# Marie Gottschalk

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American political scientist

Marie Gottschalk Academic work Discipline Political science Institutions University of Pennsylvania Main interests criminal justice health policy race the welfare state Notable works The Prison and the Gallows (2006) Caught (2016) Notable ideas History and critique of the American carceral state

**Marie Gottschalk** is an American political scientist and professor of political science at the [University of Pennsylvania](/source/University_of_Pennsylvania), known for her work on [mass incarceration](/source/Mass_incarceration) in the [United States](/source/United_States). Gottschalk is the author of *The Prison and the Gallows: The Politics of Mass Incarceration in America* (2006) and *Caught: the Prison State and the Lockdown of American Politics* (2016). Her research investigates the origins of the [carceral state](/source/Carceral_state) in the United States, the critiques of the scope and size of the carceral network, and the intersections of the carceral state with race and economic inequality.

## Career

In the 1980s she spent two years in China as a university lecturer and published on international relationships between China and the United States under the Bush administration.[1] By 1992, after having worked as a journalist, she was associate editor of *[World Policy Journal](/source/World_Policy_Journal)* (WPJ). In a 1992 WPJ article she echoed concerns expressed by *[Washington Post](/source/The_Washington_Post)* journalist, Colman McCarthy that the American media, which were under "unprecedented restrictions" during the [Gulf War](/source/Gulf_War), was—like the "American consumer, corporation and Congress"—being profoundly re-shaped by the Bush administration.[2][3][4] Before joining the University of Pennsylvania, she also worked as a visiting scholar at the [Russell Sage Foundation](/source/Russell_Sage_Foundation) and as a [Fulbright Program](/source/Fulbright_Program) Distinguished Lecturer in [Japan](/source/Japan). She served on the [American Academy of Arts and Sciences](/source/American_Academy_of_Arts_and_Sciences)' National Task Force on Mass Incarceration and the [National Academy of Sciences](/source/National_Academy_of_Sciences)' Committee on the Causes and Consequences of High Rates of Incarceration.[5] She was featured among the experts interviewed in the [Academy Award](/source/Academy_Award)-nominated 2016 documentary *[13th](/source/13th_(film))*.[6]

## Selected publications

In her widely cited 2006 book entitled, *The Prison and the Gallows: The Politics of Mass Incarceration in America*,[7] Gottschalk traced the nationalization and politicization of law and order, the relationship between power and punishment, the origins and construction of the [carceral state](/source/Carceral_state) in the United States from the 1920s through the 1960s, prison activism and prison rights, public policies in the penal system, and capital punishment.[7]

In her 2008 *[Annual Review of Political Science](/source/Annual_Review_of_Political_Science)* article, "Hiding in Plain Sight: American Politics and the Carceral State", she traced the "emergence, consolidation and "explosive growth" of the American carceral state as a "major milestone in American political development", that was "unprecedented" among Western countries and in US history."[8]: 235 She called for more research on the causes and consequences of the "retributive turn" in American penal policies. She described the carceral turn in academic research from the late 1990s onwards, with disciplines, such as criminology, sociology, law, and political science, investigating "politics and the origins of the carceral state." By the 2000s, new research expanded the scope of the literature on the carceral state to include its "political consequences" and to analyse its implications. The sheer size of the carceral state was beginning to "transform fundamental democratic institutions." According to Gottschalk, democratic "free and fair elections" and "accurate and representative census" were no longer assured. The literature on American politics and the carceral state which has expanded far beyond criminal justice, included "voter turnout", the "vanishing voter," the role of [neoliberalism](/source/Neoliberalism) in the economic policies of the 1990s, and the rise of the national Republican Party. She wrote that this new "scholarship on the carceral state" also raises concerns regarding "power and resistance for marginalized and stigmatized groups."[8]: 235

Her 2014 online publication, *Caught*, Gottschalk, was a scathing critique of the American carceral state, which she described as "metastasizing". She investigated the carceral phenomenon through the lens of race, sex offenders, political and economic inequality, the criminalization of immigration, recidivism, and the continuum of the carceral network beyond prison walls.[9] It was re-published with the title, *Caught: the Prison State and the Lockdown of American Politics*, by [Princeton University Press](/source/Princeton_University_Press) in 2016.[10] She examined the impact of the [Great Recession](/source/Great_Recession)—the [2008 financial crisis](/source/2008_financial_crisis)—[11][12] on the "Great Confinement".[10]

