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This book presents an interpretive analysis of the major themes and purpose of Alexis de Tocqueville's and Gustave de Beaumont's first work, On the Penitentiary System, thereby offering new insights into Tocqueville as a moderate liberal statesman. The book explores Tocqueville's thinking on penitentiaries as the best possible solution to recidivism, his approach to colonial imperialism, and his arguments on moral reformation of prisoners through a close reading of Tocqueville's first published text. The unifying political concept of all three discussions is Tocqueville's underlying concern to pursue moderation between institutional and imaginative extremes in order to maintain liberal values. In both thinking moderately and advocating for moderate political action, Tocqueville's On the Penitentiary System renews an emphasis on the importance of civic engagement and the balance between philosophy and praxis.
List of contents
1. An Introduction to Tocqueville's First WorkChapter 1: Tocqueville's Moderate Penal Theory.- 2. Tocqueville's Moderate Penal Theory.- 3. Tocqueville's Moderate Penal Activity.- 4. Tocqueville's Moderation and Lieber's Idealism in Penal Reform.- 5. Tocqueville's Moderate Penal Reform After 1832.- 6. Conclusion: Tocqueville's Penal Reform and Today's Penal Problems.
About the author
Emily Katherine Ferkaluk is Instructor of Political Science at Cedarville University, USA. She is translator of
On the Penitentiary System in the United States and Its Application to France: The Complete Text and teaches courses in American politics and political theory.
Summary
This book presents an interpretive analysis of the major themes and purpose of Alexis de Tocqueville’s and Gustave de Beaumont’s first work, On the Penitentiary System, thereby offering new insights into Tocqueville as a moderate liberal statesman. The book explores Tocqueville’s thinking on penitentiaries as the best possible solution to recidivism, his approach to colonial imperialism, and his arguments on moral reformation of prisoners through a close reading of Tocqueville’s first published text. The unifying political concept of all three discussions is Tocqueville’s underlying concern to pursue moderation between institutional and imaginative extremes in order to maintain liberal values. In both thinking moderately and advocating for moderate political action, Tocqueville’s On the Penitentiary System renews an emphasis on the importance of civic engagement and the balance between philosophy and praxis.
Additional text
“Ferkaluk (Cedarville Univ.) offers an important new contribution to the ever-growing field of Tocqueville studies. … She discovers that Tocqueville’s political theory shines through the text in unexpected ways and that the book offers important lessons to contemporary liberal democracy. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.” (E. C. Sands, Choice, Vol. 56 (2), October, 2018)
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"Ferkaluk (Cedarville Univ.) offers an important new contribution to the ever-growing field of Tocqueville studies. ... She discovers that Tocqueville's political theory shines through the text in unexpected ways and that the book offers important lessons to contemporary liberal democracy. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty." (E. C. Sands, Choice, Vol. 56 (2), October, 2018)
