Prisons in the late Ottoman Empire : microcosms of modernity / Kent F. Schull.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Schull, Kent F.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Prisons--Turkey--History--19th century.

Prisons.

Prisons--Turkey--History--20th century.

Prison administration--Turkey--History--19th century.

Prison administration.

Prison administration--Turkey--History--20th century.

History.

Turkey--History--Ottoman Empire, 1288-1918.

Turkey.

Physical Description:

xiii, 224 pages : illustrations (black and white) ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press, 2014.

Summary:

"The Western world stereotypically associates Ottoman or 'Turkish' prisons with images of torture, narcotics and brutal sexual behaviour. Now, Kent F. Schull argues that these prisons were actually a site of immense reform and contestation during the 19th century. Schull shows that prisons were key components for Ottoman nation-state construction and acted as #microcosms of modernity# for broader imperial transformation. It was within the walls of these prisons that many of the pressing questions of Ottoman modernity were worked out. By juxtaposing them with the reality of prison life, Schull investigates how state-mandated reforms affected the lives of local prison officials and inmates. He shows how these individuals actively conformed to, contested and manipulated new penal policies and practices for their own benefit."--Publisher's website.

"KEY FEATURES. Shows how prisons were key to resolving questions of administrative centralisation, Islamic criminal law and punishment, gender and childhood, prisoner rehabilitation, bureaucratic professionalisation, identity and social engineering[.] Heavily critiques Michel Foucault's approach to punishment, state power, and society by applying it to a non-Western context[.] Presents penal institutions in this period as complex social institutions that act as windows to broader cultural, ideological and social issues[.] Covers key issues including juvenile delinquents, corruption, prisoner abuse, female prisoners and Islamic criminal law reform[.]"--Publisher's website.

Contents:

Ottoman criminal justice and the transformation of Islamic criminal law and punishment in the age of modernity, 1839-1922

Prison reform in the late Ottoman Empire : the state's perspectives

Counting the incarcerated : knowledge, power and the prison population

The spatialisation of incarceration : reforms, response and the reality of prison life

Disciplining the disciplinarians : combating corruption and abuse through the professionalisation of the prison cadre

Creating juvenile delinquents : redefining childhood in the late Ottoman Empire.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 201-16) and index.

ISBN:

0748641734

9780748641734

OCLC:

878921960