Convicts: A Global History

Clare Anderson's book explores the history of punishment, showing how it is connected to governance, occupation, and global connections across the world. She proposes a close and enduring connection between punishment, governance, repression, and nation and empire building, and reveals how states, imperial powers, and trading companies used convicts to satisfy various geo-political and social ambitions. Convicts manifested their agency in various forms, including the extension of political ideology and cultural transfer, and vital contributions to contemporary knowledge production.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 400 pages
Publication date: 13 January 2022
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Rewritten text:

Clare Anderson offers a groundbreaking reinterpretation of the histories of empire and nation, revealing that the history of punishment extends far beyond the emergence of prisons and penitentiaries. Instead, it is intricately linked to broader histories of governance, occupation, and global connections across the world. Through her exploration of punitive mobility across islands, colonies, remote inland and border regions spanning five centuries, Anderson proposes a profound and enduring connection between punishment, governance, repression, and the construction of nations and empires. She demonstrates how states, imperial powers, and trading companies utilized convicts to fulfill diverse geo-political and social ambitions. Punitive mobility intertwined with other forms of labor bondage, including enslavement, with convicts serving as a crucial source of unfree labor for territorial occupation. However, it is important to recognize that convicts did not remain passive subjects. They actively asserted their agency through various means, such as the dissemination of political ideologies and cultural exchange, as well as making significant contributions to contemporary knowledge production.

In conclusion, Clare Anderson's work challenges traditional narratives of punishment and highlights its profound connections to the histories of empire, nation, governance, and labor. By examining punitive mobility across different regions and time periods, she sheds light on the complex interplay between power, resistance, and the construction of identities and knowledge. This scholarship provides valuable insights into the complex and multifaceted nature of punishment and its role in shaping the world we inhabit today.

Weight: 712g
Dimension: 153 x 229 x 32 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781108814942
Edition number: New ed