Loc Wacquant

Crafting the neoliberal state Workfare, prisonfare and social insecurity

Constructia statului neoliberal Woekfare, Prinsonfare si insecuritate sociala

n pedepsirea sraci, am arat c ascensiunea a statului penale n Statele Unite i

a altor societi avansate n ultimii sfert de secol este un rspuns la creterea
insecuritii sociale, nu insecuritatea penale; c modificrile n politicile de
bunstare i justiie sunt interdependente, ca "workfare" restrictive i "prisonfare"
expansiv sunt cuplate ntr-o invenie de organizare singur la disciplina fraciunile
precar a clasei postindustriale de lucru, precum i faptul c un sistem carceral
harnic nu este o abatere de la, dar o component constitutive ale, neoliberale
Leviathan. In this article, I draw out the theoretical implications of this diagnosis
of the government of emerging insecurity social. Am implementa conceptul de
Pierre Bourdieu lui "domeniu birocratice" de a revizui Piven i teza clasic Cloward
privind reglementarea srciei prin asisten public, i contrast modelul de
penalizare ca tehnic de gestionare a marginalitii n metropola dubl la
viziunea lui Michel Foucault a " disciplinare societate ", contul lui David Garland
a" culturii de control "i caracterizarea lui David Harvey a politicii neoliberale.
mpotriva concepia economic subire de neoliberalismului ca regul de pia
care ecourile ideologiei sale, eu propun o specificaie gros sociologic implic
workfare de supraveghere, un stat proactiv penal i figur de stil cultural al
"responsabilitii individuale". Acest lucru sugereaz c avem nevoie de a
teoretiza nchisoare, nu ca o tehnic pentru punerea n aplicare de aplicare a
legii, ci ca o capacitate de politic de baz a cror implementare selective i
agresive n regiunile de jos a spaiului social este constitutiv duntoare pentru
idealurile de cetenie democratic.

In Punishing the Poor, I show that the ascent of the penal state in the United
States and other advanced societies over the past quarter-century is a response
to rising social insecurity, not criminal insecurity; that changes in welfare and
justice policies are interlinked, as restrictive 'workfare' and expansive 'prisonfare'
are coupled into a single organizational contraption to discipline the precarious
fractions of the postindustrial working class; and that a diligent carceral system is
not a deviation from, but a constituent component of, the neoliberal Leviathan. In
this article, I draw out the theoretical implications of this diagnosis of the
emerging government of social insecurity. I deploy Pierre Bourdieu's concept of
'bureaucratic field' to revise Piven and Cloward's classic thesis on the regulation
of poverty via public assistance, and contrast the model of penalization as
technique for the management of marginality in the dual metropolis to Michel
Foucault's vision of the 'disciplinary society', David Garland's account of the
'culture of control' and David Harvey's characterization of neoliberal politics.
Against the thin economic conception of neoliberalism as market rule that echoes

its ideology, I propose a thick sociological specification entailing supervisory

workfare, a proactive penal state and the cultural trope of 'individual
responsibility'. This suggests that we need to theorize the prison, not as a
technical implement for law enforcement, but as a core political capacity whose
selective and aggressive deployment in the lower regions of social space is
constitutively injurious to the ideals of democratic citizenship.