French prison historiography after Foucault: an approach via the works of Jacques-Guy Petit (1975-2000)

Abstract

Forty years ago, Discipline and Punish ushered in a “golden age” of historical studies on prison in France. This article will address the discussion on that work in its early years, by studying some of the leading reviews that were published at the time and the debate entitled L’impossible prison. Next, in order to approach the subsequent developments of prison historiography, it will examine the contributions of Jacques-Guy Petit. For some historians, Petit’s doctoral thesis acquired a character of “definitive” contribution. Considering these aspects, this paper will attempt to answer why historians have laid a greater emphasis on Petit’s work; and why, nonetheless, it did not result in new works, but was followed instead by a kind of decline that resulted in a topic shift in the French historiographical agenda.