Premium Essay

Marx's Influence On The Criminal Justice System

Submitted By
Words 818
Pages 4
To an extent, it is understandable that some assessments of prisoner workers would take the position that these individuals have committed some crime, which landed them in prison. As a result, they lost the opportunity to receive the same monetary compensation of individuals who have not committed crimes. Unfortunately those who take this position must realize this issue is not muddied in what rights prisoners should be afforded in comparison to Americans who remain on the right side of the law. This conundrum stems simply from corporations and private businesses having the power to influence the criminal justice system, public services, and legislators to continue in the pursuit to fill prisons with inmates to perform work and ultimately produce profits for capitalists. This type of influence is primarily what Marx spoke of when he asserted, “ The executive of the modern State is but a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie” (Marx). Page 475. The bourgeoisie, who own the means of production according to Marx’s definition, have substantial influence because of their wealth and the power that coincides with having large sums of money in a …show more content…
The current CEO of Wal-Mart, Michael Duke earned $35 million a year in 2010 according to ABC News (ABC News). In addition, Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks is worth 3.1 billion according to Forbes (Forbes) while Bloomberg Business reports that CEO of Verizon Communications Lowell McAdam received $18.3 million in 2014(Bloomberg Business). Any of these three CEO’s stand-alone salary would exceed the combined wages of the 2.3 million prisoners in America if they earned the maximum federal minimum wage for prisoners. This statistic alone reveals not only a significant wage gap, but also proof that prison labor is big business and means substantial profit for corporations and those who control

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Commodity vs Capital Fetishism

...Commodity Fetishism vs. Capital Fetishism Marxist Interpretations vis-à-vis Marx’s analyses in Capital Dimitri Dimoulis and John Milios Abstract In Marx’s analysis of the Capitalist Mode of Production and more precisely in his theory of value, the key to decipher the capitalist political and ideological practices and structures is to be found. In this context, many Marxists believed that the analysis of “commodity fetishism” in Section 1 of Volume 1 of Capital renders the basis for understanding ideological domination and political coercion under the capitalist rule. The authors argue, that “commodity fetishism” is only a preliminary notion, which allows Marx to arrive, in subsequent Sections of Capital, at the concept of the “fetishism of capital”. 1. Introduction From the days of his youth Marx was familiar with the statements of ethnographers on the subject of fetishism and used the term in his own writings.1 Equally important was in this context the influence of Hegel.2 In this paper we are not going to deal with the different meanings that the notion of fetishism acquires at different points of Marx’s work, an issue which is related to the various concepts of fetishism in political economy, political philosophy and the social sciences.3 We will focus on the analysis of commodity fetishism, in an effort to contribute to the comprehension of the different dimensions of this concept, especially in Marx’s Capital. For this purpose, we will pursue the following course: At the...

Words: 16098 - Pages: 65

Premium Essay

Business

...time while particular individuals die and are replaced by others. Moreover, they are not only external to the individual, but they are "endowed with coercive power, by . . . which they impose themselves upon him, independent of his individual will." Constraints, whether in the form of laws or customs, come into play whenever social demands are being violated. These sanctions are imposed on individuals and channel and direct their desires and propensities. A social fact can hence be defined as "every way of acting, fixed or not, capable of exercising on the individual an external constraint." Although in his early work Durkheim defined social facts by their exteriority and constraint, focusing his main concern on the operation of the legal system, he was later moved to change his views significantly. The mature Durkheim stressed that social facts, and more particularly moral rules, become effective guides and controls of conduct only to the extent that they become internalized in the consciousness of individuals, while continuing to exist independently of individuals. According to this formulation, constraint is no longer a...

Words: 20388 - Pages: 82

Premium Essay

Social Research

...1. Introduction The proposed research project is explicitly concerned with the causal connection between youth sub-cultures in the criminal justice system and the effects of over representation. In addition, this encompasses the question topic area of how Becker’s labelling theory (Becker 1993) and Merton’s strain theory (Merton 1968) affects mainstream society’s perceived deviance of the Goth youth sub-culture and how much of this contributes to this youth sub-culture’s actual deviance. Moreover, a specific area of concern is whether the Goth youth sub-cultures of the past and present, is a site of deviance or a site of creative resistance to norms in mainstream society. Researching the contribution that labelling and stigmatisation of the Goth youth sub-culture have on criminogenic effects, is exceedingly important and valuable as it seeks to identify various gaps in previous research, such as the limited knowledge on the extent to which these factors contribute to deviance. Moreover, there is a lack of theoretical concepts that could possibly account for Goth youth sub-culture’s perceived behaviour. 2. Research question, significance and aims of the research i) Does negative labelling and the over-representation and stigmatisation of the Goth youth sub-culture, cause successive results of emerging and higher levels of deviance? Also, do the effects of stigmatisation cause youth to join the Goth sub-cultures in order to overcome their marginalisation in society...

