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https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/54855
Title: | A Panoptic Eye: The punishment and reform of female convicts in Van Diemen’s Land |
Contributor(s): | Frost, Lucy (author); Maxwell-Stewart, Hamish (author) |
Publication Date: | 2022-05-30 |
Open Access: | Yes |
DOI: | 10.4000/etudes-benthamiennes.9802![Open Access Link](/web/OA.png) |
Handle Link: | https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/54855 |
Abstract: | | The management of 13,500 women transported to Van Diemen's Land during the fifty years to 1853 was a constant problem for the authorities. In response to suddenly increased numbers during the 1820s when ships began arriving directly from Britain, 'female factories' were built. These multipurpose institutions were designed to process new arrivals, regulate the supply of female convict labour to settler households and punish the recalcitrant. All were impelled by agendas of reform, as well as punishment, and were expected to monitor the bodies of criminals while grinding them into useful citizenry. There is considerable evidence that all failed in their objectives. A lack of suitable tasks, ineffective management, and convict agency derailed administrative plans. Unlike British and Irish penitentiaries, female factories were not closed institutions. Their primary role was to service settler demand for cheap domestic servants. A second paperwork surveillance system regulated the wider circulation of female convict labour. This was much more effective at keeping female convicts in view, although it too met with considerable resistance. We examine the impact of both architectural and bureaucratic surveillance systems on prosecution rates and colonial births, illustrating the impacts of colonial surveillance on both work and reproduction.
Publication Type: | Journal Article |
Grant Details: | ARC/DP220101509 |
Source of Publication: | Revue d'études benthamiennes, 21(2), p. 1-23 |
Publisher: | OpenEdition-Cleo |
Place of Publication: | Paris, France |
ISSN: | 1760-7507 |
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: | 430302 Australian history 430306 Digital history |
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: | 130703 Understanding Australia’s past |
Peer Reviewed: | Yes |
HERDC Category Description: | C1 Refereed Article in a Scholarly Journal |
Appears in Collections: | Journal Article
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