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A review by sophiearseneault
Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement by Angela Y. Davis
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.”