The United States leads the world in incarceration and United Kingdom jurisdictions are persistently among the European countries with the highest per capita rates of imprisonment. Yet despite its increasing visibility as a social issue, mass incarceration rarely surfaces in contemporary Anglo-American political theory as a major topic, and its incongruity with core democratic commitments has not been analyzed. This collection of original chapters seeks to catalyze a multidisciplinary discussion among philosophers, political theorists, and theoretically inclined criminologists of how contempor ... More

The United States leads the world in incarceration and United Kingdom jurisdictions are persistently among the European countries with the highest per capita rates of imprisonment. Yet despite its increasing visibility as a social issue, mass incarceration rarely surfaces in contemporary Anglo-American political theory as a major topic, and its incongruity with core democratic commitments has not been analyzed. This collection of original chapters seeks to catalyze a multidisciplinary discussion among philosophers, political theorists, and theoretically inclined criminologists of how contemporary democratic theory might begin to think beyond mass incarceration. Rather than viewing punishment as a natural reaction to crime and imprisonment as a sensible outgrowth of this reaction, these institutions are framed with deep implications for contemporary civic identity and that present unmet demands for public oversight and reflective democratic influence. What conceptual resources can be deployed to support decarceration and alternatives to prison? How might democratic theory strengthen recent efforts in restorative justice and other reform movements? How can the normative complexity of criminal justice be grappled with by lay citizens rather than experts or officials—from street-level policing decisions, to adjudication, to prison and probation policy? How, in short, might modern publics forge a creative alternative to an unreflective commitment to mass incarceration? In reflecting on these questions, the authors offer normative theoretical guideposts for thinking about incarceration, critically examine the methods and uses of public opinion regarding punishment, and suggest ways of rebuilding crime control institutions to enhance rather than thwart citizen capabilities.