Kicked to the Curb: The triangular trade of neoliberal polity, social insecurity, and penal expulsion

Abstract

The slave trade of the 1700s constituted a triangular trade in human cargo. Critically, there is a contemporary triangular trade, the three limbs of which are neoliberal polity; the reproduction of social insecurity; and the modernised transformation of criminal justice and penal policy in the direction of exclusionary punishment and prison. Additionally, the contemporary triangular trade converges in a double fist of negation: the first is the expulsive consequences of the neoliberal order; the second is the response of the criminal justice domain exemplified in retributive punishment and expanding prison populations. The original and timely contribution of this article juxtaposes the two trades, separated by over three hundred years, to allow the former to reach into the present to advance new insights into the latter.

Mass incarceration and neoliberal penality: A response to Lloyd and Whitehead's Kicked to the Curb

“…Lloyd and Whitehead (2018) propose a tripartite model -neoliberalism, precarity and mass incarceration This paper accepts the centrality of race to these issues and the potential power of the triangular trade as an analytical metaphor. However, it argues that the model that Lloyd and Whitehead (2018) present offers, at best, a partial explanation for mass incarceration. The current paper will argue that Lloyd and Whitehead (2018) focus on an economic reductionist analysis of the rise of mass incarceration excludes broader cultural and social attitudes to crime.…”

“…Using the "triangular trade" that underpinned chattel slavery as an analytical metaphor, Lloyd and Whitehead (2018) argue that the growth of mass incarceration is an endogenous feature of neoliberalism. Lloyd and Whitehead (2018) propose a tripartite model -neoliberalism, precarity and mass incarceration This paper accepts the centrality of race to these issues and the potential power of the triangular trade as an analytical metaphor. However, it argues that the model that Lloyd and Whitehead (2018) present offers, at best, a partial explanation for mass incarceration.…”

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This paper is written in response to Lloyd and Whitehead's (2018) Kicked to the Curb: The triangular trade of neoliberal polity, social insecurity, and penal expulsion. Using the "triangular trade" that underpinned chattel slavery as an analytical metaphor, Lloyd and Whitehead (2018) argue that the growth of mass incarceration is an endogenous feature of neoliberalism. They conclude a distinctive form of penality -neoliberal penality has developed over the past forty years.

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“…They conclude a distinctive form of penality -neoliberal penality has developed over the past forty years. Lloyd and Whitehead (2018) propose that a tripartite model -neoliberalism, precarity and mass incarceration -as the basis for a model of neoliberal penality. This paper uses an exploration of the arguments raised by Lloyd and Whitehead (2018) to examine the links between neoliberalism and the expansion of the penal state.…”

“…Lloyd and Whitehead (2018) propose that a tripartite model -neoliberalism, precarity and mass incarceration -as the basis for a model of neoliberal penality. This paper uses an exploration of the arguments raised by Lloyd and Whitehead (2018) to examine the links between neoliberalism and the expansion of the penal state. Whilst recognising the centrality of race to these issues, the paper argues that the model that Lloyd and Whitehead ( 2018) present offers a partial explanation for mass incarceration.…”