Incarceration, stigma, and labor power: The prison as labor governance institution in 36 OECD countries

Scholars of punishment have long been interested in secondary consequences of criminal justice contact. Recent work in this vein demonstrates that higher levels of incarceration puts negative pressure on labor unions, yet much of this work focuses solely on the United States—underscoring important gaps in our knowledge of how the prison operates in broader context. This article extends this research to explore the extent to which incarceration rates across 36 OECD countries affect unionization from 1961 to 2017. Results from panel data analysis support that incarceration rates diminish union density across context and time. These findings contribute to literatures on neoliberal penality, union decline, and investigations into consequences of incarceration beyond the somewhat exceptional case of US penal practice.