Bentham, convict transportation, and the Great Confinement Thesis

Abstract

<p>Since the 1970s the literature on the evolution of British criminal justice systems has been dominated by the history of prisons and penitentiaries. The 'great confinement thesis' - a narrative that seeks to explain the history of judicial sanctions as a function of state power - has shaped much of that literature. According to its proponents, where central authority was weak, systems of kin-based restorative justice dominated. As early modern states evolved, monarchs imposed their authority through the use of judicially sanctioned violence. The development of more effective institutions of government was accompanied by a rise in professional police forces and other systems of surveillance. Bentham's proposal for a panopticon is often seen as a pivotal moment in this transformation. In Michel Foucault's words, it formed a blueprint - not just for a new form of prison - 'but also for a hospital, for a school, for a workshop'. It was in short a template 'for all institutions'.</p>