Abstract:
This essay examines the effects of capitalism on prison labor and
the key role of racism in its development. This analysis uses Austin Reed’s
The Life and the Adventures of a Haunted Convict, along with historical
and contemporary studies, to develop this relationship between penal servitude
and capitalism. The essay follows a chronological flow of evidence from
the formation of prison labor to its potential future based on political and
consumer trends. The study concludes that reformation of the penal and justice
systems is necessary to dismantle the current exploitation of prison labor.
