Center for Community Alternatives

In the 1990s—during the height of prison construction—a prison was built in rural America every 15 days. Today, there are over 350 rural communities that house a state or federal prison and many more that house a jail or detention facility. However, criminal justice reform campaigns have primarily been situated in urban centers and, in many states, have faced fierce opposition from rural communities. Many rural communities depend on prisons for jobs, and the government has used this—despite numerous studies that demonstrate that prisons actually hurt the local economy and environment—to pit rural residents against urban communities. How do we organize in and with rural communities? This workshop will examine the urban-rural relationship implicit in the American prison industrial complex and what activists—from California to New York and in between—have been doing to mobilize rural residents to support de-incarceration and prevent prison and immigrant detention expansion. Panelists will share their success stories and critical analysis of the ways they have connected their work with environmental justice groups, farmers, economic developers, the media, prison families and immigrant communities.

Julie Graham and Kathryn Gibson (aka JK Gibson-Graham) spearheaded an approach to grassroots economic development that promotes social enterprise and social justice. Their approach has helped disenfranchised and depressed communities across the world build alternative economic realities. This workshop will train participants in JK Gibson-Graham’s community development process and will share success stories of communities that are thriving as a result of this process. The training will include instruction in the process developed by JK Gibson Graham, successful examples of their methodology in use (utilizing video, photos and print media), and activities where participants will start applying the approach to their own communities. Participants will leave the workshop with the skills and tools necessary to return to their local communities as economic and community development leaders with a clear agenda and vision for change. Participants will be given a copy of JK Gibson-Graham’s toolkit “Shifting Focus: Alternative Pathways for Communities and Economies.”

In the 1990s—during the height of prison construction—a prison was built in rural America every 15 days. Today, there are over 350 rural communities that house a state or federal prison and many more that house a jail or detention facility. However, criminal justice reform campaigns have primarily been situated in urban centers and, in many states, have faced fierce opposition from rural communities. Many rural communities depend on prisons for jobs, and the government has used this—despite numerous studies that demonstrate that prisons actually hurt the local economy and environment—to pit rural residents against urban communities. How do we organize in and with rural communities? This workshop will examine the urban-rural relationship implicit in the American prison industrial complex and what activists—from California to New York and in between—have been doing to mobilize rural residents to support de-incarceration and prevent prison and immigrant detention expansion. Panelists will share their success stories and critical analysis of the ways they have connected their work with environmental justice groups, farmers, economic developers, the media, prison families and immigrant communities.

Julie Graham and Kathryn Gibson (aka JK Gibson-Graham) spearheaded an approach to grassroots economic development that promotes social enterprise and social justice. Their approach has helped disenfranchised and depressed communities across the world build alternative economic realities. This workshop will train participants in JK Gibson-Graham’s community development process and will share success stories of communities that are thriving as a result of this process. The training will include instruction in the process developed by JK Gibson Graham, successful examples of their methodology in use (utilizing video, photos and print media), and activities where participants will start applying the approach to their own communities. Participants will leave the workshop with the skills and tools necessary to return to their local communities as economic and community development leaders with a clear agenda and vision for change. Participants will be given a copy of JK Gibson-Graham’s toolkit “Shifting Focus: Alternative Pathways for Communities and Economies.”