Modernity and the Punitive (From New Punitiveness: Trends, Theories, Perspectives, P 239-255, 2005, John Pratt, David Brown, et al., eds. -- See NCJ-210217)

• NCJ Number: 210231
• Author(s): Simon Hallsworth
• Date Published: 2005
• Length: 17 pages
• Sale Source: Willan Publishing
• Publication Format: Book Chapter
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This paper examines whether penal excess is an outgrowth of modernity and to what extent.

Abstract

Results of research conducted in 1989 indicate that the seeds of penal excess are already present within modernity and under the right conditions will bloom and grow. In a follow-up to these results, this paper examines whether penal excess is indeed an outgrowth of modernity, as the 1989 study suggests. It also examines the evidence used to substantiate the results of the research to prove its legitimacy, and then reconsiders modernity by rethinking its nature in terms of general economics and the relationship of modernity to notions of expenditure in general and deficit expenditures in particular. It is argued that punitive excess derives its authority from transgressive heterogenic forces which are normally suppressed in modernity. Before one can consign modernity to the wreckage, there is a need to be more aware of the limits and limitations of the criticisms directed against it. This paper shows that modernity may not in all respects be as guilty as charged. References