This course will explore the political economy of crime and punishment in the United States. It will begin by looking at some of the major thinkers in the field of political economy such as Smith, Marx, Keynes, Hayek, and Polanyi. Following this we will examine the difference between "law and economics" and "law and political economy." We will examine labor, both wage and slave labor, as a fictitious commodity and the implications of this for social stratification/class divisions in the American system. This will lead us to an examination of the political economy of the U.S. Congress, particularly the Senate which gives enormous minority power to 100, almost-always white, mostly male, individuals. We will also examine the political economy of the U.S. justice system, from the Supreme Court down to local prosecutors. We will use the lens of systemic racism, and we will trace this back to the ideas of Adam Smith and even earlier. We will examine alternative definitions and methods of justice, some of which are currently being applied, and inquire about how their ideological and structural foundations differ from the capitalist model. |