Confronting Counterinsurgency: Cop Cities and Democracy's Terrors

“A work of radical care and love, a study guide for the urgency of the moment” Dian Million, author of Therapeutic Nations

“Guides us through confrontation with counterinsurgency in empire’s proxy wars, colonies, prisons and schools” Frances Madeson, author of Cooperative Village

“An incendiary political and philosophical reflection” Ken Fero, radical filmmaker and convenor of The People’s Tribunal on Police Killings

As we step into an era of rising fascism and normalized genocide, Confronting Counterinsurgency is an invaluable contribution to the fightback.

Joy James brings together the voices of frontline activists, artists, and organizers from movements against militarism and state violence in the USA, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Palestine, Brazil, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and within prison walls. The book examines the role of institutions, universities and nonprofit organizations in the suppression of radical movements. Analyzing historical and contemporary colonialism, slavery, and militarized policing—such as Cop Cities, ICE, and the redesigned School of Americas—Confronting Counterinsurgency is a crucial tool for radicalizing and uniting our movements to fight for a better world.

Joy James is a political philosopher who works with organizers. Her books include In Pursuit of Revolutionary Love; New Bones Abolition; and Contextualizing Angela Davis. Her edited volumes include Beyond Cop Cities and ENGAGE.

© 2025 Pluto Press (Ebook): 9780745351551

Release date

Ebook: 20 August 2025