Rethinking the American Prison Movement

American Social and Political Movements of the 20th Century

by Dan Berger, Toussaint Losier

Rethinking the American Prison Movement provides a short, accessible overview of the transformational and ongoing struggles against America's prison system. Dan Berger and Toussaint Losier show that prisoners have used strikes, lawsuits, uprisings, writings, and diverse coalitions with free-world allies to challenge prison conditions and other kinds of inequality. From the forced labor camps of the nineteenth century to the rebellious protests of the 1960s and 1970s to the rise of mass incarceration and its discontents, Rethinking the American Prison Movement is invaluable to anyone interested in the history of American prisons and the struggles for justice still echoing in the present day.

Genres: United States, Politics, Nonfiction

206 pages, Paperback

Published October 30, 2017

Reviews

[Nuha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dan Berger presents a great overview of the prison movement & outlines potential strategies to continue resisting the growth of the carceral state.

[Luca Suede · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent reference text to understand the history of inside/outside organizing in the US. Reading it cover to cover took me some time, definitely had to take breaks. But of academic texts, this one is definitely one of the more accessible. It is of course, at the end of the day, an academic history book. The last chapter was my personal favorite & I recommend folks check out Berger’s other work!

[S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read for anyone interested in PIC abolition.

[aliyah overturf · Rating 3 out of 5]

thoughts on this were given to the canvas discussion post