Political economy and penal policies

Ignacio González-Sánchez and José A. Brandariz

Chapter 12 in Research Handbook on Penal Policy, 2026, pp 239-254 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: The political economy of punishment has become one of the most productive frameworks for understanding how and to what extent states punish in the name of crime prevention. Chapter 12 traces the origins of this approach and its consolidation in the 1970s. Following an initially materialist orientation, the chapter explores the more symbolic developments of the 1980s and 1990s, as well as the subsequent call to reintroduce the role of agency. The relational framework of the social structures of accumulation is then introduced. Attention is also given to the resurgence of interest in this theoretical and empirical perspective in the mid-2000s, particularly in relation to mass incarceration, neoliberalism, and migration studies. Finally, the chapter examines comparative approaches that consider varieties of capitalism, and emphasizes the need to expand the analysis on the relationship between political economy and penal policies beyond the Global North.

Keywords: Political economy; Punishment; Capitalism; Comparative studies; Penal change; Penal policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035308521
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