Introduction -- We shall have order : the cultural politics of law and order -- The age of Jackson : George Jackson and the radical critique of incarceration -- What works? : reform and repression in prison programs -- We took the weight : incarcerated writers and artists in the Black Arts movement -- Cell block theater : entertainment, liberation, and the politics of prison theater -- Radical chic : Jack Henry Abbott and the decline of prison programming -- Conclusion
Bernstein explores the forces that sparked a dramatic "prison art renaissance" in the 1970s, when incarcerated people produced powerful works of writing, performance, and visual art. An extraordinary range of prison programs--fine arts, theater, secondary education, and prisoner-run programs--allowed the voices of prisoners such as George Jackson, Miguel Pinero, and Jack Henry Abbott to influence the Black Arts Movement, the Nuyorican writers, "New Journalism," and political theater, among the most important aesthetic contributions of the decade
