Toward a Marxian Penology: Captive Criminal Populations as Economic Threats and Resources

The rate of surplus value and crime. A theoretical and empirical examination of Marxian economic theory and criminology

“…As marginalization expands, a larger portion of the population is placed in structural locations conducive to crime. At the same time, the perceived threat associated with this population causes increased attempts at formal criminal justice control of marginal groups (e.g, see Box 1984Box , 1987Adamson 1983Adamson , 1984. This reasoning supplies the impetus behind the hypothesis that there should be a direct and positive association between the rate of surplus value and crime.…”

Castigo y Economía Política

“…En este contexto, los cambios en las prácticas penales -y específicamente, las variaciones en la severidad del castigo, medida por las tasas de encarcelamiento-fueron analizados contra el trasfondo de la transformación de las relaciones de clases en las sociedades capitalistas avanzadas (Spitzer, 1975: Quinney, 1980Adamson, 1984). Así, mientras los historiadores revisionistas del castigo dieron a conocer las conexiones históricas entre la invención de la cárcel y el nacimiento del sistema capitalista de producción basado en la explotación extensiva del trabajo asalariado; los críticos neo-marxistas de las políticas penales contemporá-neas examinaron la persistencia de esa misma conexión en sociedades de capitalismo tardío, analizando la relación que se establece entre las formas penales actuales y los mercados de trabajo capitalistas (para una revisión de esta literatura, ver Chiricos y DeLone, 1992;Melossi, 1998;De Giorgi, 2006: 19-39).…”

Corporations Go to Prisons: The Expansion of Corporate Power in the Correctional Industry

“…The revival of private-sector prison labor served as a means to regulate the economy and undermine union power (Adamson, 1984;Weiss, 2001). During the late 1960s and early 1970s, unemployment was low and wages continued to rise, and workers were engaging in strike activities at an historically high rate (Parenti, 1999).…”

“…During the late 1960s and early 1970s, unemployment was low and wages continued to rise, and workers were engaging in strike activities at an historically high rate (Parenti, 1999). The declining productivity and rising wage squeezed corporate profits, and the government began to seek ways of using the growing pool of captive labor as an economic resource (Adamson, 1984). Government officials and prison administrators began to advocate private sector prison industry under the rhetoric of rehabilitation.…”

“…During the 1880s, the National Labor Union denounced convict labor at its first conventions; and the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions petitioned state legislatures, lobbied state and federal politicians, and condemned manufacturers and purchasers of prison-made products at rallies (Adamson, 1984). Organized labor had some success in pressuring northern politicians who attempted to attract the labor vote, but the political strength of the labor movement was not enough to rescind the use of prison labor (Barnes and Teeters, 1943).…”