The Political Economy of Punishment and the Penal State in Latin America

Abstract

In both criminology and the sociology of punishment there has been a rebirth of the political economy of crime and punishment, where the relationship between these phenomena and levels of inequality within a given society is a key aspect, to assess the transformation and features of the crime control fields of contemporary societies and to relate them to different typologies. This chapter will discuss and problematize this perspective through the analysis of Latin American crime control fields. Considering the flaws of general typologies, usually coming from the global north, the chapter will stress the need for a more detailed comparative analysis of the penal state and the institutional structures, dynamics and dispositions present in every jurisdiction, in both the global north and south, that have a direct impact on penal policy and its outcomes.

Inequality, welfare and punishment. Comparative notes between the Global North and South

“…In both cases, these regression analyses confirm the radical dissonance of the role of changes in income inequality and welfare generosity in penal evolution in the recent period in Latin America, compared to what has been observed around countries of the Global North – in the same direction, Iturralde (2021: 167–175).…”

“…This lack of association between income inequality and welfare generosity, on the one hand, and punitiveness, on the other, in the present and the recent past in Latin America (also noted by Iturralde, 2021: 167–175) contrasts with what has been observed in the literature about the Global North. Garland (2017: 82–83) has pointed out in relation to the association between welfare and punitiveness that literature is more significant for extreme cases than it is in the middle range.…”

“…This essay, following these intriguing comments by Lappi-Seppälä, aims to make a contribution ‘to southernize’ (Carrington et al, 2019: 179–196) this rich debate, turning its gaze to a region of the Global South that has not been present as such until now in this literature: Latin America – for a recent contribution in this direction, see Iturralde (2021: 167–175). To what extent does exploring this region question the strong statements so far developed in this direction?…”

“…I have also included here an indicator about the crime rate. Given the enormous problems of official crime statistics in the region, especially as we move further into the past, I used the homicide rate that generally presents low levels of dark figures and manipulation (Iturralde, 2021: 177; Sozzo, 2008: 30–41). 14…”

“…One can point out as a relevant ‘deep’ condition of this punitive tendency, the limits of the socioeconomic changes synthetically portrayed through these statistical indicators, in the context of the diverse variants of ‘peripheral capitalism’ in Latin America (Sozzo, 2018a, 56–57). The decline in income inequality and the growth in the generosity of social policies reached more strongly certain economically and socially disadvantaged sectors, implying strong improvements in their living conditions, but they did not do so with respect to a ‘marginal pole’ – closely linked to ‘informality’ and long-term unemployment – which continues to have an extraordinary extension and, at least in some scenarios, did not shrink as a consequence of these macroscopic mutations – especially taking into consideration that these positive trends seem to have slowed down and even stopped as the 2010s progressed – giving rise to a progressive bifurcation, which builds new strong differences in the popular sectors, between those who are reached by redistributive policies and interventions and those who are not (Antillano, 2016; Iturralde, 2021: 174–175; Kessler, 2014: 80–91). And it is precisely this vast ‘marginal pole’ on which penal institutions constantly – as a long-standing phenomenon – concentrate their interventions, especially incarceration.…”