Convict Labor in Turkey, 1936–1953
A Capitalist Corporation in the State
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11213616 |
|---|---|
| Authors | A Sipahi (0000-0001-6160-2601, Özyeğin University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2016 |
| Volume | 90 |
| Pages | 244-265 |
| Publication date | 2016-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Labor and Working-Class History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0147-5479 • E-ISSN: 1471-6445 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0147547916000144 |
| OpenAlex | W2531240889 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 36 |
The article proposes the institutional analysis of convict labor as an alternative to both (profit-oriented) economic and (discipline-oriented) political explanations. The specialized labor-based prisons in Turkey from 1936 to 1953 are brought to light by archival research and are presented here as a rich case to discuss the experiential/subjective conditions of unfree labor regimes and the structural effects of institutions on the convicts’ experiences. I argue that the state department responsible for prison labor in Turkey was transformed into a capitalist corporation with bureaucratic management, and the target of convict labor system was neither profit nor discipline, but the creation of the corporate bureaucracy itself. As a consequence, both for prisoners and for the prison staff, labor-based prisons appeared as privileged places. Hence, unfree labor was volunteered
Bureaucracy · Convict · Corporate crime · Corporation · Criminology · Economics · Labor relations · Neoclassical economics · Political science · Politics · Prison · Profit (economics · Sociology · State (computer science · Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics · Law · Political and Economic history of UK and US · Turkey's Politics and Society
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| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |