Anti-Prison Site Now Online
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Tuesday January 10, 2006 22:21
by Prisoner Solidarity
Anarchists and Prison Struggle
A while ago I was irritated to see a well-known Anarchist magazine use prisoner support work as an example of "single-issue" politics. The comment may have been merely thoughtless, rather than anything else, but the fact that it appears to have gone unnoticed, and certainly unchallenged, reflects the poverty of current Anarchist thought in relation to the prison struggle, and the marginalization of what was once very much a central issue for revolutionaries in general, and for Anarchists in particular. While some Anarchists may regard the prison struggle as just another single-issue, for increasing numbers of working-class people, prison is a central part of their lives
Resist / Organise / Replicate
This irregular collection of texts is dedicated to open minds and the free society, Let one thousand flowers bloom. 325 are concerned with transforming social reality, creating areas of horizontal control outside the gaze of the capitalist system. 325 distribute and incite perception, providing doorways into the net of hidden utopias that resist attempts to censor and destroy autonomous areas/individuals & groups. We advocate direct action to reject the violence of the capitalist system.
Comments (4 of 4)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4prisoner support is central to any campiagn, poltical or otherwise and can never be overlooked, no anarchist would deny this.. however it is not a political direction, it is not winning a struggle but an obvious implication of such a struggle.. neccessary condiitons and mechanisms must be in place within a political network to deal with arrests and imprisonments, in this regard it is a single issue within a wider campaign or poltical end. It requires the autonomous work of delegation and responsibility, people take on different tasks within a common struggle. Making appear otherwise is unproductive.
If people commit crime they should go to prison - what's wrong with that? What is the alternative? Violent criminals walking the street? Is this your 'anarchist' paradise?
Because the one that you me and the rest of the irish taxpayers spend 400Million on a year does not work. Most of the violent dangerous criminals walking the streets have already been in prison. It does not deter and it does not rehabilitate.
Highest prison officer/prisoner ratio in O.E.C.D countries
Highest cost per annum per prisoner in E.U
Highest rates of recidivism(77%)
Irish prisons are part of the cause of crime.
Try reading the info BEFORE asking questions. Saves everone time and effort.
Is this based in ireland?
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