The New Abolitionists: (Neo)Slave Narratives and Contemporary Prison Writings

SUNY Series: Philosophy and Race

by Joy James (Editor), Dachine Rainer (Contributor), Holley Cantine (Contributor)

This collection of essays and interviews provides a frank look at the nature and purposes of prisons in the United States from the perspective of the prisoners. Written by Native American, African American, Latino, Asian, and European American prisoners, the book examines captivity and democracy, the racial "other," gender and violence, and the stigma of a suspect humanity. Contributors include those incarcerated for social and political acts, such as conscientious objection, antiwar activism, black liberation, and gang activities. Among those interviewed are Philip Berrigan, Marilyn Buck, Angela Y. Davis, George Jackson, and Laura Whitehorn.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, Race, Sociology, Philosophy, Gender and Sexuality, Essays

379 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Joy James is the John B. and John T. McCoy Presidential Professor of Humanities and College Professor in Political Science at Williams College. She is the author of Resisting State Violence: Radicalism, Gender, and Race in U.S. Culture, and her edited works on incarceration and human rights include States of Confinement: Policing, Detention, and Prisons and Imprisoned Intellectuals: America's Political Prisoners Write on Life, Liberation, and Rebellion.

Reviews

[Matthew]

Lots of really great stuff in here

[Daniel Burton-Rose]

Where are the anarchist and environmental prisoners like Rob los Ricos, who had already been incarcerated half a decade by the time this anthology came again. Also, as with Imprisoned Intellectuals, Let Freedom Ring, and other political prisoner support books, there's too much recycling of old material. Primary document collections are great, but that's not how these are framed.

[Mills College Library]

currently-reading

[Jessica Davis]

a lot to digest but some really great information an insight