Words: 2598 - Pages: 11

Premium Essay

Jffff

...least four years more schooling than Jimmy. He is twenty seven times as likely as Jimmy to land a job which by his late forties will pay him an income in the top tenth of all incomes. Jimmy has about one chance in eight of earning a median income (Bassis, 1991:216). I. Basic Definitions A. Life Chances Life chances refer to one's access to resources. Life chances can refer to one's ability to get food and shelter. It also refers to access to social institution such as health care, education, the government, and the law (to mention a few). Social class affects one's life chances across a broad spectrum of social phenomenon from health care, to educational attainment, to participation in the political process, to contact with the criminal justice system. B. What is Social Stratification? Social stratification refers to the division of a society into layers (or strata) whose occupants have unequal access to social opportunities and rewards. People in the top strata enjoy power, prosperity, and prestige that are not available to other members of society; people in the bottom strata endure penalties that other members of society escape. In a stratified society, inequality is part of the social structure and passes from one generation to the next. C. What is a Class? People who occupy the same layer of the socioeconomic hierarchy are known as a social...

Words: 5484 - Pages: 22

Premium Essay

Educational Achievement Is the Social Class Background of the Pupil

...What Is Deviance? The word deviance connotes odd or unacceptable behavior, but in the sociological sense of the word, deviance is simply any violation of society’s norms. Deviance can range from something minor, such as a traffic violation, to something major, such as murder. Each society defines what is deviant and what is not, and definitions of deviance differ widely between societies. For example, some societies have much more stringent rules regarding gender roles than we have in the United States, and still other societies’ rules governing gender roles are less stringent than ours. Gender and Deviance In the United States, women who cry in public in response to emotional situations are not generally considered deviant—even women who cry frequently and easily. This view of women has remained relatively constant. Over the past fifty years, however, society’s perception of men who cry has changed. A man who cried publicly in the 1950s would have been considered deviant. Today, men who cry in response to extreme emotional situations are acting within society’s norms. Male politicians cry when announcing defeat, male athletes cry after winning a championship, and male actors cry after winning an award. By today’s standards, none of these men is committing a deviant act. Relativism and Deviance Deviance is a relative issue, and standards for deviance change based on a number of factors, including the following: * Location: A person speaking loudly during a church service...

Words: 5129 - Pages: 21

Premium Essay

Bas Bhat

...Mirjan Damaška, Sterling Professor of Law at Yale Law School and a prominent authority for many years in the fields of comparative law, procedural law, evidence, international criminal law and Continental legal history. Professor Damaška’s work is renowned for providing new frameworks for understanding different legal traditions. To celebrate the depth and richness of his work and discuss its implications for the future, the editors have brought together an impressive range of leading scholars from different jurisdictions in the fields of comparative and international law, evidence and criminal law and procedure. Using Professor Damaška’s work as a backdrop, the essays make a substantial contribution to the development of comparative law, procedure and evidence. After an introduction by the editors and a tribute by Harold Koh, Dean of Yale Law School, the book is divided into four parts. The first part considers contemporary trends in national criminal procedure, examining cross-fertilisation and the extent to which these trends are resulting in converging practices across national jurisdictions. The second part explores the epistemological environment of rules of evidence and procedure. The third part analyses human rights standards and the phenomenon of hybridisation in transnational and international criminal law. The final part of the book assesses Professor Damaška’s contribution to comparative law and the challenges faced by comparative law in the twenty first century. Crime...

