Lockdown America Police and Prisons in the Age of Crisis. New Edition: Revised and Expanded

Why is criminal justice so central to American politics? "Lockdown America" not only documents the horrors and absurdities of militarized policing, prisons, a fortified border, and the federalization of the war on crime, it also explains the political and economic history behind the massive crackdown. This fully updated and expanded edition includes an afterword on the War on Terror, a meditation on surveillance and the specter of terrorism as they help reanimate the criminal justice attack. Written in vivid prose, "Lockdown America" will propel readers toward a deeper understanding of the links between crime and politics in a period of gathering economic crisis.
Consider the following:
Over 1.7 million Americans live in prison, a three hundred percent increase since 1980.
In some US cities, one third of all young Black men are in jail, on probation or awaiting trial.
In California, spending on prisons has eclipsed allocations for higher education.
Starbucks, Jansport, and Microsoft all use prison labor to package their products.
Corrections Corporations of America, the nation's largest private jailer, has been dubbed a "theme stock for the 90s."

Why is criminal justice so central to American politics? Lockdown America not only documents the horrors and absurdities of militarized policing, prisons, a fortified border, and the federalization of the war on crime, it also explains the political and economic history behind the massive crackdown. Written in accessible and vivid prose, Lockdown America will propel readers toward a deeper understanding of the links between crime and politics in a period of gathering economic crisis.

Christian Parenti is a visiting fellow at the CUNY Graduate School's Center for Place, Culture and Politics, and his writing has appeared in The Nation, The Progressive, In These Times and The Christian Science Monitor. He is currently writing a book on Afghanistan.

"The story no one wants to hear: The rise of the Dow has been accompanied by the lock down of the penitentiary state. A chilling book." - Stephen Duncombe, author of Notes from Underground