sophiearseneault's review against another edition
4.0
An exceptionally insightful read. I was particularly appreciative of Davis’ questioning of incarceration as reproducing the violence perpetuated by those allegedly committing criminal offenses, and whether institutional violence of the state through the prison-industrial complex were not complementary if not an extension of intimate and individual violence. The sentiment is summarized in the fact that “retributive impulses of the state are inscribed in our very emotional responses,” and that “the political reproduces itself through the personal.”
She states, “In many ways you can say that the prison serves as an institution that consolidates the state's inability and refusal to address the most pressing social problems of this era.” The value of integrating feminist theory, in and beyond this context, is in urging us “to think about things together that appear to be separate, and to disaggregate things that appear to naturally belong together.”
On Palestine, I would have loved to dive deeper into the discourse of transnational solidarity - though I sincerely appreciated the way Davis spoke to violence, and the way that Palestinian self-determination and freedom is “minimized and rendered invisible by those who equate Palestinian resistance to Israeli apartheid with terrorism.”
She states, “In many ways you can say that the prison serves as an institution that consolidates the state's inability and refusal to address the most pressing social problems of this era.” The value of integrating feminist theory, in and beyond this context, is in urging us “to think about things together that appear to be separate, and to disaggregate things that appear to naturally belong together.”
On Palestine, I would have loved to dive deeper into the discourse of transnational solidarity - though I sincerely appreciated the way Davis spoke to violence, and the way that Palestinian self-determination and freedom is “minimized and rendered invisible by those who equate Palestinian resistance to Israeli apartheid with terrorism.”
dawsonthehughes's review against another edition
5.0
Fantastic. It’s a short book that everyone should read at some point in their life. I enjoyed this one even more than “Are Prisons Obsolete?”
hberg95's review against another edition
4.0
"We cannot be moderate"
This is the first book of Angela Davis' that I've read and I hope to read more.
I love the way Davis weaves transnational struggles together into one speech and is always pushing for intersectionality and awareness of transnational struggles. I love the way her understanding of social justice issues is always one connected to capitalism, patriarchy, and racism (etc.). Reading Davis reminds me of reading bell hooks for the first time and having my eyes opened to the way these struggles are so necessarily interconnected.
I also love her constant reminder of capitalist and neoliberal ideology that promotes individualism and her pushback against it. She mentions at one point that she doesn't want to be remembered as a singular individual activist who escaped prison, but rather that her freedom should be remembered as a consequence of collective, global solidarity. She says the same about leaders like Nelson Mandela and suggests that prominent leaders were (and are) important, but that collective struggle is so much more important.
Lastly, I love Davis' commitment to truly progressive politics. She questions things like imprisoning police officers who commit acts of racial violence -- obviously, she suggests, these people should face the music for the violence they've enacted, and maybe time in prison is part (or all) of that punishment they ought to receive. However, we need to aspire to so much more than bare punishment if we hope to put an end to police violence - these are structural problems and, again, solutions that seek to punish 'aberrant' individuals are a result of neoliberal ideology and effectively inhibit us from enacting more meaningful change.
My one gripe with this book is the format. I have trouble with books that are written as interviews and, to a lesser extent, I think books written as a collection of speeches given around the same time tend to be repetitive in a way that is unhelpful. In spite of that, Davis' speeches are so moving and well-written that I still took away a lot of valuable points, though I still think I'd prefer her own written work.
This is the first book of Angela Davis' that I've read and I hope to read more.
I love the way Davis weaves transnational struggles together into one speech and is always pushing for intersectionality and awareness of transnational struggles. I love the way her understanding of social justice issues is always one connected to capitalism, patriarchy, and racism (etc.). Reading Davis reminds me of reading bell hooks for the first time and having my eyes opened to the way these struggles are so necessarily interconnected.
I also love her constant reminder of capitalist and neoliberal ideology that promotes individualism and her pushback against it. She mentions at one point that she doesn't want to be remembered as a singular individual activist who escaped prison, but rather that her freedom should be remembered as a consequence of collective, global solidarity. She says the same about leaders like Nelson Mandela and suggests that prominent leaders were (and are) important, but that collective struggle is so much more important.
