Out of Order

Out of Order provides a comprehensive account of the imprisonment of women for politically motivated offenses in Northern Ireland between 1972 and 1999. Women political prisoners were engaged in a campaign to obtain formal recognition as political prisoners, and then to retain this status after it was revoked. Their lengthy involvement in a prison conflict of international significance was notable because of its longevity as well as the radical aspects of the womens prison protests, which included hunger strikes, dirty-protests, and campaigns against institutional abuses. Out of Order brings out the qualitatively distinctive character and punitive ethos of regimes of political imprisonment for women, exploring the dynamics of their internal organization, the ways in which they subverted order and security in prison, and their strategies of resistance and exploitation. Drawing upon a wide range of first hand accounts and interviews, this book brings together perspectives from the areas

This book provides a comprehensive account of the imprisonment of women for politically motivated offences in Northern Ireland between 1972 and 1999. Women political prisoners were engaged in a campaign to obtain formal recognition as political prisoners, and then to retain this status after it was revoked. Their lengthy involvement in a prison conflict of international significance was notable as much because of its longevity as the radical aspects of their prison protests, which included hunger strikes, dirty-protests and campaigns against institutional abuses. Out of Order brings out the qualitatively distinctive character and punitive ethos of regimes of political imprisonment for women, exploring the dynamics of their internal organisation, the ways in which they subverted order and security in prison, and their strategies of resistance and exploitation. Drawing upon a wide range of first hand accounts and interviews this book brings together perspectives from the areas of political imprisonment, the penal punishment of women and the question of agency and resistance in prison to create a unique, highly readable study of a neglected subject.

Introduction 1. Violence, laws and commissions: preparing for the detention of women 2. Inside the carceral network, 1972-98 3. Paradoxes of women's political imprisonment: sociological narratives and closures 4. The dynamics of punishment and resistance in Northern Ireland's prisons 5. 'Nor meekly serve our time': a continuum of resistance 6. 'Making space for ourselves': reconstructing a prison community 7. 'We are not criminals': political identity as resistance 8. The turning of the screw: active disengagement, intimidation and the conditioning of staff 9. 'Our bodies are weapons of war': a penal dialectic of the body 10. 'Working with the system': resistance in the context of 'normalization', 1986-1998 11. 'Turningthe place inside out': extending the constituency of prison struggle 12. Conclusion: 'Doing your time right' - penal pain, resistance and survival

Mary Corcoran is a Lecturer in Criminology at Keele University. Some of her recent publications include: 'Normalization and its discontents - Constructing the 'irreconcilable' female political prisoner in northern Ireland'. British Journal of Criminology, vol. 47(3), 405-422 (2007); '"Talking about resistance": women political prisoners and the dynamics of prison conflict, Northern Ireland' in Expanding the Criminological Imagination: Critical Readings in Criminology, Barton A, Corteen K, Scott D, Whyte D eds (Willan, 2006).