Robben Island and Prisoner Resistance to Apartheid

by Fran Lisa Buntman

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.

358 pages, Hardcover

First published October 27, 2003

Reviews

[Rallie · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's not often that I encounter a book that, within the first twenty pages or so, I realize will wind up as a cornerstone of my dissertation. The book itself is extremely well researched and well written, and her sources (both ethnographic and bibliographic) are an invaluable resource. In a field where much of the writing on resistance comes from autobiographical sources, her political and social analysis provides an expansive perspective on prisoner resistance on Robben Island during apartheid.