Robben Island and Prisoner Resistance to Apartheid

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Cambridge University Press, Oct 27, 2003 - History - 340 pages
Robben Island prison in South Africa held thousands of black political prisoners, including Nelson Mandela, who opposed apartheid. This study reconstructs the inmates' resistance strategies to demonstrate how they created a political and social order behind bars. Although survival was their primary goal, challenging apartheid was their ultimate objective. Robben Island was continually transformed by its political inmates into a site of resistance, despite being designed to repress.
 

Contents

Introduction Prison as a Source of Politics
1
Politics and Prison A Background
14
Resistance for Survival
33
Resistance Beyond Survival
61
Prisoner Politics and Organization on Robben Island
81
Debates and Disagreements
112
Influencing South African Politics
146
Political Imprisonment and the State
193
Theorizing Islander Resistance
236
Beyond Robben Island Comparisons and Conclusion
272
Diagrams of Robben Island Prison
293
Methodological Notes on Oral and Archival Sources
295
Capsule Biographies of Interview Respondents
299
Select Bibliography
313
Index
329
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