Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Prisons of Labor: Social Democracy and the Triple Transformation of the Politics of Punishment in Norway, 1900–2014

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Scandinavian Penal History, Culture and Prison Practice

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Prisons and Penology ((PSIPP))

Abstract

This chapter charts the structural transformation of the Norwegian welfare state and attendant shifts in the modality of punishment over the course of the 20th century and beyond. Between 1900 and 2014, the Norwegian welfare state embodied three distinctive forms: first, a residualist, minimally decommodifying regime of Bismarckian welfare politics; second, a comprehensive, universalist regime of social democracy that was broadly redistributive and decommodifying along Fordist-Keynesian lines; third, a hybridized semi-neoliberal regime that maintained important elements of social democracy while implementing marketized logics of state governance, relying increasingly on private providers to deliver core state services and witnessing accelerating socioeconomic disparities.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 34.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 44.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. 1.

    For alternative mappings and periodizations of the history of imprisonment in the Scandinavian countries, see Nilsson’s (2013) account of Swedish incarceration in the mid-sections of the 20th century; Søbye’s (2010) micro-level account of the historical transformation of a prison in Oslo, Norway; Pratt and Eriksson’s (2013) comparative analysis of incarceration in three Nordic and three Anglophone societies; and Smith’s (2003) study of the rise of the modern prison in Denmark over one century.

  2. 2.

    The incarceration rate for Norwegian citizens remained relatively stable over the period; the growth in criminal confinement should be viewed in conjunction with targeted police action aimed at arriving citizens from postcolonial developing countries in and around the Middle East following American military incursions in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the eastwards expansion of the European Union that attracted tens of thousands of migrants through the increased mobility offered by a widened Schengen Area.

  3. 3.

    The police trained its gaze on “foreign” criminals in this period. “Norwegians constitute the majority of registered criminal offenders responsible for less serious drug crimes, while foreign citizens are responsible for most serious drug offenses,” observed a Norwegian police report in 2014 (National Crime Investigation Service 2014, p. 9); the report enumerates a panoply of “criminal networks” presumed to be stratified along ethnonational or ethnoracial lines and organized by social agents hailing from the Baltic states, Poland, the Balkans, Vietnam, Morocco, Somalia, Kurdish regions, and West-African nations. The report notes, “Statistics show a tenfold increase in the number of drug cases where west-Africans were suspected, accused, and convicted [of drug crimes] between 2000 and 2009.” And yet it remains unclear whether this “explosion”—the term used by the police, enclosed in quotation marks, to characterize the outsized prevalence of “West-African” offenders in the commission of drug offenses—is a function of disproportionate commission of crime by definite social groups or rather an ethnoracially targeted police surveillance aimed at uncovering drug offenses by those already presumed to be primarily responsible for the importation of cocaine and heroin into Norwegian society.

  4. 4.

    A growing number of political agents in the Norwegian penal field believe that rehabilitative functions should be reserved for a privileged core of national insiders by reducing correctional standards for non-national offenders. In 2010, the Conservative Party expressed a desire to establish a “differential treatment” of foreign inmates by “moving foreigners out of ordinary Norwegian prisons and into separate, more basic prison wings.” The party’s spokesperson on criminal justice issues believed it would be desirable to construct “separate wings for foreign criminals with somewhat lowered standards in regards to amenities and rehabilitative services” (Conservative Party 2010). Similarly, the Progress Party’s manifesto notes, “The proportion of foreign convicts is approaching 40 percent [of the inmate population], and high standards in Norwegian prisons are not having a deterrent effect on these criminals. We must establish separate prisons for foreign criminals” (Progress Party 2011).

References

  • Aaberge, R., & Atkinson, A. B. (2008, July). Top incomes in Norway. Statistics Norway Discussion Papers, no. 552.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aas, K. F., & Mohn, S. B. (2015). Utvisning som straff? Om grensesnittet mellom strafferett og utlendingskontroll. Tidsskrift for strafferett, 15(2), 154–176.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barker, V. (2013). Nordic exceptionalism revisited: explaining the paradox of a Janus-faced penal regime. Theoretical Criminology, 17(1), 5–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bjørnson, Ø. (2001). The social democrats and the Norwegian welfare state: some perspectives. Scandinavian Journal of History, 26(3), 197–223.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Briggs, A. (2006). The welfare state in historical perspective. In C. Pierson (Ed.), The welfare state reader (pp. 16–29). Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Central Bureau of Statistics of Norway. (1954). Statistics on treason and collaboration, 1940–1945. Oslo: Central Bureau of Statistics.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conservative Party. (2010). Vil forskjellsbehandle innsatte. http://www.hoyre.no/nb-no/aktuelt/arkiv/vil-forskjellsbehandle-innsatte. Accessed 31 August 2016.

