Robben Island and Prisoner Resistance to Apartheid

Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Dedication......Page 7
Contents......Page 9
Abbreviations......Page 11
Foreword......Page 13
Acknowledgments......Page 15
1 Introduction......Page 21
Overview......Page 25
Contributions......Page 28
Methodology......Page 29
Apartheid and Resistance: 1948 to the Early 1960s......Page 34
Prosecuting and Persecuting Government Enemies......Page 37
Robben Island in the 1960s and Early 1970s......Page 38
The Renewal of Resistance in the 1970s......Page 40
Resistance and Reform After 1976......Page 42
The 1980s: Insurrectionary Politics and a Defensive State......Page 44
From Pass Laws to Political Imprisonment......Page 45
The International Context......Page 48
3 Resistance for Survival......Page 53
Overview of Prison Conditions: 1963–1991......Page 55
The Prison and Its Population......Page 59
Releases and the Prison After February 1990......Page 62
Systematic Racism and Brutality......Page 64
Support for and the Beginning of Sustained Resistance......Page 71
Resistance and the Redefinition of Basic Limits to State Power......Page 78
4 Resistance Beyond Survival......Page 81
Academic Education......Page 82
Constraints on Academic Education......Page 84
Sport and Recreation......Page 86
Escape......Page 91
The Costs of Conviction......Page 93
5 Prisoner Politics and Organization on Robben Island......Page 101
The Political Prisoner Community......Page 102
The Underground in Prison......Page 105
Interorganizational Relationships......Page 107
Interorganizational Communication......Page 108
News and Political Education......Page 113
The Question of PAC–ANC Unity......Page 114
The ANC on Robben Island......Page 116
Debates and DivisionsWithin the ANC......Page 119
The PAC on Robben Island......Page 122
Debates and Divisions Within the PAC......Page 127
The BCM on Robben Island......Page 129
Debates and Divisions Within the BCM......Page 130
How Best to Resist?......Page 132
Generational Conflict and Strategic and Categorical Resistance......Page 146
Recruitment......Page 150
Conflict and the Nature of the Robben Island Community......Page 162
7 Influencing South African Politics......Page 166
The Robben Island Legacy......Page 167
Limits to the Influence of Robben Island......Page 171
Robben Island as a Beacon in the Struggle......Page 172
Rejuvenating Organizations......Page 173
Robben Island and the Exile Organizations......Page 177
Politicizing in Detention Cells......Page 179
Generations......Page 181
A Return to Congress Tradition Hegemony......Page 182
Unions and Politics......Page 186
The KwaZulu-Natal Conflict......Page 189
Negotiation......Page 190
Unsung Heroes and the New Elite......Page 192
8 Political Imprisonment and the State......Page 213
The Vengeful 1960s and 1970s......Page 215
Prisons Service Reform......Page 220
Professionalization and the Prisons Service......Page 221
Warders and State Intent......Page 223
The Security Section......Page 226
National and International Focus on Political Prisoners......Page 229
Key Personalities......Page 234
Exchange, Dialogue, and (Pre)negotiation......Page 236
Agitators and Revolutionaries: The Focus on Mandela......Page 237
Interchanges and Visitors: The 1960s and 1970s......Page 238
Conversations with “Other” Prisoners......Page 241
Negotiating the End of Apartheid from Mandela’s Prison Cell......Page 243
Dialogue and Negotiation to Exit the Prison......Page 252
The Catch-Twenty-Twos of Repression......Page 254
9 Theorizing Islander Resistance......Page 256
Norms and Institutions of Rule......Page 257
Homosexuality......Page 261
From “State of Nature” to “Social Contract”......Page 266
Resistance and Power......Page 269
Resistances and Their Material Context......Page 273
Resistance as Survival......Page 274
Resistance as Dignity and Self-Consciousness......Page 277
Resistance as Open Challenge......Page 280
Resistance as Reducing State Power or Defeating the Oppressor’s End......Page 281
Resistance as the Appropriation of Power (or Move Toward Appropriating Power)......Page 283
Challenging Binaries and Dualities......Page 287
10 Beyond Robben Island: Comparisons and Conclusion......Page 292
Comparisons......Page 293
Resistance for Survival......Page 295
Resistance as Dignity and Self-Consciousness......Page 296
From “Dirty Protest” to Hunger Strikes to the Death: From Resistance as Open Challenge to Resistance as Transformation......Page 297
Resistance as Reducing State Power or Defeating the Oppressor’s End......Page 301
Resistance as the Appropriation of Power (or Move Toward Appropriating Power)......Page 303
An Aside on Nonpolitical Imprisonment......Page 304
From Prison to Parliament: Robben Island’s Legacy Beyond Apartheid......Page 305
appendix i Diagrams of Robben Island Prison......Page 313
appendix ii Methodological Notes on Oral and Archival Sources......Page 315
appendix iii Capsule Biographies of Interview Respondents......Page 319
Interviews conducted by Fran Buntman......Page 333
Secondary Sources......Page 336
Dissertations......Page 346
Videos......Page 347
Index......Page 349