Las influencias políticas y sociales en el ejercicio de la autoridad en la cárcel
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This text belongs to a round table which offers a discussion with James B. Jacobs, author of
the classic in sociology of prisons Stateville: The penitentiary in mass society, on the importance of his work 40 years later. This commentary stresses two important contributions of
his work and relates them to changes in society and the configuration of punishment since
then. First, this outstanding study of the relations between prison and society is used as a
springboard from which to pose the question of whether this relationship has varied substantially with the existence of more channels of communication and the increase of people
being imprisoned. Second, acknowledging his excellent use of Weber for understanding
punishment, the issue of contradictory dynamics pushing for a more legal-rational and
more charismatic exercises of authority is raised