SOCIOLOGY OF THE PUNISHMENT MARKET: disputes over the Erechim Complex

Abstract

Which strategies are mobilized to legitimize private interests in the prison system? Under the pretense of addressing the challenges of incarceration, the historical trajectory of disputes surrounding the Erechim Prison Complex offers valuable insights into the underlying principles guiding the privatization of the penal system. Drawing on an analytical framework rooted in the political sociology of judicial institutions, and employing document analysis techniques to reconstruct the case, this study posits that the decision to privatize does not stem from concerns over mass incarceration or the inadequacies of the prison model. Rather, it reflects a deliberate delegation of state functions to capital, enabling the lucrative exploitation of imprisonment as an emerging market. The aim is to identify and examine the rationales invoked in support of privatization, thereby elucidating the broader logics underpinning the commodification of incarceration. Among the findings, particular emphasis is placed on the incongruity between the justifications offered and the actual implementation of the project, revealing that the discourse of rehabilitation becomes even more insidious as it masks the economic profits derived from the exploitation of confinement.