The death of George Floyd in 2020 resulted in national and international protests during which some members of the public began to demand "abolishing" or "defunding" the police, ideas previously put forth in academic arenas. However, these public protests were often presented in rhetorical ways that differed from the academic roots of the ideas. This book takes a deep look into what it means to "defund" or "abolish" the police, drawing upon academic origins of the concepts while at the same time examining how the public has used Twitter to define and discuss these ideas. The authors identify frameworks built around the concepts, discuss facts and perspectives that have contributed to these ideas, and explain how quantitative methods can be used to illustrate the most prominent frames.
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