In the first chapter Gottschalk described how "a tenacious carceral state has sprouted in the shadows of mass imprisonment and has been extending its reach far beyond the prison gate. It includes not only the country’s vast archipelago of jails and prisons, but also the far-reaching and growing penal punishments and controls that lies in the never-never land between the prison gate and full citizenship. As it sunders families and communities and radically reworks conceptions of democracy, rights, and citizenship, the carceral state poses a formidable political and social challenge." She said that until the carceral turn in the social sciences in the late 1990s, "mass imprisonment was largely an invisible issue in the United States". By 2014, there was widespread criticism of mass incarceration but very modest reform.[10]

## Reviews and mentions

Gottschalk is widely cited in research related to the carceral state.[13][14][15][16] [Peter K. Enns](/source/Peter_K._Enns), who is the author of *Incarceration Nation: How the United States Became the Most Punitive Democracy in the World* (2016) described Gottschalk's 2006 *The Prison and the Gallows*, as "pathbreaking."[17]: 13 Enns agrees with Gottschalk's conclusion that policymakers overestimate the public's opinion on crime as more punitive than it is.[17]: 13 [7]: 27 He cites Gottschalk's *Caught*, saying that statistics on the millions in America's jails and prisons, understate the "scope of the carceral state", which more than triples when including those on probation and parole.[17]: 160

### 13th and Supreme Court citation

Main article: [13th (film)](/source/13th_(film))

Gottschalk is seen as one of the experts interviewed for the 2016 [Netflix](/source/Netflix) documentary, *[13th](/source/13th_(film))* by director [Ava DuVernay](/source/Ava_DuVernay).[6][18][19] The film explores the "intersection of race, justice, and mass incarceration in the United States."[19] Its title refers to the 1865 [Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution](/source/Thirteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution), which abolished slavery, "except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted."[20] Gottschalk's *Caught* was cited by Supreme Court Justice [Sonia Sotomayor](/source/Sonia_Sotomayor) in her dissenting opinion in *[Utah v. Strieff](/source/Utah_v._Strieff)* (2016).[6]

## Awards and honors

*The Prison and the Gallows* won the 2007 [Ellis W. Hawley Prize](/source/Ellis_W._Hawley_Prize) from the [Organization of American Historians](/source/Organization_of_American_Historians),[5]

*Caught* won the 2016 Michael Harrington Book Award from the New Political Science Section of the [American Political Science Association](/source/American_Political_Science_Association).[21]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Gottschalk_Failure_1989_1-0)** Gottschalk, Marie (1989). "The Failure of American Policy". *World Policy Journal*. **6** (4): 667–684. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0740-2775](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0740-2775). [JSTOR](/source/JSTOR_(identifier)) [40209129](https://www.jstor.org/stable/40209129).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Colman_MediaDanced_19910317_2-0)** McCarthy, Colman (March 17, 1991). ["When the Media Danced to Jingo Bells"](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1991/03/17/when-the-media-danced-to-jingo-bells/9a31971d-8c9d-4916-83af-a7581a360bfb/). *Washington Post*. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0190-8286](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0190-8286). Retrieved January 11, 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Gottschalk_Shadow_1992_3-0)** Gottschalk, Marie (1992). "Operation Desert Cloud: The Media and the Gulf War". *World Policy Journal*. **9** (3): 449–486. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0740-2775](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0740-2775). [JSTOR](/source/JSTOR_(identifier)) [40209262](https://www.jstor.org/stable/40209262).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Gottschalk_Shadow_19990601_4-0)** Gottschalk, Marie (June 1, 1999). [*The Shadow Welfare State: Labor, Business, and the Politics of Health-care in the United States*](https://read.dukeupress.edu/jhppl/article-abstract/24/3/489/39473). Vol. 24. Cornell University Press. pp. 489–529. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1215/03616878-24-3-489](https://doi.org/10.1215%2F03616878-24-3-489). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-8014-8648-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8014-8648-7). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [10386325](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10386325). Retrieved January 11, 2020. {{[cite book](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_book)}}: |journal= ignored ([help](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:CS1_errors#periodical_ignored))

