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Anti-Prison Gathering 2012

This year on the 28th and 29th of April there will be an Anti-Prison gathering
in Nottingham.

We are organising this gathering not with the intention of forming another
organisation which will stagger and fall almost immediately. But in order
for those of us of an anti-state and anti-capitalist position towards the
prison society may for one weekend share our experiences and understandings of the current situation. This is a call out for structured presentations. If you or your friends
wish to present your ideas around any of the following then please get
in touch.

- Solidarity actions, What do they mean? What are they for? How will they spread?

- Dissemination of ideas against the prison society?

- The intensification of social struggle means greater numbers will be imprisoned. How are anti-authoritarians to engage with this?

- Technology. What new technology is being developed and where is being used already?

- Industrial prison complex/Privatisation of uk prisons.

- What have we learnt from the last two years of more generalised struggle? How can antagonism against the prison industry help us further this struggle?

- Why is anti-prison analysis so much more prevelant in mainland Europe? What can the movement in the UK learn from elsewhere?

- Individual cases of repression and how they link up with the wider context.

In solidarity some people.

some people
e-mail: antiprisongathering2012@riseup.net

Comments

Hide the following 6 comments

Correction

21.02.2012 10:58

The email is

antiprison2012@riseup.net not

antiprisongathering2012@riseup.net

some person
mail e-mail: antiprison2012@riseup.net

Making a valid point I think

21.02.2012 12:33

Could be interesting, but would be more interested if this were being put on by an established group/organisation/collective with a pedigree and history of prisoner support, rather than by a seemingly anonymous ad hoc group who will maybe disappear just as quickly as they may have come together. Are any established groups involved and is it possible to say who'll be speaking? I've been to things to this before which had little or no outcome, and so were essentially a waste of time.

Anon

@anon

21.02.2012 16:46

Speaking as one of "some people", I think your condescending remarks speak to one of the anarchist movements problems regarding anti-prison activity. That people wish to not always organise as part of an organisation, and that some might wish to organise relatively annoymously and without banging on about all the great things their organisation has done in the past. Since you ask some of us have been involved in prisoner support and solidarity work for a few years, me I've been doing it in one way or another pretty much since I was released after being locked up for a so called "social crime" not a "political one! a decade ago. But as I was neither an activist nor a member of an organisation to begin with then it probably doesn't count. I'm part of setting up this gathering 'cause as someone who has spent about a 1/6th of their lives in some sort of prison and as an anarchist, I reckon it's something that we could do a fuck load more about, and I want to do what I can. But if you wanna keep waiting for organisations with pedigrees and whatever the fuck then you can do that instead.

a person without pedigree
mail e-mail: antiprison2012@riseup,net

Some people

22.02.2012 10:44

I'm not sure why my inquiry elicited such a pissy response. In my experience groups/collectives/organisations with a history of commitment to prisoner support and anti-prison activity are more likely to display that same commitment in the future than the many fly-by-night set-ups I've come across in the past. It also means that when people email an established email address they are less likely to be actually emailing the cops. I'm not aware of Nottingham having much of a history of prisoner support work, and setting up a 'gathering' seems an odd way of organising anonymously, but good luck with it, and I hope something comes out of it beyond mere chatter. The point about 'pedigrees' is that they can be verified, but of course they also have to be earned.

Anon

Fare point

22.02.2012 17:07

Your wishlist sounds good but that's a wishlist not a programme. If you want people to travel can xou actually whats going to be on?

London gal

Hope to see you both there

22.02.2012 18:50

@anon apoligies for the pissiness if that's how you took my response. Fair enough if you don't want to participate, no doubt your contribution would be valuable.

@london gal, yep we'll announce the actual programme nearer the time, along with the venue and other bits of infomation. We put up those ideas and question, because it's around those we want to have discussions, and share ideas, and spread infomation. It was phrased in such a way that would encourage people outside those we know to participate, maybe that was a mistake. Anyways, maybe see ya there, maybe not.

some person
Homepage: antiprison2012@riseup.net

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