Book review: Louise Brangan, The Politics of Punishment: A Comparative Study of Imprisonment and Political Culture
| Date | 01 May 2022 |
| Author | Marguerite Schinkel |
| DOI | 10.1177/13624806211070146 |
| Published date | 01 May 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
like “far-right extremism”and constitutionally protected activities and language, includ-
ing hate speech, will find plenty in this book to support their agendas. Perhaps this is a
cost of shining a light on hate-filled rhetoric that has increasingly found its way into main-
stream politics.
Overall, this very timely book offers readers a window into the modern extreme far-
right movement and can serve as a tool for making sense of how fringe beliefs and con-
spiracy theories have penetrated modern public discourse. To date, it is the authoritative
work on how everyday online and offline spaces can be hijacked in plain sight by per-
verse and dangerous ideologies rooted in misinformation and fantastical conspiracy the-
ories. This is a must read not only for new students of terrorism, violent extremism, and
hate crime, but anyone seeking more information about where fringe far-right beliefs are
colliding with mainstream society.
References
Borum R (2004) Psychology of Terrorism. Tampa, FL: University of South Florida.
LaFree G, Jensen MA, James PA, et al. (2018) Correlates of violent political extremism in the
United States. Criminology 56: 233–268.
Neiwert D (2017) Alt-America: The Rise of the Radical Right in the Age of Trump. New York:
Verso.
The Politics of Punishment: A Comparative Study of Imprisonment and Political Culture. Louise Brangan,
Routledge: Abingdon, Oxon., 2021; 206 pages, 9 b/w illustrations, £96, ISBN 9780367900724.
Reviewed by: Marguerite Schinkel, University of Glasgow, UK
This book aims to explain the puzzle behind its eloquent opening sentences: ‘The prison
is everywhere. Yet it is not everywhere alike’(p. 1). Using Ireland and Scotland as com-
parators, it explores the factors that influence how prison is used differently in different
countries.
The introductory chapter sets out the limitations of existing comparative research,
with its tendency to focus on imprisonment rates and to divide countries into lenient
and punitive camps. Chapter 2 forms the heart of the book where Brangan sets out her
framework for a new direction, emphasising that it is not only important how many
people are imprisoned, but also who and under what circumstances. Proposin g a
focus on imprisonment regimes, she emphasises the importance of what imprisonment
is like for the person who enters the regime, the functions and aims of the different
prisons that make up the regime, the different categories of prisoner, how prisoners
circulate between prisons, and how rehabilitation and release are arranged. More pol-
itically, she also highlights the importance of how governments react to imprisonment
rates and other potential crises. In analysing the backdrop against which imprisonment
regimes emerge, Brangan brings the oft-cited factors of the politics of a country and its
culture together into political culture, which examines those aspects of culture that
have the power to influence penal decision making. This includes common under-
standings of the places where crime happens and/or those that need protecting from
Book reviews 349
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