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-faculty_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-faculty_5-1) ["Marie Gottschalk"](https://www.sas.upenn.edu/polisci/people/standing-faculty/marie-gottschalk-0). *University of Pennsylvania Political Science Department*. Retrieved 2017-10-21.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-thedp_Imburgia_20170126_6-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-thedp_Imburgia_20170126_6-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-thedp_Imburgia_20170126_6-2) Imburgia, Stephen (January 26, 2017). ["This Penn professor was cited in a SCOTUS decision and featured in an Oscar-nominated film"](https://www.thedp.com/article/2017/01/marie-gottschalk-penn). *The Daily Pennsylvanian*. Retrieved January 11, 2020.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Gottschalk_Gallows_2006_7-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Gottschalk_Gallows_2006_7-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Gottschalk_Gallows_2006_7-2) Gottschalk, Marie (2006). *The prison and the gallows: the politics of mass incarceration in America*. [Cambridge University Press](/source/Cambridge_University_Press). p. 451. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0521864275](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0521864275). [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [452916038](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/452916038).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Gottschalk_Hiding_2008_8-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Gottschalk_Hiding_2008_8-1) Gottschalk, Marie (June 15, 2008). ["Hiding in Plain Sight: American Politics and the Carceral State"](https://doi.org/10.1146%2Fannurev.polisci.11.060606.135218). *[Annual Review of Political Science](/source/Annual_Review_of_Political_Science)*. **11**: 235–260. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1146/annurev.polisci.11.060606.135218](https://doi.org/10.1146%2Fannurev.polisci.11.060606.135218).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Gottschalk_Caught_2014_9-0)** Gottschalk, Marie (2014), [*Caught*](https://archive.org/details/caughtt_got_2015_00_7661), [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0691164052](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0691164052), [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [900396421](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/900396421)

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Gottschalk_Caught_2016_10-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Gottschalk_Caught_2016_10-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Gottschalk_Caught_2016_10-2) Gottschalk, Marie (2016). *Caught: the Prison State and the Lockdown of American Politics*. Princeton University Press.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Appelbaum_11-0)** Binyamin, Appelbaum (September 4, 2014). ["Fed Says Growth Lifts the Affluent, Leaving Behind Everyone Else"](https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/05/business/economy/least-affluent-families-incomes-are-declining-fed-survey-shows.html). *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*. Retrieved September 13, 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Chokshi_12-0)** Chokshi, Niraj (August 11, 2014). ["Income inequality seems to be rising in more than 2 in 3 metro areas"](https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2014/08/11/income-inequality-seems-to-be-rising-in-more-than-2-in-3-metro-areas/). *[The Washington Post](/source/The_Washington_Post)*. Retrieved September 13, 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Simon_Governing_2007_13-0)** Simon, Jonathan (February 3, 2007). *Governing Through Crime: How the War on Crime Transformed American Democracy and Created a Culture of Fear*. Oxford University Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19-804002-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-804002-6).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** Pager, Devah (2008-09-15). *Marked: Race, Crime, and Finding Work in an Era of Mass Incarceration*. University of Chicago Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-226-64485-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-226-64485-1).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** Gottschalk, Marie (2000). *The Shadow Welfare State: Labor, Business, and the Politics of Health-care in the United States*. Cornell University Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-8014-8648-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8014-8648-7).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** Aman, Alfred C (2015). ["Prison Privatization and Inmate Labor in the Global Economy: Reframing the Debate over Private Prisons"](https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=2574&context=facpub): 55. Marie Gottschalk in *Hiding in Plain Sight* drew attention to the "absence of rehabilitation from [2015] current discourses of incarceration." {{[cite journal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_journal)}}: Cite journal requires |journal= ([help](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:CS1_errors#missing_periodical))

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Enns_2016_17-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Enns_2016_17-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Enns_2016_17-2) [Enns, Peter K.](/source/Peter_K._Enns) (March 22, 2016). [*Incarceration Nation: How the United States Became the Most Punitive Democracy in the World*](https://books.google.com/books?id=sqqxCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1). Cambridge University Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-107-13288-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-107-13288-7). Retrieved January 11, 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** [Howard Barish](/source/Howard_Barish), [Ava DuVernay](/source/Ava_DuVernay), [Spencer Averick](/source/Spencer_Averick) (September 30, 2016). *13th*. [Netflix](/source/Netflix).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-dargis_19-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-dargis_19-1) [Manohla Dargis, "Review: ‘13TH,’ the Journey From Shackles to Prison Bars"](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/30/movies/13th-review-ava-duvernay.html), *The New York Times*, September 29, 2016. Retrieved February 20, 2017

1. **[^](#cite_ref-20)** ["Constitution of the United States: Thirteenth Amendment"](https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-13/). *Constitution Annotated: Analysis and Interpretation*. Library of Congress. Retrieved 16 February 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-21)** Gottschalk, Marie (16 February 2016). [*Caught*](https://press.princeton.edu/titles/10731.html). Princeton University Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780691170831](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780691170831). Retrieved 2017-10-21.

## External links

- [Faculty page](https://www.sas.upenn.edu/polisci/people/standing-faculty/marie-gottschalk-0)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Marie Gottschalk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Gottschalk) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Gottschalk?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.