to their readers? Their harm does ripple outward so there is that level of responsibility, but at the same time, the existence of the harm didn't only first begin in them either. In the statement, the survivors also say they've tried to have accountability processes with Piepzna-Samarasinha in the past that were rejected. To your point about collaborators that may have enabled their behaviors throughout the years, we don't know the degrees of that or who or when that might've happened – to whom is that information owed? The web of harm is broad and people's role in that is also not absolute, fixed, or binary. Thank you for your thoughtful response, by the way! :)
Appreciate these reflections and points of consideration! I'm in agreement with what you shared and the queries you brought up, will be keeping them in mind to guide how I choose to engage with the texts and teachings from visible/popular activist networks. It seems like the systemic platforming of perpetrators and dimissal of under-visible, victimized, and under-privileged voices is something that happens in anything that becomes an industry. Accountability on a structural level is needed, but isn't yet in practice.
On a personal note, this author pretending to be from a marginalized bipoc community is unforgivable theft of platform, identity, and resources. Since there's documentation in the statements that the author has already rejected accountability and repair requests, that just added to the reparations needed from this person. I'm heartbroken tbh, but will keep learning.
Disclaimer: this list and these books are not meant to be a definitive "guide" to transformative justice as a practice and lens; it's moreso an introduction, exploration, and collection of books written on this topic.
I wanted to be clear about this because from my own experience in doing political education work (and just living lol), these topics and practices are very expansive and not one-size-fits-all. I also have not read all the books listed.
If it would be helpful for me to add non-book resources on transformative justice here in the comment section too, that's something I can work on!
loooove!!
ooh i love this list!! thank you for putting it together đź’—
Love this!! Not a recommendation necessarily because I haven’t read it yet, but one I’m excited to read soon is Until We Reckon by Danielle Sered
Thanks! That sounds cool, btw! If/when you read it, I'd love to hear what you think and if you do recommend it, I can add it to the list :)
Oh I can’t wait to dive into these books! I’ve been struggling with the school to prison pipeline and the South’s (US southeast’s) hyper-punitive approach to juvenile crime, so the concept of transformative justice is quite alluring!
I hope the list is helpful for you! :) I remember We Do This 'Til We Free Us by Mariame Kaba (in this list) has at least one chapter dedicated to that topic. A good pairing that's also relevant there is @wednesdaymourning's list on the school-to-prison pipeline here
I'll definitely look into them! Thank you!
I love this approach and would love to learn more about it, I read Are Prisons Obsolete? not too long ago and I have been looking for similar resources since! Excellent list
Oh yay, I'm glad this is helpful for you then! I actually didn't expect many people here to come across this list or find this lens to be very new to them, but I'm appreciative that it's useful in that way :) Would you like any further introductory resources to transformative justice that are not books? If not, I totally respect that and no pressure!
I would be especially interested in learning more about alternatives to the prison system. Restorative justice in particular was something that caught my attention in Are Prisons Obsolete? and that I had never heard of before. I have already saved a few Youtube videos on the topic but feel free to share if you have any other resources!
Sorry for not having seen this earlier! I will try and curate some resources for you when I get a chance!
No worries, and no pressure!
