Synopses & Reviews
Challenges Western images of Ottoman prisons as sites of Oriental brutality. Contrary to the stereotypical images of torture, narcotics and brutal sexual abuse traditionally associated with Ottoman (or 'Turkish') prisons, Kent Schull argues that, during the Second Constitutional Period (1908--1918), they played a crucial role in attempts to transform the empire. It was within these prisons that many pressing questions of Ottoman modernity were worked out, such as administrative reform, centralisation, Islamic criminal law, punishment and rehabilitation, issues of gender and childhood, bureaucratic professionalisation, Ottoman national identity and social engineering.- Views the prison as a microcosm of imperial transformation during this critical period in Middle East history- Heavily critiques Michel Foucault's approach to punishment, state power, and society by applying it to a non-Western context- Challenges assumptions about the impact the Second Constitutional Period had on the development of the current Middle East nation-state system and society
Review
In this theoretically and empirically rich account Kent Schull shows how prisons, prisoners, and prison reform fit in the transformation of the Ottoman state in the 19th century. By shedding light on a much neglected aspect of Ottoman state practice, this book significantly improves our understanding of one of the most crucial periods in Ottoman history.' -- Re?at Kasaba, Stanley D. Golub Chair, Professor of International Studies, University of Washington.
Synopsis
Contrary to the stereotypical images of torture, narcotics and brutal sexual abuse traditionally associated with Ottoman or 'Turkish' prisons, Kent Schull argues that, during the Second Constitutional Period (1908-1918), they played a crucial role in attempts to transform the empire.
Synopsis
Revises Western images of Ottoman prisons as sites of Oriental brutality
Read an interview with Kent F. Schull about the book (pdf)
Listen to Kent Schull explore the lives of Ottoman prisoners on The Ottoman History Podcast
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.
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
Synopsis
Traditionally, Ottoman or 'Turkish' prisons have always conjured up images of Oriental brutality in the Western mind. Contrary to this stereotypical image, Ottoman prisons were a site of immense reform and contestation during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. In fact, they acted as 'laboratories of modernity' for the Ottoman ruling establishment during the Second Constitutional Period (1908-1918) and played a critical role in attempts to transform the empire comprehensively. It was within the walls of these prisons that many of the pressing questions of Ottoman modernity were worked out, such as administrative reform and centralization, the rationalization of Islamic criminal law and punishment, issues of gender and childhood, rehabilitating prisoners, bureaucratic professionalization, Ottoman national identity, and social engineering. In other words, the prison was a microcosm of imperial transformation and acts as a window into the specificities of Ottoman modernity during this crit
Synopsis
Contrary to the stereotypical images of torture, narcotics and brutal sexual behaviour traditionally associated with Ottoman (or 'Turkish') prisons, Kent F. Schull argues that these places were sites of immense reform and contestation during the 19th century. He shows that they 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, such as administrative centralisation, the rationalisation of Islamic criminal law and punishment, issues of gender and childhood, prisoner rehabilitation, bureaucratic professionalisation, identity and social engineering.
Juxtaposing state-mandated reform with the reality of prison life, the author investigates how these reforms affected the lives of local prison officials and inmates, and shows how these individuals actively conformed, contested and manipulated new penal policies and practices for their own benefit.
About the Author
Kent F. Schull is Assistant Professor of Ottoman and modern Middle East history at Binghamton University. He has graduate degrees in Jewish Studies (Oxon) and in Ottoman and modern Middle East history (UCLA) and is a twice Fulbright scholar to Turkey. His publications include several articles, scholarly contributions, and a forthcoming co-edited volume on Ottoman sociolegal history and identity.
Table of Contents
List of IllustrationsList of Abbreviations
Note on Transliteration and Pronunciation
Preface
Introduction
1. Ottoman Criminal Justice and the Transformation of Islamic Criminal Law and Punishment in the Age of Modernity, 1839-1922
2. Prison Reform in the Late Ottoman Empire: The State's Perspectives
3. Counting the Incarcerated: Knowledge, Power and the Prison Population
4. The Spatialisation of Incarceration: Reforms, Response and the Reality of Prison Life
5. Disciplining the Disciplinarians: Combating Corruption and Abuse through the Professionalisation of the Prison Cadre
6. Creating Juvenile Delinquents: Redefining Childhood in the Late Ottoman Empire
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index