Justice through defiance: political prisoner support work and infrastructures of resistance |
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Authors: | Colleen Hackett |
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Affiliation: | Department of Sociology, University of Colorado at Boulder, UCB 327, Boulder, CO 80309, USA |
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Abstract: | This essay outlines the justice work done by the Anarchist Black Cross (ABC) in the US, an organization that provides material and symbolic support to political and politicized prisoners. The history of this organization is briefly explored to contextualize its current composition, tactics, and goals in its mission to support political prisoners, as well as the way its driving philosophies distinguish the ABC from other organizations that are engaged in political prisoner-related issues. Unlike more well-known, mainstream organizations that use a human rights discourse, the ABC contributes to an overall ‘infrastructure of resistance’ to defy systematized exploitation. This essay situates this project within a broader anarchist strategy to creatively and actively construct justice alternatives that work to establish mutual aid and needs-based economies. |
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Keywords: | anarchism justice political prisoner mutual aid social justice social movement |
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