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The Politics of Cruelty: An Essay on the Literature of Political Imprisonment
From one of the most influential figures of the last twenty years―the author of Sexual Politics ―comes this brilliant work in which Kate Millet sets out a new theory of politics for our time, a harrowing view of the modern state based on the practice of torture as a method of rule, as conscious policy. It is, in the words of the noted Iraqi dissident Kanan Makiya, "a passionate, heroic effort to fathom the nature of a phenomenon that all too often drains us emotionally and incapacitates us intellectually."
Millett analyzes the individual's monumental fear of the state through the rich literature of its expression―a mixture of literary text (Solzhenitsyn's The Gulag Archipelago , Mathabane's Kaffir Boy , Bharadwaj's film Closet Land ), the reports of witnesses, legal theory, and historical account. The literary version of their experience is the most arresting; it prevails and persuades with the greatest effect: the reality of the victim, the social and psychological climate of life under dictatorship, the moment of capture when one is "disappeared," that pivotal electronic second after which nothing is ever the same.
Millett analyzes the individual's monumental fear of the state through the rich literature of its expression―a mixture of literary text (Solzhenitsyn's The Gulag Archipelago , Mathabane's Kaffir Boy , Bharadwaj's film Closet Land ), the reports of witnesses, legal theory, and historical account. The literary version of their experience is the most arresting; it prevails and persuades with the greatest effect: the reality of the victim, the social and psychological climate of life under dictatorship, the moment of capture when one is "disappeared," that pivotal electronic second after which nothing is ever the same.
336 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
13 people are currently reading
260 people want to read
About the author
Kate Millett
39 books335 followersKatherine Murray "Kate" Millett was an American feminist writer, educator, artist, and activist. She attended Oxford University and was the first American woman to be awarded a postgraduate degree with first-class honors by St. Hilda's. She has been described as "a seminal influence on second-wave feminism", and is best known for her 1970 book Sexual Politics," which was her doctoral dissertation at Columbia University. Journalist Liza Featherstone attributes previously unimaginable "legal abortion, greater professional equality between the sexes and a sexual freedom" being made possible partially due to Millett's efforts.
The feminist, human rights, peace, civil rights, and anti-psychiatry movements have been some of Millett's key causes. Her books were motivated by her activism, such as woman's rights and mental health reform, and several were autobiographical memoirs that explored her sexuality, mental health, and relationships. Mother Millett and The Loony Bin Trip, for instance, dealt with family issues and the times when she was involuntarily committed. Besides appearing in a number of documentaries, she produced Three Lives and wrote Not a Love Story: A Film about Pornography. In the 1960s and 1970s, Millett taught at Waseda University, Bryn Mawr College, Barnard College, and University of California, Berkeley.
Millett was raised in Minnesota and has spent most of her adult life in Manhattan and the Woman's Art Colony, which became the Millett Center for the Arts in 2012, that she established in Poughkeepsie, New York. Self-identified as bisexual, Millett was married to sculptor Fumio Yoshimura from 1965 to 1985 and had relationships with women, one of whom was the inspiration for her book Sita. She has continued to work as an activist, writer, and artist. Some of her later written works are The Politics of Cruelty (1994), about state-sanctioned torture in many countries, and a book about the relationship with her mother in Mother Millett (2001). Between 2011 and 2013 she has won the Lambda Pioneer Award for Literature, received Yoko Ono's Courage Award for the Arts, and was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.
The feminist, human rights, peace, civil rights, and anti-psychiatry movements have been some of Millett's key causes. Her books were motivated by her activism, such as woman's rights and mental health reform, and several were autobiographical memoirs that explored her sexuality, mental health, and relationships. Mother Millett and The Loony Bin Trip, for instance, dealt with family issues and the times when she was involuntarily committed. Besides appearing in a number of documentaries, she produced Three Lives and wrote Not a Love Story: A Film about Pornography. In the 1960s and 1970s, Millett taught at Waseda University, Bryn Mawr College, Barnard College, and University of California, Berkeley.
Millett was raised in Minnesota and has spent most of her adult life in Manhattan and the Woman's Art Colony, which became the Millett Center for the Arts in 2012, that she established in Poughkeepsie, New York. Self-identified as bisexual, Millett was married to sculptor Fumio Yoshimura from 1965 to 1985 and had relationships with women, one of whom was the inspiration for her book Sita. She has continued to work as an activist, writer, and artist. Some of her later written works are The Politics of Cruelty (1994), about state-sanctioned torture in many countries, and a book about the relationship with her mother in Mother Millett (2001). Between 2011 and 2013 she has won the Lambda Pioneer Award for Literature, received Yoko Ono's Courage Award for the Arts, and was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 1, 2021
In this essay/book Millett provides a poignant look at the horrors of state sanctioned torture, and it’s effects on the body, the mind, and the political atmosphere of a nation. In blasting polemical form she provides a view into the clandestine prisons cells that function across the globe. From Nazi Germany to Ireland and Algeria, and Latin America too we see how the techniques of torture are used with a glaringly consistent aim.
