Government mining of databases full of personal information on citizens. Wiretaps without judicial review. National ID cards. There couldn’t be a better time for a reprinting of Ken Lawrence’s 1985 essay, The New State Repression, originally published by the International Network Against State Repression. The 24-page pamphlet published by Tarantula Publishing and Distribution comes with a new introduction by Kristian Williams, a local activist who recently has produced two highly-praised works on the roots of two important mechanism for repression: the police and prisons.

The New State Repression By Ken Lawrence Introduction by Kristian Lawrence Trantula Pub. & Dist. 2006 Portland, OR www.socialwar.net 24 pp; paper; $3 postpaid

Lawrence, writing at the height of the Reagan Revolution, saw a shift in the state’s attitude about keeping the rabble in line. Rather than being prepared for the occasional outburst of civil resistance, a new mindset was settling in that said that far from being sporadic, “insurgency” was an ongoing thing even within more settled states like the U.S. Security could only be achieved by shifting away from the traditional reliance on local forces — that often only inflamed matters, as evidence by southern police and the Civil Rights Movement — and creating an “anti-insurgency” infrastructure. In other words, those in power began to look at how to keep the boot consistently and effectively on the collective necks of the citizenry.

Lawrence explores the efforts by the British in North Ireland to achieve this and the influence this had on U.S. thinking. Much of this is now being manifested in the drive for information to combat “terrorism.” With fat dossiers on everyone, the security forces say they can protect us from terrorists before the latter have a chance to strike. Of course, they will also be able to keep everyone in line, too.

A 24-page pamphlet is hardly adequate to give this issue the coverage it needs, particularly a discussion as to how the Left should respond to those things Lawrence identified and which are being realized under the Bush administration. The New State Repression, however, serves as a good spur for such discussions to take place within our movement and to take place now.

—Dave Mazza