Words: 195907 - Pages: 784

Premium Essay

Sociology Essay and Class Notes Prep

...interaction, social behavior an influence of social structures on people How old is sociology? 200 years Why did sociology (as social science develop)? Who was the founding father of sociology? Main contributions of Sociology Early Auguste compte: Founding father of sociology, coined the word sociology How is Sociology different from other social sciences? Emile Durkheim: influenced development of functionalism 4 types of suicide by Durkheim: Egoistic: Mentally ill, lonely, social outcast, depression Altruistic: Kamikaze pilots, suicide bombers, cult members, obligation to the group, Fatalistic: Inmates, elderly, terminally ill, hopelessness Anomic: Anyone who cant deal with chaos, such as stock market crash or 1929-Insecurity Anomie: When society’s norms are questions, much social change, Society is rapidly changing Institutions are weakened, family, religion. Gender norms are questioned; values and belief systems are questioned Theory of structural functionalism 1 If a structure exists in society its because its functional, the social structure exists because it works Social structures: anything external to people that has ways of affecting us, like religions, schools, Any pattern of social organization external to people that has a way of influencing us. Example: Family Peers Media Religion School Exams Laws Marriage 3. This theory explains that society s a large social system with inter relation parts, all...

Words: 2927 - Pages: 12

Free Essay

Review of Law in Context

...NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION: USE ONLY IN COMPLIANCE WITH COPYRIGHT: DAVID RISSTROM AN INTERPRETATION OF LAW IN CONTEXT Bottomley, S., Gunningham, N. and Parker, S., 1991, Law in Context, The Federation Press, Leichhardt. { } = additional material from lectures. ( ) = my comments. (See ‘x’) refers to book page number. A short (somewhat boring) message from the summary executioner before you dive in; These notes are an interpretation of the book Law in Context and the lectures given as part of the 1991 Course. They are not a satisfactory substitution for reading the text. You are only likely to get the maximum value out of this summary by reading it in conjunction with the text. The question of ‘the law in whose context’ may be worth keeping in mind as you read. This is an interpretation seen through my eyes, not yours. My comments are not unbiased, as it is as equally unlikely that yours may be. So my ‘advice’ is consider what is said here and in the book considering the need to understand the ‘mechanics’ that help make sense of the more involved themes that develop in the book as you progress through Law in Context. The observations, important in their own right, may be particularly useful for seeing how their often ubiquitous expression is taken as ‘normal’ in the areas of wider society, such as in discussions of economics and power. It is unlikely that you will find any ‘right answers’ from this summary, but I do hope it helps you in synthesising...

Words: 51747 - Pages: 207

Premium Essay

Social Stratification

... and privileges occupy each social stratum. We can see layers of social statuses occupied by members of society. Organized systems of such strata are conceptualized as social stratification system. Social stratification refers to a system by which a society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy. Four basic principles of stratification: 1. Social stratification is characteristic of society, not simply a reflection of individual differences. Children born into wealth families are more likely than born into poverty to enjoy good health, achieve academically, succeed in their life’s work, and live well into old age. Neither rich nor poor people are responsible for creating social stratification, yet this system shapes the lives of them all. 2. Social stratification persists over generations. In all societies parents pass their social position along to their children, so that patterns of inequality stay much the same from generation to generation. Some individual experience change in their position in the social hierarchy. For most people, social standing remains much the same over a lifetime. 3. Social stratification is universal but variable. Social stratification is found everywhere. At the same time, what is unequal and how unequal people are vary from one society to another. 4. Social stratification involves not just inequality but beliefs. Any system of inequality not only gives some people more resources than others but also defines certain arrangements as fair. Just as...

Words: 4207 - Pages: 17

Premium Essay

Computer

...Five Ideology's assignment Mohammad Kareem Conservatism: In Theory Communism would work and is the best way to form a government, but as this ideology was implemented in different countries and nations the reality has shown it might be very far from being perfect. This system of government as well as economy is also based on trying to create equality. Communism can be related to Socialism which creates equality by essentially sharing all profits and land with the community. Unlike socialism however,Communism believes that there is no need for a profit to be given to the worker or for land to be owned by any workers because it creates inequality and this must be done to ensure social order. A Lot of the communist ideology is totally opposite and against capitalist views. There is no competition in communism and wages and salaries are equal across all carers and work. In Communist theory, government leaders should only be temporary and used only to gear the population towards true order and then step down and let the work cycle continued. Many of the communist ideology is predominantly theory and is highly criticized by many nations. In today's day and age many countries have decided to opt out of the communist social structure because it is unpractical and does not provide true equality as theorized. Communism was a fairly modern ideology founded only about 120 years ago but has lingered throughout history. The majour man honoured with the creation of communism is Karl Marx...

