‘We Will Be Written Out of History’: Feminist Challenges to Carceral Violence and the Activist Archive

Feminist activism has played an important role in documenting, highlighting and challenging carceral violence against women within and beyond prison walls. Using the campaign against the punitive segregation of women in high-security men’s prisons in the 1980s and 1990s in Victoria, Austra...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Bree Carlton, Emma K. Russell
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Oñati International Institute for the Sociology of Law 2018-06-01
Series:Oñati Socio-Legal Series
Subjects:
Online Access:http://opo.iisj.net/index.php/osls/article/view/877
Description
Summary:Feminist activism has played an important role in documenting, highlighting and challenging carceral violence against women within and beyond prison walls. Using the campaign against the punitive segregation of women in high-security men&rsquo;s prisons in the 1980s and 1990s in Victoria, Australia, as a case study, we illustrate the value of the activist archive for critical prisons research. The activist archive has the potential to expose continuities in carceral violence, highlight the limitations and potentialities of legal and official oversight processes, and debunk official rhetoric of the prison&rsquo;s reformative and rehabilitative potential. Our discussion demonstrates the extent to which the activist archive can yield a powerful arsenal of accounts, critiques and organising strategies for anti-carceral feminist movements.<br /><br /> El activismo feminista ha desempe&ntilde;ado un importante papel a la hora de documentar, subrayar y cuestionar la violencia carcelaria contra las mujeres, dentro y fuera de las prisiones. Utilizando como estudio de caso la campa&ntilde;a contra la segregaci&oacute;n punitiva de mujeres en prisiones de alta seguridad para hombres en los a&ntilde;os 80 y 90 en Victoria, Australia, ilustramos el valor del archivo del activismo para la investigaci&oacute;n cr&iacute;tica sobre las prisiones. Dicho archivo tiene el potencial de exponer la continuidad de la violencia carcelaria, subrayar las limitaciones y potencialidades de los procesos de revisi&oacute;n legales y oficiales, y desmontar el discurso oficial sobre la capacidad reformatoria y rehabilitadora de la prisi&oacute;n. Nuestra tesis demuestra que el archivo activista puede dotar al movimiento feminista anticarcelario de un rico muestrario de testimonios, cr&iacute;ticas y estrategias organizativas.<br /><br /> <strong>DOWNLOAD THIS PAPER FROM SSRN: </strong><a href="http://ssrn.com/abstract=3099424" target="_blank">http://ssrn.com/abstract=3099424</a>
ISSN:2079-5971