  • Den Norske Bestyrelsesafdeling af Nordisk Juristmøde. (1899). Forhandlinger Paa Niende Nordiske Juristmøde i Kristiania. Kristiania: Aktie-Bogtrykkeriet.

    Google Scholar 

  • Det Statistiske Centralbureau. (1903). Statistisk Aarbog for Kongeriget Norge. Kristiania: H. Aschehoug & Co.

    Google Scholar 

  • Det Statistiske Centralbyraa. (1913). Oversigt over de vigtigste resultater av kriminalstatistikken for aarene 1886–1904. Kristiania: H. Aschehoug & Co.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dikötter, F. (1998). Race culture: recent perspectives on the history of eugenics. American Historical Review, 103(2), 467–478.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Esping-Andersen, G. (1990). The three worlds of welfare capitalism. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Esping-Andersen, G., & Korpi, W. (1986). From poor relief to institutional welfare states: the development of Scandinavian social policy. International Journal of Sociology, 16(3/4), 39–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fengselsvesenet. (1929). Fengselsstyrets årbok, 1925. Oslo: H. Aschehoug & Co.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fengselsvesenet. (1936). Fengselsstyrets årbok, 1926–1930. Oslo: H. Aschehoug & Co.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fengselsstyret. (1954). Report of the prison administration, 1931–1950. Oslo: Fengselsstyret.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garland, D. (2001). The culture of control. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodman, P., Page, J., & Phelps, M. (2015). The long struggle: An agonistic perspective on penal development. Theoretical Criminology, 19(3), 315–335.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haave, P. (2007). Sterilization under the Swastika: the case of Norway. International Journal of Mental Health, 36(1), 45–57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hansen, M. N. (2014). Self-made wealth or family wealth? Changes in intergenerational wealth mobility. Social Forces, 93(2), 457–481.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harvey, D. (2005). A brief history of neoliberalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hauge, R. (2002). Utviklingslinjer i straffelovgivningen i det 20. århundre. In Norwegian Ministry of Justice (Ed.), Ny straffelov: Straffelovkommisjonens delutredning VII (NOU 2002: 04) (pp. 41–77). Oslo: Justis- og politidepartementet.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heivoll, G., & Flaatten, S. (Eds.) (2014). Straff, lov, historie: Historiske perspektiver på straffeloven av 1902. Oslo: Dreyers Forlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jessop, B. (2002). The future of the capitalist state. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Judt, T. (2007). Postwar: a history of Europe since 1945. London: Vintage Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kildal, N., & Kuhnle, S. (Eds.) (2005). The Nordic welfare model and the idea of universalism. In Normative foundations of the welfare state: the Nordic experience (pp. 13–34). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mathiesen, T. (1965). The defence of the weak: a sociological study of aspects of a Norwegian correctional institution. London: Tavistock.

    Google Scholar 

  • Møglestue, I. (1962). Kriminalitet og sosial bakgrunn. Oslo: Statistisk Sentralbyrå.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Crime Investigation Service. (2014). Den organiserte kriminaliteten i Norge: Trender og utfordringer, 2013–2014. Oslo: Kripos.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nilsson, R. (2013). Från cellfängelse till kognitiv beteendeterapi. Fängelse, politik och vetande, 1930–1980. Malmö: Égalité.

    Google Scholar 

  • Norwegian Correctional Services. (2005). Kriminalomsorgens årsstatistikk 2005. Oslo: Kriminalomsorgen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Norwegian Correctional Services. (2013). Kriminalomsorgens årsstatistikk 2013. Oslo: Kriminalomsorgen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Norwegian Labour Party. (1945). Det norske Arbeiderpartis Arbeidsprogram, 1945. http://arbeiderpartiet.no/file/download/5350/60954/file/Arbeidsprogram%201945.pdf. Accessed 1 September 2015.

  • Norwegian Labour Party. (1953). Arbeidsprogrammet for stortingsperioden 1953–57. http://www.nsd.uib.no/polsys/data/filer/parti/10045.rtf. Accessed 1 September 2015.

  • Norwegian Ministry of Justice. (1918). 1050/1918D. Nr. 6. Statsråd Blekr. [Justisdepartementet D del 2—RA/S-1043/A/Aa/L0017]. Oslo: National Archives of Norway.

    Google Scholar 

  • Norwegian Ministry of Justice. (1924). Brev fra Lægen ved Botsfengselet, Johan Scharffenberg, 3. juni 1924 [Justisdepartementet D del 2—RA/S-1043/D/Da/L0142]. Oslo: National Archives of Norway.

    Google Scholar 

  • Norwegian Ministry of Justice. (1925). J. nr. 1423-25 D. Statsråd Holmboe. Nr. 35 [Justisdepartementet, Fengselsstyret D del 1—RA/S-1043/A/Aa/L0018]. Oslo: National Archives of Norway.

