Prison Labor: Capitalism Without Markets, Understanding the Economics of Totalitarian Institutions

Prison labor remains a paradox in many ways. Simultaneously sparsely  studied or recorded, and ubiquitous; derided by labor unions and free  workers as unfair competition and lauded by businesses as the only way  to insource labor at the globalized price point; rehabilitating  prisoners through the virtue of work, while punishing them through that  same work— prisons are in many ways the ultimate reflection of  capitalism with the veneer of smiling faces removed. Prisoners work not  to avoid starving or to have a place to sleep, but because it is a  requirement of their existence. In the United States, all federal  inmates must work, and those who refuse face severe penalties including  being charged exorbitant sums to reimburse the government for the  pleasure of being incarcerated. Prison labor remains anomalous to labor  under traditional market forces, but exists within, and remains largely  dominated by, the larger economies and politics that govern its  existence. The prison is the final destination for the  person-become-commodity that is the poor laborer. Those unable to afford  the offramps to a prison sentence end up serving time and, once there,  the institution of the prison attempts to keep them as an employee for  life.

The unsavory nature of prison labor as an economic force  has relegated prison labor to only the most dangerous and unwanted jobs  in existence, for wages far below market value, and insulated from any  claims to benefits, time-off, or workplace safety protocols.  Politically, the prison labor industry in the United States has found  its niche in attempting to return outsourced jobs to the domestic  market, in effect, moving the colonies of American empire right into its  own backyard. Without the economic differential power of sweatshop  wages in low-income countries, prison wages become only marginally  better than no wages, particularly when factoring in the many deductions  that prisons apply for court fees, supervision costs, and even  disciplinary functions. While these economic factors play a defining  role in determining the realities of prison labor, they exist within a  larger philosophy of prison life that is, ultimately, capitalistic. Even  where the economics of prison labor bears literal resemblance to market  demands, prison labor remains a necessary component of the philosophy  of capital’s primacy over the labor pool. Insulated from the market, the  totalitarian prison becomes the end-stage of capitalism; with  contradictions uninhibited by class conflict and protected from the  bargaining power of labor, prison work is the harbinger of what “free”  work becomes as the capitalist fantasy continues.