A deeply reported analysis of the connections between policing and capitalism, centering global lessons of revolt and resistance
Where do cops come from and what do they do? How did “modern policing” as we know it today come to be? What about the capitalist state necessitates policing? In this clear and comprehensive account of why and how the police—the linchpin of capitalism—function and exist, organizer and author brian bean presents a clear case for the abolition of policing and capitalism.
Their End Is Our Beginning traces the roots and development of policing in global capitalism through colonial rule, racist enslavement, and class oppression, along the way arguing how police power can be challenged and, ultimately, abolished. bean draws from extensive interviews with activists from Mexico to Ireland to Egypt, all of whom share compelling and knowledgeable perspectives on what it takes to—even if temporarily—take down the cops and build a thriving community-organized society, free from the police. The lessons they offer bring nuance to the meaning of “solidarity” and clarity to what “abolition” and “revolution” look like in practice.
Featuring illustrations by Chicago-based artist Charlie Aleck, Their End Is Our Beginning is an incendiary book that offers a socialist analysis of policing and the capitalist state, a vital discussion of the contours of abolition at large, and the revolutionary logic needed for liberation.
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"[A] passionate, clear-eyed analysis that tackles the roots of policing and boldly envisions a future without it....Bean’s position is crystal clear: the end of policing and the end of capitalism are intertwined, and from their end can emerge our beginning as a truly free society" —Hossam el-Hamalawy, Middle East Eye
"At a time when state violence is increasing incrementally, involving all forms of policing, this analysis of the police is clear, hard hitting, and eye opening. It is a Marxist analysis, which uses all the analytical rigor of almost two centuries of thinking, to answer a whole range of questions about the police that liberals have completely failed to come to terms with. The capitalist state is based on class violence, centered on policing in all its forms, from the military, to immigration police, to the cop on the beat. The racism of the whole police system is front and center here, based on the author’s long experience in Chicago." —Sidney L. Harring, author of Policing a Class Society
"brian bean lays out a brilliant, thoroughly persuasive case for why capitalism needs cops and why a genuine socialist future is impossible with police and prisons. Abolition is the first step toward liberation. So what are we waiting for?" —Robin D. G. Kelley, author of Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination
"Their End Is Our Beginning powerfully exposes the comprehensive entanglement of policing and capitalism, revealing how these two forces bolster, feed, and necessitate each other. With bold prose and deep research, brian bean chronicles these institutions' twin evolutions: a story of intertwined economic, structural, physical, and social violences. He also illuminates a path to a world without them. At a time when policing is wielded to enforce rising authoritarianism, this is the book we need." —Maya Schenwar, co-author of Prison by Any Other Name: The Harmful Consequences of Popular Reforms
"brian bean pulls no punches in this provocative and compelling analysis of the police as an institution. A new generation of activists, suspicious of 'reform' and inspired by the ideas of abolition, will find big ideas here about the origins of the police and what it means to imagine a world without them." —Brian Jones, author, Black History Is for Everyone
"Five years after Minneapolis shook the world, political and economic elites are unified around a single message: we were wrong. Wrong to demand abolition, wrong to suggest that communities can take care of themselves, wrong to imagine alternatives to racist fear, capitalist greed, and colonial genocide. But brian bean is here to remind us that they are the ones who are wrong: the police are little more than glorified guardians of whiteness and wealth, and they will be the first to go when these twin systems come crashing down." —Geo Maher, Coordinator of the WEB Du Bois Movement School for Abolition & Reconstruction, and author of A World Without Police
"Think the movement for police abolition is over? Think again. In this bold and uplifting work, brian bean shares inspiring examples of people who managed their communities after driving out the police. And he reminds us that the role of police is not to prevent crime but to defend capitalism. Their End is Our Beginning: Cops, Capitalism, and Abolition is a much-needed breath of hope as we blaze our path to a better world." —David McNally, author of Global Slump: The Economics and Politics of Crisis and Resistance
"brian bean is NOT afraid! With unapologetic determination and clarity, Their End is Our Beginning pulls no punches in making the case for the abolition of police and prisons. His book should be considered a critical tool in the long struggle to think, talk and act on our own terms." —David Stovall, author of Engineered Conflict
"With compelling prose and beautiful images, The End is Our Beginning lays out the clear and convincing evidence that any path to real social justice requires eliminating the roadblock of police power." —Alex S. Vitale, author of The End of Policing
"Their End is Our Beginning is a book about cops—where they come from, what they do, and why they do it. Cops, as brian bean so eloquently writes, hold a capitalist order together, and so this book is also about class, racial capitalism and the state. The goal, as the title makes clear, is revolutionary abolition, not reform. We don’t need a better world, we need another world, but since cops block our way, bean offers us this book as his contribution to the fighting movement we need to get us there." —David Correia, co-author of Violent Order: Essays on the Nature of Police
Praise for Palestine: A Socialist Introduction
“The book connects the past to our present and, despite the daunting odds before us, sustains a commitment to a socialist future where all of us are free because all of us are free.”
—Noura Erakat, author of Justice for Some
“A crucial reminder that Israel’s settler-colonial project is not merely a historical event that we can move past, but an ongoing reality backed by successive western administrations.”
—Ahmed Abu Artema, Palestinian journalist and peace activist
“This urgent book will offer a new generation of activists lessons on why, to fight capitalism and apartheid today, we need to fight like Palestinians.”
—Tithi Bhattacharya, co-author of Feminism for the 99%
“From critical analysis of organizational matters to the very complex issues of gender and secularism, this book is a must read for anyone whose socialism has brought them to care and act on behalf of Palestine and the Palestinians."
—Ilan Pappé, author of Ten Myths About Israel
"Provides an entry-point for new activists to understand a conflict whose history has been so deliberately obfuscated, alongside a rich well of analysis on complex political questions. Awad and bean's book should be widely read, and its socialist, bottom up vision of transformation acted upon.”
—Hadas Thier, author of A People's Guide to Capitalism
“The contributions within this book not only offer an understanding of Palestinian realities, they also provide insight into themes such as Diaspora and the search for belonging, and reflect the voices of all those who wish to return home in dignity, justice, and freedom."
—Mariam Barghouti, Palestinian American writer
Other books by brian bean
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Palestine: A Socialist Introduction
Edited by Sumaya Awad and brian bean