Words: 5182 - Pages: 21

Free Essay

Help

...http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/history/franks/classes/131b/perm/radicalsdocuments.html#nechaev Documents on the Revolutionary Movement, c. 1861-1881 1. Revolutionary Proclamations of 1861 and 1862 2. Nechaev's Program, 1869 3. Nechaev's "Catechism of a Revolutionary," 1869 4. Petr Lavrov, 1870-1873 5. Palen's Description of the Movement "To the People," 1875 6. Program of the "Land and Freedom" Group, 1878 7. Program of the "People's Will" Group, January 1, 1880 Document 1. REVOLUTIONARY PROCLAMATIONS OF 1861 AND 1862 Although Russia's Emancipation of 1861 went further than that of the same period in the United States, some of the radicals were disappointed. They voiced their anger in revolutionary proclamations like the two excerpted here. The novelist M. I. Mikhailov, who helped write the first, was arrested in September 1861 for distributing subversive literature and was sentenced to hard labor in Siberia. The second proclamation, widely distributed in Saint Petersburg in May 1862, caused a great stir and is considered to be historically significant in the development of the Russian revolutionary movement. P. G. Zaichnevskii, who wrote it with a group of fellow prisoners and sent it to the underground printer via a sentry, said later that as of 1862 neither he nor his coauthors had yet read the Communist Manifesto. Reference: Mikhail K. Lemke, Politicheskie protsessy v Rossii 1860-kh gg., 2d ed. (Moscow: Gosizdat, 1923), pp. 63-64, 69, 70, 74-75 [1861 item]...

Words: 7720 - Pages: 31

Premium Essay

Ir Theories

...2005 Chapter 3 © Scott Burchill, Chapters 4 and 5 © Andrew Linklater, Chapters 6 and 7 © Richard Devetak, Chapter 8 © Christian Reus-Smit, Chapter 9 © Jacqui True, Chapter 10 © Matthew Paterson 2001, 2005 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The authors have asserted their rights to be identified as the authors of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First edition 1996 Second edition 2001 Published 2005 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd....

Words: 132890 - Pages: 532

Premium Essay

Sociology

...Glossary of Sociological Terms |11-Plus Exam |Examination introduced with the 1944 Education Act, sat by all pupils in the state sector| | |at the age of 11. If they passed they went to the selective Grammar School, or if they | | |failed to the Secondary Modern School. This exam still exists in some counties such as | | |Kent and also in Northern Ireland. | |12-Plus Exam |Exam made available only to a minority of 'high-flyers' in Secondary Modern schools, | | |offering a late chance to go to Grammar School at the age of 12. | |'30-30-40 society' |A term associated with Will Hutton to describe an increasingly insecure and polarised | | |society. The bottom 30 per cent is socially excluded by poverty from the rest of society.| | |The next 30 per cent live in fear and insecurity of falling into poverty. Only the top 40| | |per cent feel secure and confident. ...

Words: 22530 - Pages: 91

Premium Essay

Myun

...Metaphysics From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to:navigation, search This article is about the branch of philosophy. For the work of Aristotle, see Metaphysics (Aristotle). |Philosophy | |[pic] | |Branches[show] | |Aesthetics | |Epistemology | |Ethics | |Logic | |Metaphysics | |Social philosophy | |Political philosophy | |Eras[show] | |Ancient | |Medieval | |Modern | |Contemporary | |Traditions[show] | |Analytic | |Continental | |Eastern | |Islamic | |Marxist | |Platonic | |Scholastic | |Philosophers[show] | |Aestheticians | |Epistemologists...

Words: 48829 - Pages: 196

Premium Essay

Fnfjfjkf

...Chapter 1: Understanding Sociology Multiple Choice 1. Which of the following was the main concern of Kelsey Timmerman in his book Where Am I Wearing? A. why people wear different styles in different locales B. differences in fashion across cultures C. the people who make our clothing D. pirating in the fashion industry Answer: C Type: I 2. The scientific study of social behavior and human groups is known as A. psychology. B. political science. C. anthropology. D. sociology. Answer: D Type: D 3. Sociology A. is the scientific study of social behavior and human groups. B. focuses primarily on how social relationships influence people’s behavior. C. focuses on how societies develop and change. D. all of these Answer: D Type: D 4. The awareness that allows people to comprehend the link between their immediate, personal social settings and the remote, impersonal social world is called A. the sociological imagination. B. anthropology. C. a theory. D. verstehen. Answer: A Type: D 5. ____________ is most closely associated with the concept of the sociological imagination. A. Émile Durkheim B. Max Weber C. Karl Marx D. C. Wright Mills Answer: D Type: S 6. A key element in the sociological imagination is the ability to view one’s own society ...

Words: 4557 - Pages: 19