Punishing inequality: notes on social worth from Sweden

This chapter revisits key concepts of equality, inequality and punishment in the Nordic context. By reexamining who and what the welfare state is for, and who and what punishment is for, it questions the presumed universality of equality in the Nordic context. Instead, it will argue that equality is...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Barker, Vanessa (Author)
Format: Electronic/Print Article
Language:English
Published: 2020
In: Tracing the relationship between inequality, crime, and punishment
Year: 2020, Pages: 222-241
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Keywords:
Inequality
Penal nationalism
Welfare State
Punishment
Nordic
Description
Summary:This chapter revisits key concepts of equality, inequality and punishment in the Nordic context. By reexamining who and what the welfare state is for, and who and what punishment is for, it questions the presumed universality of equality in the Nordic context. Instead, it will argue that equality is conditional. It is conditional upon a hierarchy of social worth, with negative implications for punishment. This chapter draws our attention to a new form penal power - penal nationalism - in which penal power is used to uphold national interests, in this case, welfare state preservation and equality for insiders, at the expense of inequality for outsiders.
ISBN:9780197266922
DOI:10.5871/bacad/9780197266922.003.0009