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Product Identifiers

PublisherUniversity of Nebraska Press

ISBN-100803217986

ISBN-139780803217980

eBay Product ID (ePID)63845458

Product Key Features

Number of Pages240 Pages

Publication NameBeyond Papillon : the French Overseas Penal Colonies, 1854-1952

LanguageEnglish

Publication Year2008

SubjectEurope / France, General, Penology

TypeTextbook

AuthorStephen A. Toth

Subject AreaSocial Science, History

SeriesFrance Overseas: Studies in Empire and Decolonization Ser.

FormatTrade Paperback

Dimensions

Item Height0.7 in

Item Weight10.4 Oz

Item Length9 in

Item Width6 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceScholarly & Professional

LCCN2005-028930

Dewey Edition22

Reviews"Stephen A. Toth adds to the growing literature on colonial police forces and prisons with this sophisticated, archivally grounded history of French penal colonies in French Guiana and New Caledonia from their creation in 1854 to their final closure in 1952. . . . [T]his is a very satisfying piece of work, a welcome addition to new colonial history."American Historical Review"...the appearance of Toth's book is welcome indeed...Toth's chapter about internal life, especially the perspective from below, offers fascinating reading...the entire chapter 7 again offers fascinating reading" Pieter SpierenburgCrime, History & Societies2009, Vol. 13, No. 1, "Stephen A. Toth adds to the growing literature on colonial police forces and prisons with this sophisticated, archivally grounded history of French penal colonies in French Guiana and New Caledonia from their creation in 1854 to their final closure in 1952. . . . [T]his is a very satisfying piece of work, a welcome addition to new colonial history." American Historical Review

IllustratedYes

Dewey Decimal365/.34

Table Of ContentIntroduction1. Back to the Future: France and Penal Colonization; 2. The Desire to Deport: The Recidivist of Fin de Siècle France; 3. Life in the Penal Colony: The View from Above and Below; 4. The Lords of Discipline: The French Penal Colony Service; 5. The Battle over the Bagnard: Tropical Medicine in the Bagne; 6. The Not-So-Fatal Shore: The Criminological Conception of the Fin de Siècle Bagne; 7. The Bagne Obscura: Representational Crisis and the Twentieth CenturyConclusion

SynopsisFor French criminologists and colonialists of the mid-nineteenth century, the penal colonies of Guiana and New Caledonia seemed to satisfy two needs, namely, to incarcerate a growing number of criminals and to supply manpower for these developing colonies. But were these two goals not contradictory? Was the primary purpose of the penal colonies to punish or to colonize? In the prisons, inmates found means of subversion, guards resisted militaristic discipline, and camp commanders fought physicians for authority. Back in the metropole, journalistic expos s catered to the public's fascination with the penal colonies' horror and exoticism. An understanding of modern France is not complete without an examination of this institution, which existed for more than a century and imprisoned more than one hundred thousand people. Stephen A. Toth invites readers to experience the prisons firsthand. Through a careful analysis of criminal case files, administrative records, and prisoner biographies, Toth reconstructs life in the penal colonies and examines how the social sciences, tropical medicine, and sensational journalism evaluated and exploited the inmates' experiences. In exploring the disjuncture between the real and the imagined, he moves beyond mythic characterizations of the penal colonies to reveal how power, discipline, and punishment were construed and enforced in these prison outposts. Stephen A. Toth is an assistant professor of history at Arizona State University's West campus., For French criminologists and colonialists of the mid-nineteenth century, the penal colonies of Guiana and New Caledonia seemed to satisfy two needs, namely, to incarcerate a growing number of criminals and to supply manpower for these developing colonies. But were these two goals not contradictory? Was the primary purpose of the penal colonies to punish or to colonize? In the prisons, inmates found means of subversion, guards resisted militaristic discipline, and camp commanders fought physicians for authority. Back in the metropole , journalistic exposés catered to the public's fascination with the penal colonies' horror and exoticism. An understanding of modern France is not complete without an examination of this institution, which existed for more than a century and imprisoned more than one hundred thousand people. Stephen A. Toth invites readers to experience the prisons firsthand. Through a careful analysis of criminal case files, administrative records, and prisoner biographies, Toth reconstructs life in the penal colonies and examines how the social sciences, tropical medicine, and sensational journalism evaluated and exploited the inmates' experiences. In exploring the disjuncture between the real and the imagined, he moves beyond mythic characterizations of the penal colonies to reveal how power, discipline, and punishment were construed and enforced in these prison outposts., A social and cultural analysis of civil society and the will of those who actually lived and worked in the penal colonies

LC Classification NumberHV8955.F8T68 2008