“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” –Frederick Douglass

“Fight for the right to live, love, and work wherever you please.” –The Repeal Coalition of Arizona (an immigrant rights group)

In the 18^th and 19^th centuries, abolitionists developed strong movements demanding the end of slavery.  In the United States, individuals like Gerrit Smith, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, the Grimke sisters, and John Brown called for the immediate end to the enslavement of their fellow humans, and were unrelenting in their actions to reach their goals.  These were zealots, individuals who were unapologetic about their demands.  For instance, in 1855, abolitionists issued a call for an inaugural convention of Radical Abolitionists. It stated,

"We want [people] at this crisis who cannot be frightened from the advocacy of our 'radical' doctrines, because of their unpopularity . . . Let us not, then, grow weary, but believing that 'whatever is RIGHT, IS PRACTICAL,' go forth with renewed determination to conquer, though we die in the conflict." (In The Black Hearts of Men, John Stauffer, p. 12)

As we face modern social problems, we can find inspiration in the Abolitionist Movement.  As we see Latino, Black, and Indigenous youth killed and imprisoned at disproportionate rates, we need strategies to stop racial subjugation.  As we witness the call for larger walls at our borders, we need new thoughts of liberation.  As we confront patriarchy and economic inequality, we require stronger practices.  To that end, the theme for the 2018 SSSP Annual Meeting is Abolitionist Approaches to Social Problems. 

The SSSP has a long history of experimentation, inviting critique of ideas and concepts as it pushes towards a continual reimagining of social justice.  In the current incarnation, we invite participants to help us develop ways to abolish social problems entirely, to think through what is required to eliminate systems of subjugation, and to document the current struggles that are already leading the way in these efforts.  This will require not just a rethinking of how to confront social problems, but also a rediscovering of buried histories, of hidden struggles, and of ideas that are submerged below the surface.  It is time, once again, to remember that what is right is practical and to be unafraid of principles that are unpopular.