Robben Island and prisoner resistance to apartheid / Fran Lisa Buntman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Buntman, Fran Lisa, 1965- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Political prisoners--Political activity--South Africa--Robben Island.

Political prisoners.

Black people--South Africa--Robben Island--Politics and government.

Black people.

Prisons--South Africa--Robben Island.

Prisons.

Anti-apartheid movements--South Africa--Robben Island.

Anti-apartheid movements.

Government, Resistance to--South Africa--Robben Island.

Government, Resistance to.

Apartheid--South Africa.

Apartheid.

Robben Island (South Africa)--Social conditions.

Robben Island (South Africa).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xviii, 340 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

Robben Island & Prisoner Resistance to Apartheid

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2003.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Robben Island prison in South Africa held thousands of black political prisoners, including Nelson Mandela, who opposed apartheid. This book reconstructs the inmates' resistance strategies to show how these men created a political and social order behind bars. Survival was their first goal; challenging apartheid was their true aim. So although Robben Island was designed to repress, it was continually transformed by its political inmates into a site of resistance. The book theorizes that, where material conditions permit, the most far-reaching and effective forms of resistance involve constructive political action which seeks to remake existing power relationships. This theory is demonstrated in three focuses of the book: the activism of Robben Islanders, the effects of political prisoner resistance on the apartheid state machinery, and in comparative cases which illustrate various international instances of political prisoners shaping both prisons and political orders.

Contents:

Cover; Half-title; Title; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; Abbreviations; Foreword; Acknowledgments; 1 Introduction; 2 Politics and Prison; 3 Resistance for Survival; 4 Resistance Beyond Survival; 5 Prisoner Politics and Organization on Robben Island; 6 Debates and Disagreements; 7 Influencing South African Politics; 8 Political Imprisonment and the State; 9 Theorizing Islander Resistance; 10 Beyond Robben Island: Comparisons and Conclusion; appendix i Diagrams of Robben Island Prison; appendix ii Methodological Notes on Oral and Archival Sources

appendix iii Capsule Biographies of Interview RespondentsSelect Bibliography; Index

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references (p. 313-327) and index.

ISBN:

1-107-14414-0

1-280-43732-4

0-511-18423-9

0-511-16587-0

0-511-16394-0

0-511-31280-6

0-511-61632-5

0-511-16474-2

OCLC:

171138218