This book explores the origins of the so-called 'punitive turn' in penal policy across Western nations over the past two decades. It demonstrates how the context of neoliberalism has informed penal policy-making and argues that it is ultimately neoliberalism which has led to the recent intensification of punishment.

Autorentext
EMMA BELL senior lecturer at the University of Savoie, France, where she teaches British history and contemporary British politics, focusing particularly on Thatcherism and New Labour. Her research aims to situate British penal policy in its wider social, political and historical context.

Inhalt
Introduction PART I: THE INTENSIFICATION OF PUNISHMENT Lock 'em up! Trojan Horses: The rise of out-of-court justice The New Welfare Sanction Erecting the Boundaries of Exclusion Whither the Punitive Turn? PART II: EXPLAINING PUNITIVENESS Defining Neoliberalism Neoliberal Punishment Constructing the Authoritarian Consensus Conclusion: Towards Penal Dystopia?