The Struggle Within: Prisons, Political Prisoners, and Mass Movements in the United States

by Dan Berger, Ruth Wilson Gilmore (Foreword), dream hampton (Afterword)

An accessible yet wide-ranging historical primer, The Struggle Within discusses how mass imprisonment has been a state-sponsered tool of repression deployed against diverse, left-wing social movements over the last 50 years. Author Dan Berger goes on to examine some of the most dynamic social movements across half a century, including black liberation, Puerto Rican independence, Native American sovereignty, Chicano radicalism, white antiracist and working-class mobilizations, pacifist and antinuclear campaigns, earth liberation, and animal rights. Berger’s encyclopedic knowledge of social movements in the United States provides a rich comparative history of numerous campaigns that continue to shape contemporary politics. The book also offers a little-heard voice in contemporary critiques of mass incarceration by investigation how mass incarcerations have occurred within a slew of social movements that have provided steep challenges to state power.

Genres: Politics, History, Nonfiction, Activism, Race, Theory

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Sarah Darrow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for a graduate class. Went relatively quickly, although I do concur that the middle read like a list of names and dates without much interpretation. However as a student, I appreciated that, and it led to a lot of research and investigation on my part, which is the point.

[warren · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book is small in length and scope but it was still quite impactful. it basically details the main sources of amerika's political prisoners from the 60s to now, going through major incidents and explaining some of the processes and charges that were used to incarcerate people.

seeing the reality just laid out like that teaches you a lot that everyone should know about the so-called criminal justice system. across the hundreds of defendants throughout this book, the courts, the FBI, and prosecutors did the following:

— lock people up for decades based only on witness testimony by paid FBI informants
— convict people for executing plans (or sometimes only helping plan actions) that were made almost entirely by paid FBI agents
— denied people their attorney of choice
— denied people their right to defend themself
— removed defendants from the courtroom
— tried and convicted people "in absentia" aka without the defendant anywhere near the courtroom
— torture defendants
— convict people who didn't do anything illegal but did hang out with people who did, for "conspiracy"
— continue to imprison people for years past their mandatory release date
— trial judges, prosecutors, and witnesses all meeting together to plan convictions
— charge people for providing medical care to 'fugitives'
— attempt to get defendants to cooperate by kidnapping the defendants' children and not disclosing their kids' location for multiple months
— place car bombs that detonated in organizers' cars harming the oeganizers, and then charge those organizers for it
— convict people for events that happened 30 years ago, despite the fact that charges were originally not brought due to lack of evidence, and they had found no new evidence in the interim
— much, much more

this evil and nonsense^^ is only what happened during trial and other legal administrative processes, it's not even close to the full scope of repression. HUNDREDS of radical organizers were flat out killed by cops and FBI, both thru individual assassinations, and in huge militarized operations with bombs and hundreds of cops in broad daylight.

and the craziest thing? despite the state doing literally anything to get a conviction, defendants were often still acquitted!! sometimes thats because the charges were totally made up, but sometimes the defendants probably did the thing they were accused of, yet they made political defenses or demonstrated FBI misconduct that got them acquitted by the jury. it really shows how the revolutionary climate + excellent consciousness raising by liberation movements of the 60s and 70s had fundamentally damaged the state's legitimacy in the eyes of so many people.

while the state often couldn't get convictions, it still needs to incarcerate and demobilize revolutionary movements, so it invents new ways of locking people up. the biggest one i learned about in this text was how "grand juries" are used. this strange federal tool was used against tons of movements and continues to be used today. most often, the state would call a grand jury to investigate a movement for some action, and then call tons of radicals to come testify before it (and incriminate their comrades). obviously they wouldn't cooperate, so then the state holds them in contempt of court and jails them for over a year because of it. the right to remain silent doesn't apply to grand juries because ... the state says so. this way they incarcerated whole swaths of organizations (often the leadership) without having to prove shit.

anyways im going on way too long. i also learned a little bit about: the Puerto Rican independence movement, confrontational but nonviolent antiwar actions, and the use of grand juries + other mechanisms after 9/11 to lock up Muslims and to criminalize Palestinian solidarity organizing. cant wait to research more into those subjects! good short book and great liberal usage of art from political prisoners & movement photos.

[Alex Guerrero · Rating 5 out of 5]

A MUST READ! An excellent introduction to the major political movements of the last 65 years. Berger packs a lot of information into this short read. It looks like a common complaint about the book seems to be the long list of names of political prisoners without enough background, which is also why I consider this an introduction, but I think not letting all of these real people just be nameless narrative fodder is very important. Knowing their names is critical to seeing their humanity. It also points us in the direction to show real solidarity with those wrongfully incarcerated.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really eye opening stuff. I recall in high school learning that “the United States doesn’t have any political prisoners.” What a sham that was. The bibliography and further reading section of this book is really outstanding as well, it goes above and beyond what was necessary.

[Leah Montange · Rating 4 out of 5]

a catalog of political prisoners and political repression in the US since the 1960s.

[Alan Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

Berger combines a survey of political resistance from the 60's through the present, and the consistent use of the criminal law to disrupt, and at times destroy, those movements. He then links all of this to the growing movement against mass incarceration.

A large part of the purpose of this book is to remind us of the continuity of resistance over the last 50 years, how little it takes to end up imprisoned for decades, and how important it is that those who remain in the struggle remember those who remain locked away.

My only concern is that Berger--perhaps unintentionally--strays dangerously close to drawing a line between "deserving" prisoners (those imprisoned for political resistance) and "undeserving" prisoners (those who are convicted of apolitical crimes, and remain apolitical during their incarceration), who are barely mentioned. It is good to remember the point made by Ruth Wilson Gilmore in the introduction that Nelson Mandela and Harriet Tubman were not framed or entrapped. They did it.

[Kony · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the introduction, conclusion, and afterword, which briefly rhapsodize about the radical visions that don't really get fleshed out in the main chapters.

Unfortunately, the meat of this book reads like my high school AP exam review books: laundry lists of names, dates, and happenings, with minimal narrative. I picked up this slim volume with the goal of quickly educating myself about the history of radical American prisoners, and I came away realizing that this goal can't be achieved quickly; it might take a series of volumes that provide richer human context.

In sum, this book condenses too much action into too small a space, and thereby omits the connective tissue -- personalities and relationships -- that make history fun and memorable.

[Rallie · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I say this is a "light read", I'm by no means referring to the subject matter. Rather, Berger manages to convey the complex history of the use of incarceration to repress political dissidence in the United States. It's a good survey of political history, both for beginners and for those wanting a quick overview of the various players in resistance movements within and against the prison.

[Rob McB · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books on the topic. And very readable. An excellent entry point.

[Trevor · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting history of some of the radical left movements in the United States and the tactics used by the federal government to fight them.