Prison Labour: Salvation or Slavery? : International Perspectives

by Dirk Van Zyl Smit (Editor), Frieder Dunkel (Editor)

This book about prison labour combines national studies with comparative analyses of international trends and debates. It reports that while lip service continues to be paid to the virtues of prison labour in almost all jurisdictions, its character has changed considerably from that postulated by classical theorists. Rights of prisoners to adequately remunerated work are now more prominent. However, they are being asserted in the face of public pressure for cost effective prisons and national labour markets faced with structural unemployment and limited demand for the most unskilled labour that prisoners can offer. By highlighting these developments, this book provides the basis for a major re-evaluation of theory and practice in respect of prison labour.

368 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1999