Feminist analysis of the range of critical perspectives on punishment leads to argument that a fuller social understanding of punishment must be informed by feminist research on women's imprisonment.
Acknowledgements Introduction 1. Political economies of punishment 2. 'New histories of punishment regimes 3. The Foucault Effect: from penology to penality 4. Feminist analytical approaches to women's imprisonment 5. Postmodern feminism and the question of penalty 6. Towards a postmodern penal politic? Bibliography
`The book is extremely well researched and I found myself making a lengthy list of new references to follow up ... makes a stimulating contribution to the debate about the future of penology and its relevance to feminism (and vise versa). At the same time, however, its detailed discussion of the development of modern penal studies will ensure it a market as a useful student textbook.' Journal of Law and Society.