Lastly, I love Davis' commitment to truly progressive politics. She questions things like imprisoning police officers who commit acts of racial violence -- obviously, she suggests, these people should face the music for the violence they've enacted, and maybe time in prison is part (or all) of that punishment they ought to receive. However, we need to aspire to so much more than bare punishment if we hope to put an end to police violence - these are structural problems and, again, solutions that seek to punish 'aberrant' individuals are a result of neoliberal ideology and effectively inhibit us from enacting more meaningful change.
My one gripe with this book is the format. I have trouble with books that are written as interviews and, to a lesser extent, I think books written as a collection of speeches given around the same time tend to be repetitive in a way that is unhelpful. In spite of that, Davis' speeches are so moving and well-written that I still took away a lot of valuable points, though I still think I'd prefer her own written work.
scrow1022's review against another edition
4.0
Excellent introduction to her words, now to read more.
colin_cox's review against another edition
5.0
Freedom Is a Constant Struggle is a collection of interviews, speeches, and short essays from Civil Rights activist and academic Angela Y. Davis. The book is relatively short (150 pages), but in its brevity, it does something I like: it presents a thinker like Davis in an informal, approachable way. The interview chapters, for example, are quite striking in their clarity. At times, theoretical essays and books feel impenetrable, but asking a thinker like Davis to sit and answer a set of questions has the effect of simplifying the complexity of her thought. This is not to suggest we should jettison one in favor of the other, nor is it to suggest that Davis is needlessly obscure in works such as Women, Race, and Class. Instead, I want to imagine that books like Freedom Is a Constant Struggle creates a symbiotic relationship with denser, more theoretical tomes.
A consistent theme in Freedom Is a Constant Struggle is intersectionality, which Davis connects to the Black feminist tradition and defines in a far less politically divisive way. Of intersectionality, she claims, "In many ways I think we have to engage in an exercise of intersectionality. Of always foregrounding those connections so that people remember that nothing happens in isolation" (45). She continues, "When we see the police repressing protests in Ferguson we also have to think about the Israeli police and the Israeli army repressing protests in occupied Palestine" (45). What Davis describes is a picture of intersectionality best understood as a hermeneutics of connection. Particularist moves contra Davis (Ferguson as an isolated problem, Israeli police repression in Palestine as an isolated problem, and so on) perpetuate larger, systemic forms of oppression because particularist thinking sees singular examples of, for example, racial oppression and discrimination as just that, singular. We must, therefore, reject what Davis describes as neoliberalism's "attempts to force people to think of themselves only in individual terms and not in collective terms" (50). This is not to say we should not fight singular forms and examples of racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, ableism, and so on. Davis argues that while fighting those fights, we must remain attuned to how these singular examples connect to something much larger.
Freedom Is a Constant Struggle is not where anyone should end when exploring the work and thought of Angela Y. Davis. It is, however, an excellent place to start.
A consistent theme in Freedom Is a Constant Struggle is intersectionality, which Davis connects to the Black feminist tradition and defines in a far less politically divisive way. Of intersectionality, she claims, "In many ways I think we have to engage in an exercise of intersectionality. Of always foregrounding those connections so that people remember that nothing happens in isolation" (45). She continues, "When we see the police repressing protests in Ferguson we also have to think about the Israeli police and the Israeli army repressing protests in occupied Palestine" (45). What Davis describes is a picture of intersectionality best understood as a hermeneutics of connection. Particularist moves contra Davis (Ferguson as an isolated problem, Israeli police repression in Palestine as an isolated problem, and so on) perpetuate larger, systemic forms of oppression because particularist thinking sees singular examples of, for example, racial oppression and discrimination as just that, singular. We must, therefore, reject what Davis describes as neoliberalism's "attempts to force people to think of themselves only in individual terms and not in collective terms" (50). This is not to say we should not fight singular forms and examples of racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, ableism, and so on. Davis argues that while fighting those fights, we must remain attuned to how these singular examples connect to something much larger.
Freedom Is a Constant Struggle is not where anyone should end when exploring the work and thought of Angela Y. Davis. It is, however, an excellent place to start.
psychenator's review against another edition
4.0
This is a wonderful collection of lectures and talks, but they are organized out of order and since they all have very similar themes, it gets redundant. You can appreciate the redundancy when you think how important these themes are and how often we need to hear them.