    Google Scholar 

  • Norwegian Ministry of Justice. (1978). St.meld. nr. 104 (1977–78). Om kriminalpolitikken. Oslo: Justis- og politidepartementet.

    Google Scholar 

  • Norwegian Ministry of Justice. (1988). NOU 1988/37: Ny fengselslov. Oslo: Justis- og politidepartementet.

    Google Scholar 

  • Norwegian Ministry of Justice. (2012). Kongsvinger fengsel: Ny avdeling for utenlandske innsatte. https://www.regjeringen.no/no/aktuelt/kongsvinger-fengsel-ny-avdeling-for-uten/id709573/. Accessed 10 December 2012.

  • NRK. (2014). Ap vil ha svar fra Anundsen om fengselsplasser i Nederland. http://www.nrk.no/norge/ap-vil-ha-svar-fra-anundsen-om-fengselsplasser-i-nederland-1.12070610. Accessed 29 November 2014.

  • Petit, J.-G. (1990). Ces peines obscures: La prison pénale en France, 1780–1875. Paris: Fayard.

    Google Scholar 

  • Polanyi, K. (2001 [1944]). The great transformation. Boston: Beacon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pratt, J. (2008). Scandinavian exceptionalism in an era of penal excess. Part II: does Scandinavian exceptionalism have a future? British Journal of Criminology, 48(3), 275–292.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pratt, J., & Eriksson, A. (2013). Contrasts in punishment: an explanation of anglophone excess and Nordic exceptionalism. Abingdon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Progress Party. (2011). Sandberg strammer inn. http://web.archive.org/web/20110519082142/http://www.frp.no/Sandberg+strammer+inn.d25-TxlDK5S.ips. Accessed 1 September 2016.

  • Roll-Hansen, N. (1989). Geneticists and the eugenics movement in Scandinavia. British Journal for the History of Science, 22(3), 335–346.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schaanning, E. (2007). Menneskelaboratoriet. Oslo: Scandinavian Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shammas, V. L. (2015). The rise of a more punitive state: on the attenuation of Norwegian penal exceptionalism in an era of welfare state transformation. Critical Criminology, 24(1), 57–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shammas, V. L., Sandberg, S., Pedersen, W. (2014). Trajectories to mid-and higher-level drug crimes: penal misrepresentations of drug dealers in Norway. British Journal of Criminology, 54(4), 592–612.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, P. S. (2003). Moralske hospitaler: Det moderne fængselsvæsens gennembrud 1770–1870. Copenhagen: Forum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Søbye, E. (2010). En mann fra forgangne århundrer: Overlege Johan Scharffenbergs liv og virke 1869—1965. En arkivstudie. Oslo: Forlaget Oktober.

    Google Scholar 

  • Statistics Norway. (1999). Kraftig økning i narkoforbrytelser. http://www.ssb.no/sosiale-forhold-og-kriminalitet/artikler-og-publikasjoner/kraftig-okning-i-narkoforbrytelser. Accessed 1 September 2015.

  • Statistics Norway. (2015). Population of penal institutions. https://www.ssb.no/a/histstat/tabeller/8-8-12t.txt. Accessed 1 September 2015.

  • Svenska Dagbladet. (2014). Inga norska fångar i Sverige. http://www.svd.se/inga-norska-fangar-i-sverige. Accessed 5 February 2014.

  • Statistisk Sentralbyrå. (1962). Kriminalstatistikk: Domfelte innsatt i og løslatt fra fengselsvesenets anstalter i 1960. Oslo: Statistisk Sentralbyrå.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tham, H. (2001). Law and order as a Leftist project? The case of Sweden. Punishment & Society, 3(3), 409–426.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tham, H. (2005). Swedish drug policy and the vision of the good society. Journal of Scandinavian Studies in Criminology and Crime Prevention, 6(1), 57–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verdens Gang. (1980, December 23). Hver fjerde langtidsfange hjem til jul, p. 10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Verdens Gang. (1985, September 26). Narkotikapolitikken, p. 2.

    Google Scholar 

  • Verdens Gang. (2011, May 13). FrPs fengselsreform (mest for utlendinger): Hard og simpel soning, pp. 4–5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wacquant, L. (2009). Punishing the poor: the neoliberal government of social insecurity. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology and Human Geography, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Victor L. Shammas

Authors
  1. Victor L. Shammas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Victor L. Shammas .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Criminology and Sociology of Law, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Peter Scharff Smith

  2. Department of Criminology and Sociology of Law, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Thomas Ugelvik

Copyright information

© 2017 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Shammas, V.L. (2017). Prisons of Labor: Social Democracy and the Triple Transformation of the Politics of Punishment in Norway, 1900–2014. In: Scharff Smith, P., Ugelvik, T. (eds) Scandinavian Penal History, Culture and Prison Practice. Palgrave Studies in Prisons and Penology. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58529-5_3

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58529-5_3

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-58528-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-58529-5

  • eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation