Prisons of Poverty, Paperback

In this title, the author examines how penal policies emanating from the United States have spread thoughout the world. The author argues that the policies have their roots in a network of Reagan-era conservative think tanks, which used them as weapons in their crusade to dismantle the welfare state and, in effect, criminalise poverty.

Loic Wacquant is professor of sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, and researcher at the Centre de sociologie europeenne, Paris.