Protest-Based Social Reproduction as
Family Abolition

Pratt Institute
Department of Social Science and Cultural Studies
Gender and Sexuality Minor Program

Presents:

Protest-Based Social Reproduction as Family Abolition

By M. E. O’Brien

Thursday, April 13, 5-7 pm
Main Building 212
Pratt Institute, Brooklyn Campus

Recent debates on the politics of family have again raised the notion of family abolition. As a means of imagining beyond the private household, O’Brien will explore the role of social reproduction and caretaking at mass protests, including encampments, urban uprisings, and occupations. Locating the potential for overcoming dependency on the family in protest challenges alternatives to the family that emphasize state policies, market services, or even chosen households.

M. E. O’Brien has two books: a co-authored speculative novel entitled Everything for Everyone: An Oral History of the New York Commune, 2052–2072 (Common Notions, 2022) and a forthcoming work of communist theory, Family Abolition: Capitalism and the Communizing of Care (Pluto, June 2023).

The event is open to the public/masks requiredProtest photo credit: David Klassen