Artikel
No Way Out: Crime, Punishment and the Capitalization of Power
The United States is often hailed as the world's largest 'free market'. But this 'free market' is also the world's largest penal colony. It holds over seven million adults – roughly five per cent of the labour force – in jail, in prison, on parole and on probation. Is this an anomaly, or does the 'free market' require massive state punishment? Why did the correctional population start to rise in the 1980s, together with the onset of neoliberalism? How is this increase related to the upward redistribution of income and the capitalization of power? Can soaring incarceration sustain the unprecedented power of dominant capital, or is there a reversal in the offing? The paper examines these questions by juxtaposing the ‘Rusche thesis’ with the notion of capitalism as a mode of power. The empirical analysis suggests that the Rusche thesis holds under the normal circumstances of ‘business as usual’, but breaks down during periods of systemic crisis. During the systemic crises of the 1930s and the 2000s, unemployment increased sharply, but crime and the severity of punishment, instead of rising, dropped perceptibly.
- Language
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Englisch
- Bibliographic citation
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Journal: Crime, Law and Social Change ; Volume: 61 ; Year: 2014 ; Issue: 3 ; Pages: 251-271 ; Toronto: The Bichler and Nitzan Archives
- Classification
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Wirtschaft
- Subject
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capital as power
crime
Georg Rusche
punishment
systemic crisis
unemployment
United States
- Event
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Geistige Schöpfung
- (who)
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Bichler, Shimshon
Nitzan, Jonathan
- Event
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Veröffentlichung
- (who)
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The Bichler and Nitzan Archives
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften, Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft
- (where)
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Toronto
- (when)
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2014
- DOI
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doi:10.1007/s10611-013-9505-3
- Handle
- Last update
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10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET
Data provider
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft. If you have any questions about the object, please contact the data provider.
Object type
- Artikel
Associated
- Bichler, Shimshon
- Nitzan, Jonathan
- The Bichler and Nitzan Archives
- ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften, Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft
Time of origin
- 2014
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הקפיטליזציה של סרטי הקולנוע (The Capitalization of Movies)
The Nordhaus Racket: How to Use Capitalization to Minimize the Cost of Climate Change and Win a Nobel for ‘Sustainable Growth’
The Scientist and the Church
Francis’ Buy-to-Build Estimates for Britain and the United States: A Comment
Can Capitalists Afford a Trumped Recovery?
The Capital as Power Aproach: An Invited-then-Rejected Interview with Shimshon Bichler and Jonathan Nitzan
The Business of Strategic Sabotage
The Mismatch Thesis. Fiction and Reality in the Accumulation of Capital
Capital Accumulation: Breaking the Dualism of "Economics" and "Politics"
The 1-2-3 Toolbox of Mainstream Economics: Promising Everything, Delivering Nothing
Can Capitalists Afford Recovery? A 2018 Update
No Way Out: Crime, Punishment and the Limits to Power (Transcript and Video)
הקפיטליזציה של סרטי הקולנוע (The Capitalization of Movies)
The Nordhaus Racket: How to Use Capitalization to Minimize the Cost of Climate Change and Win a Nobel for ‘Sustainable Growth’
The Scientist and the Church
Francis’ Buy-to-Build Estimates for Britain and the United States: A Comment
Can Capitalists Afford a Trumped Recovery?
The Capital as Power Aproach: An Invited-then-Rejected Interview with Shimshon Bichler and Jonathan Nitzan
The Business of Strategic Sabotage
The Mismatch Thesis. Fiction and Reality in the Accumulation of Capital
Capital Accumulation: Breaking the Dualism of "Economics" and "Politics"
The 1-2-3 Toolbox of Mainstream Economics: Promising Everything, Delivering Nothing