4: Controlling Labour Pt. 1

Question 1

• historical materialism

Answer 1

economic base (means/relations of production) as the primary thing shaping/determining everything else (ideological superstructure)

punishment, as something part of the ideological superstructure, always serves to reinforce the means/relations of production within the economic base

conflict view as opposed to Durkheim where people are constantly competing for limited resources

Question 2

fundamental thesis of Rusche and Kirschheimer

Answer 2

structure and logic of capitalism (prevailing economic system we have in place in post-industrial societies) is inherently criminogenic
- intrinsically causes crime and criminal/deviant behaviour because the working classes within the logic of capitalism are reduced to such poverty and destitution that they have no choice but to commit crime to survive

punishment depends on the economic production system holding in that society at that specifically moment
- labour surplus results in harsher conditions of punishment

Question 3

feudalism (16th century) and punishment

Answer 3

corporal punishment (beatings, floggings)
- punishment inflicting pain but not durable harm

hereditary lords owning the land depend on able-bodied peasants to work the land

unlikely that the ruling class wants to inflict death/dismemberment on peasants they rely on

Question 4

mercantilism (late 16th to early 17th century) and punishment

Answer 4

indentured servitude

highly state-run economy focused on maximising exports, minimising imports and the prevailing motivation is competition between various European monarchs for wealth, power and prestige

labour needs to generate profit particularly within colonies

Question 5

early industrialisation (mid-18th century) and punishment

Answer 5

houses of correction

large need for manpower/labour power because of labour shortage

state-run government institutions where criminals are sent and morally corrected through hard labour
- ideological shift believing that hard labour has to be done within institutions and can change criminals
- congruent with needs of economic base

Question 6

• urbanisation

Answer 6

more people moving from the countryside into cities, responsive to the sudden need for factory workers and unskilled labour

Question 7

*mechanisation

Answer 7

general use of machines in factory production, decreasing the need for human labour

advent of technological advances around the turn of the 19th century with coal and steam power

Question 8

• liberalisation

Answer 8

casualisation of the economy where it was previously controlled by the monarchy under mercantilism

late industrialisation where industrial bourgeoisie/capitalist class begin advocating for more freedom of manufacturing and trade

Question 9

results from urbanisation, mechanisation and liberalisation

Answer 9

labour surplus in industrial cities

increasingly repressed wages

increasing conflict between prison and free labour