I felt the book had its shortcomings in regards to the background political analysis in some chapters, comparisons between Nazi Germany and the USSR were used frequently and the reader is almost urged to see an equivalence between the two. An uncomfortable, and I believe misplaced, comparison.
However, in later chapters the analysis of sexuality and torture, and the analytical frameworks of race, gender, and sexuality are used very effectively. And the book even provides some insight into the consequences of American imperialism in Latin America, and the true horror of fascist dictatorships in the region.
Overall a very solid book that brings to light many perspectives on a subject that is always overlooked. 8/10
I felt the book had its shortcomings in regards to the background political analysis in some chapters, comparisons between Nazi Germany and the USSR were used frequently and the reader is almost urged to see an equivalence between the two. An uncomfortable, and I believe misplaced, comparison.
However, in later chapters the analysis of sexuality and torture, and the analytical frameworks of race, gender, and sexuality are used very effectively. And the book even provides some insight into the consequences of American imperialism in Latin America, and the true horror of fascist dictatorships in the region.
Overall a very solid book that brings to light many perspectives on a subject that is always overlooked. 8/10
July 3, 2012
A fantastically courageous book, which searches for the roots of cruelty meted out to political prisoners in many countries around the world. Her conclusions are not comfortable ones.
November 1, 2022
"I do not deny that political torture goes on in this country but there are strict rules against political torture".---Brazilian President General Geisel, 1970s.
"In prison it's not the months and years that creep under your skin. It's the days and hours." PRISONER OF KAFKA by Anonymous
Torture victims suffer from a kind of reverse Stockholm Syndrome. As feminist pioneer Kate Millet documents in this chilling book, studies of exiles from Pinochet's Chile recovering from torture in Sweden blamed THEMSELVES for their having been tortured, along the lines of "If only I hadn't said that he would not have tortured me" or "if only I had taken this street instead of that one I would not have been kidnapped". (Millet, along with Germaine Greer, can tell you from personal experience that many rape victims undergo the same pangs of self-guilt.) Believe it or not, torture as a form of political punishment actually began to fade away at the end of the Nineteenth century, resurged spectacularly in the 1930s, went into decline after World War II and enjoyed, (yes, that's the right word) an amazing rise in the 1970s. Today, like everything else, it has been privatized and outsourced to third parties. While the literature on political imprisonment, including torture and exile is vast, from THE GULAG ARCHIPELAGO to CHRIST STOPPED AT EBOLI Millet looks for patterns others might miss. Political cruelty is tied to gender, generation, geography, race and both national and international perception, as in "if we do it, it's not torture". In the Twenty-first century, after Millet's death, torture made another comeback; only this time it came to be known as "advanced interrogation techniques".
"In prison it's not the months and years that creep under your skin. It's the days and hours." PRISONER OF KAFKA by Anonymous
Torture victims suffer from a kind of reverse Stockholm Syndrome. As feminist pioneer Kate Millet documents in this chilling book, studies of exiles from Pinochet's Chile recovering from torture in Sweden blamed THEMSELVES for their having been tortured, along the lines of "If only I hadn't said that he would not have tortured me" or "if only I had taken this street instead of that one I would not have been kidnapped". (Millet, along with Germaine Greer, can tell you from personal experience that many rape victims undergo the same pangs of self-guilt.) Believe it or not, torture as a form of political punishment actually began to fade away at the end of the Nineteenth century, resurged spectacularly in the 1930s, went into decline after World War II and enjoyed, (yes, that's the right word) an amazing rise in the 1970s. Today, like everything else, it has been privatized and outsourced to third parties. While the literature on political imprisonment, including torture and exile is vast, from THE GULAG ARCHIPELAGO to CHRIST STOPPED AT EBOLI Millet looks for patterns others might miss. Political cruelty is tied to gender, generation, geography, race and both national and international perception, as in "if we do it, it's not torture". In the Twenty-first century, after Millet's death, torture made another comeback; only this time it came to be known as "advanced interrogation techniques".
October 27, 2025
it never seizes to amaze (horrify) me how evil governments are. rip kate millett, you would’ve hated trump 💔💔
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June 29, 2008I re-read this recently to see if Kate's insights still held true...sadly I found them to still be relevent.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews