Consider the following:

• Over 1.7 million Americans live in prison, a three hundred percent increase since 1980.

• In some US cities, one third of all young Black men are in jail, on probation or awaiting trial.

• In California, spending on prisons has eclipsed allocations for higher education.

• Starbucks, Jansport, and Microsoft all use prison labor to package their products.

• Corrections Corporations of America, the nation's largest private jailer, has been dubbed a “theme stock for the 90s.“

Why is criminal justice so central to American politics? Lockdown America not only documents the horrors and absurdities of militarized policing, prisons, a fortified border, and the federalization of the war on crime, it also explains the political and economic history behind the massive crackdown. Written in accessible and vivid prose, Lockdown America will propel readers toward a deeper understanding of the links between crime and politics in a period of gathering economic crisis.

Christian Parenti is a visiting fellow at the CUNY Graduate School’s Center for Place, Culture and Politics, and his writing has appeared in The Nation, The Progressive, In These Times and The Christian Science Monitor. He is currently writing a book on Afghanistan.

“The story no one wants to hear: The rise of the Dow has been accompanied by the lock down of the penitentiary state. A chilling book.” — Stephen Duncombe, author of Notes from Underground

Parenti’s exhaustively documented text deserves a full hearing from anyone serious about ending the often horrific realities of the criminal justice system. — Washington Post Book World

Lockdown America is a fast read, angry and compelling. — Philadelphia City Paper

[Parenti’s] are flames of light not heat. He makes complete sense. — San Diego Union Tribune

This dark, unflinching look at what our nation has become . . . cannot fail to generate serious thought about issues we prefer to lock away in darkness.— Christian Science Monitor

Terrifying, informative and gripping. — New York Press

Parenti’s debunking of alternative explanations for the rise in incarceration is forceful and compelling. — The American Prospect

Liberals will find that it confirms their worst fears about economic and social reform. It should be essential reading for those in law enforcement and politics in Britain who are attracted by the rhetoric of zero tolerance. — Times Literary Supplement

Lockdown America deserves to be read by all sides of the political debate. — Village Voice

The book is in the best tradition of investigative journalism, paced like a fine novel, it carries the authority of meticulous academic research. — The Independent

320 pages

Orig. Paper
ISBN-13: 978 1 85984 303 1
US$17 / £10 / CAN$21

Cloth
ISBN-13: 978 1 84467 249 3
US$19.95 / £12.99 / CAN$22

Paper
ISBN-13: 978-1 84467 267 7
US$110 / £60 / CAN$122