Introducing Manus Prison theory: knowing border violence

ABSTRACT

Manus Prison theory is a coherent intellectual, creative and political project inspired over four years of ongoing research and organizing between Behrouz Boochani and Tofighian in what we refer to as a shared philosophical activity. Similar collaboration, consultation and sharing precede the project and include networks of scholarship and collective action. The theory has experienced a heightened interest and urgency since the release of No Friend but the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison by Boochani (2018) and after winning prestigious awards. It aims to analyse the detention industry by identifying its connections with other forms of violence and domination; this approach focuses on how systems of oppression are interconnected, mutually reinforcing and multipliable. By considering an intersectional and decolonial approach and framing the analysis of Manus Prison within the discourse pertaining to kyriarchy we expose how border violence is rooted in Australia’s colonial imaginary and pervades socio-political structures and institutions.