Why Prison?

410 Pages·2013·1.915 MB·English

by  Dr David Scott

more information – www.cambridge.org/9781107030749

WHY PRISON?
Prisonstudieshasexperiencedaperiodofgreatcreativityinrecentyears,
andthiscollectiondrawstogether someofthefield’smostexciting and
innovative contemporary critical writers in order to engage directly
with one of the most profound questions in penology – why prison? In
addressingthisquestion,theauthorsconnectcontemporarypenological
thought with anenquirythat hasreceived theattentionofsomeofthe
greatestthinkersonpunishmentinthepast.Throughcriticalexploration
of the theories, policies and practices of imprisonment, the authors
analyse why prison persists and why prisoner populations are rapidly
rising in many countries. Collectively, the chapters not only provide a
sophisticateddiagnosisandcritiqueofglobalhyper-incarcerationbutalso
suggestprinciplesandstrategiesthatcouldbeadoptedtoradicallyreduce
ourrelianceuponimprisonment.
DAVIDSCOTTisaseniorlecturerincriminologyatLiverpoolJohnMoores
University.
CAMBRIDGE STUDIES IN LAW AND SOCIETY
Cambridge Studies in Law and Society aims to publish the best scholarly
work on legal discourse and practice in its social and institutional
contexts,combiningtheoreticalinsightsandempiricalresearch.
Thefieldsthatitcoversare:studiesoflawinaction;thesociologyof
law;theanthropologyoflaw;culturalstudiesoflaw,includingtherole
of legal discourses in social formations; law and economics; law and
politics; and studies of governance. The books consider all forms of
legal discourse across societies, rather than being limited to lawyers’
discoursesalone.
The series editors come from a range of disciplines: academic law;
socio-legalstudies;sociology;andanthropology.Allhavebeenactively
involvedinteachingandwritingaboutlawincontext.
Serieseditors
ChrisArup
MonashUniversity,Victoria
MartinChanock
LaTrobeUniversity,Melbourne
SallyEngleMerry
NewYorkUniversity
SusanSilbey
MassachusettsInstituteofTechnology
Alistofbooksintheseriescanbefoundatthebackofthisbook.
WHY PRISON?
Editedby
David Scott
UniversityPrintingHouse,CambridgeCB28BS,UnitedKingdom
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Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107030749
©CambridgeUniversityPress2013
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Firstpublished2013
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LibraryofCongressCataloguinginPublicationdata
Whyprison?/editedbyDavidScott.
pages cm.–(Cambridgestudiesinlawandsociety)
ISBN978-1-107-03074-9
1. Prisons. 2. Punishment. 3. Crime. 4. Criminaljustice,Administrationof.
I. Scott,DavidGordon,editorofcompilation.
HV8665.W43 2013
365–dc23
2013005147
ISBN978-1-107-03074-9Hardback
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CONTENTS
Listoffiguresandtables pagevii
Listofcontributors viii
Tableofcases xiii
Foreword:onstemmingthetide xv
ThomasMathiesen
1. Whyprison?Posingthequestion 1
DavidScott
part i: penal discipline 23
2. Prisonsandsocialstructuresinlate-capitalistsocieties 25
AlessandroDeGiorgi
3. TheprisonparadoxinneoliberalBritain 44
EmmaBell
4. Craftingtheneoliberalstate:workfare,prisonfareand
socialinsecurity 65
LoïcWacquant
part ii: public participation 87
5. Pleasure,punishmentandtheprofessionalmiddleclass 89
MagnusHörnqvist
6. Penalspectatorshipandthecultureofpunishment 108
MichelleBrown
7. Prisonandthepublicsphere:towardademocratic
theoryofpenalorder 125
VanessaBarker
v
CONTENTS
part iii: state detention 147
8. Theironcageofprisonstudies 149
MarkBrown
9. Theprisonandnationalidentity:citizenship,punishment
andthesovereignstate 170
EmmaKaufmanandMaryBosworth
10. Punishingthedetritusandthedamned:penaland
semi-penalinstitutionsinLiverpoolandthe
NorthWest 189
VickieCooperandJoeSim
part iv: penal reform 211
11. Whyprison?IncarcerationandtheGreatRecession 213
KeallyMcBride
12. Thepoliticsofthecarceralstate:yesterday,todayand
tomorrow 233
MarieGottschalk
part v: abolitionist alternatives 259
13. Schoolingthecarceralstate:challengingthe
school-to-prisonpipeline 261
EricaMeiners
14. Whynoprisons? 278
JuliaC.Oparah
15. Unequalledinpain 301
DavidScott
Bibliography 325
Index 370
vi
FIGURES AND TABLES
Figure2.1 StateandfederalprisonersintheUS(1925–2010) page32
Table1.1 Selectedprisonerrates(per100,000)intwelve
countries(1970–2010) 3
Table2.1 ImprisonmentratesinselectedEuropeancountries
andintheUSA 36
Table2.2 Hyper-criminalisationofforeignersinselected
Europeancountries(2010) 37
Table7.1 Democraticprocessesbydecentralisationandcivic
engagement 137
Table7.2 Democraticprocessbypenalorder 137
vii
CONTRIBUTORS
VanessaBarkerisAssociateProfessorofSociologyatStockholm
University.SheistheauthorofThePoliticsofImprisonment:How
theDemocraticProcessShapestheWayAmericaPunishesOffenders
(2009)andiscurrentlyworkingonacomparativeanalysisofglobal
mobilityandpenalorder.
EmmaBellisseniorlecturerattheUniversityofSavoieinChambéry,
wheresheteachesBritishhistoryandcontemporaryBritishpolitics.
HerresearchaimstosituateBritishpenalpolicyinitswidersocial,
politicalandhistoricalcontext.SheistheauthorofCriminalJustice
andNeoliberalism(2011),inwhichsheattemptstounderstandthe
so-called‘punitiveturn’inBritishcriminaljusticepolicyunderthe
NewLabouradministrationandexamineitslinkstoneoliberal
politicaleconomy.InSeptember2012Emmawaselectedasthe
newcoordinatoroftheEuropeanGroupfortheStudyofDeviance
andSocialControl.
MaryBosworthisReaderinCriminology,UniversityofOxfordand,
concurrently,ProfessorofCriminology,MonashUniversity
Australia.Sheisco-editorofthejournalTheoreticalCriminology
andrecentbooktitlesincludeExplainingU.S.Imprisonment
(2010a)andWhatisCriminology?(2011).
MarkBrownteachescriminologyattheUniversityofMelbourne.Hehas
writtenonanumberofaspectsofpunishment,penalhistoryand
theory.Heiscurrentlyengagedinresearchprojectsontheprocess
ofdesistancefromoffending,onthemodernhistoryoftheprisonin
Australiaandonthejurisprudenceofoffenderrisk.Heisalso
writingabookonpenalpowerandcolonialruleinIndia.
MichelleBrownisAssistantProfessorofSociologyandfacultyfellowat
theCentrefortheStudyofSocialJusticeattheUniversityof
viii