Aufsatz(elektronisch)#18. August 2016
The hidden subsidies of rural prisons: Race, space and the politics of cumulative disadvantage
In: Punishment & society, Band 19, Heft 4, S. 393-416
ISSN: 1741-3095
This paper links the rise of a punitive punishment regime that disproportionately targets poor, urban minorities and the increasing use of rural spaces to warehouse prisoners. Preliminary evidence from a unique dataset across three states suggests that housing large, institutionalized prison populations inflates population counts in otherwise shrinking rural areas and operates as a hidden subsidy for rural counties with prison infrastructure. Prisons contribute to the immediate economic viability of predominantly white, lower class rural areas, despite devastating costs borne elsewhere.