Surplus Value: The Political Economy of Prisons and Policing (From States of Confinement: Policing, Detention, and Prisons, P 205-221, 2000, Joy James, ed. -- See NCJ-183621)

• NCJ Number: 183632
• Author(s): David Theo Goldberg
• Date Published: 2000
• Length: 17 pages
• Sale Source: St. Martin's Press
• Publication Format: Book (Hardbound)
• Publication Type: Collected Work
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The past decade has witnessed massive growth in the United States in both prison construction and levels of incarceration, especially in racially configured terms, and this growth has occurred at a time when profound shifts have emerged in the foundations of the American political economy.

Abstract

A key question is whether growth in prison construction and racially driven incarceration are significantly linked to broader shifts in the political economy. The fact that blacks are incarcerated at three to four times their share of the national population and that Hispanics are incarcerated at three times their share of the national population is a complex phenomenon that requires a complex response. Two factors related to this phenomenon are considered: (1) emergence of the new segregation--residentially, educationally, and criminally; and (2) political economy of prison construction. The author believes that placing imprisonment at the center of the national consciousness and as a cornerstone of the national political economy limits freedom. 20 notes