''From Prison to Revolt'' is a 1973 book by
Serge Livrozet
Serge Livrozet (21 October 1939 – 29 November 2022) was a French writer and ex-convict.
Livrozet was born in 1939 in Toulon, France. He was well known for his work advocating against solitary confinement and the death penalty. He also acted, p ...
, with a preface by
Michel Foucault
Paul-Michel Foucault (, ; ; 15 October 192625 June 1984) was a French philosopher, historian of ideas, writer, political activist, and literary critic. Foucault's theories primarily address the relationship between power and knowledge, and how ...
who characterizes it as "''a philosophy of the people''".
Arrested and tried, Livrozet was convicted of a crime against property. Through this partly autobiographical text, he highlights the social causes of delinquency, analyzing the
prison
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...
from political, economic, and ideological points of view as an ex-prisoner. It has since been regularly republished.
Background
Convicted on several occasions for various burglaries, Serge Livrozet was released from prison in 1972.
Partly writing in prison,
[.] he published his first book ''De la prison à la révolte'' début 1973.
Michel Foucault
Paul-Michel Foucault (, ; ; 15 October 192625 June 1984) was a French philosopher, historian of ideas, writer, political activist, and literary critic. Foucault's theories primarily address the relationship between power and knowledge, and how ...
wrote the preface.
[.] The two men were among the founders of the Prisoners' Action Committee.
The preface presents the book as an "''individual and strong expression of a certain popular experience and thought regarding the law and illegality.'' ''A philosophy of the people''".
According to the former French police officer, Georges Moréas, this "''first book, written in large part behind bars
..shows the life circumstances, the series of events, that lead many individuals behind bars.'' ''In other words, there is not born criminal.''"
Legacy
In February 2000, invited to a literary program for a new edition of his first book, Serge Livrozet reiterated his point: "''Prison is the receptacle, the terminal of our unjust society. A place for the poor, where the excluded are excluded
..I have always said that theft has allowed me to be at this table today. I was destined to suffer and die, perhaps win the lottery if I let myself be trapped. I am not proud, but I do not regret anything.''"
Philippe Lançon
Philippe Lançon () is a journalist working for the French satirical weekly newspaper '' Charlie Hebdo'', who was wounded in the terrorist attack perpetrated against that publication on 7 January 2015.
Work
Lançon works primarily for other Fren ...
, ''Après coup. Les taulards.'', Libération
''Libération'' (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Initially positioned on the far-left of France's ...
, 15 février 200
Editions
* 1973, 1975, 1986,
Mercure de France
The was originally a French gazette and literary magazine first published in the 17th century, but after several incarnations has evolved as a publisher, and is now part of the Éditions Gallimard publishing group.
The gazette was published f ...
.
* 1999,
L'Esprit frappeur
* 2000,
L'Esprit frappeur
See also
*
Prison abolition
The prison abolition movement is a network of groups and activists that seek to reduce or eliminate prisons and the prison system, and replace them with systems of rehabilitation that do not place a focus on punishment and government institutiona ...
Bibliography
*
Bibliothèque nationale de France
The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...
: ''De la prison à la révolte'' : essai-témoignage par Serge Livrozet; préface de Michel Foucault.
* ''Nouveau millénaire, défis libertaires : de la prison à la révolte'', analyse sur 1libertaire.free.fr.
*
* Christophe Soulié, ''Années 70 : contestation de la prison : l'information est une arme'', Raison présente, n°130, 2e trimestre 1999, ''Prison et droits de l'homme'', pp. 21–38.
References
{{authority control
1973 books
French-language books
Autobiographies
Books about imprisonment