Social Contract Theories : Antecedents to Classical Criminology

Renaissance… Recall: Rediscovery of Greek Classics Athens literature Aristotle Science Logic

Social Contract Theories Theoretical positions that explain social order in terms of a persons’ moral and political obligations, which depend upon a contract or agreement among people to form the society in which they live

‘Crito’ Socrates Laws made his way of life Relationship between citizens and the Laws of the city are not coerced (choose death & social contract)

Contractual Theories... Today Hobbes, Locke Rousseau Next Class Continue lecture In class critical thinking exercise about... Tuesday, 29th Not a lecture/Group Work Tutorial

Thomas Hobbes (1588 -1679) Leviathan (1651) Radical Conservative Social order is created by humans Monarchy should have absolute power Sovereign state ruling over ‘equals’ Authoritative government & commodious living

Hobbes State of Nature: Natural’ causes of conflict: Limited material possessions Distrust Glory (power) Natural human condition: “ in a state of perpetual war of all against all” (Delaney, 2004:3) No morality & constant fear Rationality to seek Social Contract How does this assumption translate temporally?

John Locke (1632 -1704) Two Treatises on Government (1689) Right to self-preservation through private property appropriation* Authority of King: Protection of people’s property & well being. Room for resistance …

Locke Free will restricted only by God; precedes society & state. State of Nature: “perfect and complete liberty to conduct one’s life as one best sees fit, free from the interference of others” (pre- political, but not pre-moral) Peaceful Conjugal Society private property is created when a person mixes his labor with the raw materials of nature. America didn’t really belong to the natives who lived there, because they were, on his view, failing to utilize the basic material of nature. In other words, they didn’t farm it, so they had no legitimate claim to it, and others could therefore justifiably appropriate it. The justification of the authority of the executive component of government is the protection of the people’s property and well-being, so when such protection is no longer present, or when the king becomes a tyrant and acts against the interests of the people, they have a right, if not an outright obligation, to resist his authority.

Money leads to unequal possession of Earth Locke Power granted to Civil Government by property owners and not majority Government has no rights, only responsibilities… Money leads to unequal possession of Earth

Jean Jaques Rousseau Social Contract (1762) “Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chains” (49). How can we live together, free from coercion? Through the collective renunciation of the individual rights and freedom (“forced to be free”) “Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chains” (49). Humans are essentially free, and were free in the State of Nature, but the ‘progress’ of civilization has substituted subservience to others for that freedom, through dependence, economic and social inequalities, and the extent to which we judge ourselves through comparisons with others.

Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712 -1778) The Social Contract (1762) Generally peaceful Think wilderness Few conflicts Many resources Changes with population growth & civilization Communities/Leisure time Preferences conflicts

Rousseau: Ideal Society Grew in relation to good governance All members of society have an equal voice People are equal to their occupation No one is above the law Rejected individual power in favor of collective New members should not alter the state to their advantage Preservation from conquest

The importance of Social Contract Theories…. “Contractual models have come to inform a vast variety of relations and interaction between persons, from students and their teachers, to authors and their readers.” Classical Criminology & Neo-Classical Crime Policy

Midterm 2: Critical Reflection Paper Due Sunday Nov.24 @ 23:30 (e-mail submission guidelines) Group Work: approximately 3 people per group Incorporate all 4 readings from weeks 9 & 10 and the guest lecture into a critical essay about the Carleton County Gaol (Crime & Punishment tour). You are not to use external sources for this assignment. Students will include three main sections in the paper:  Discuss the emergence of ideology about punishment in the classical period  Discuss Foucault’s critiques of the Classical approach and Becarria’s work in relation to the Panopticon.  Describe how the Carleton County Gaol is a manifestation of these ideas and theories about crime and punishment. SEE FORMATTING ASSIGNMENT & SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Group Work???

In Class Exercise (Thurs): Think about your relationship to the university in terms of a social contract: Is it Hobbesian or Locke/Rousseau inspired (or neither)? Critical Thinking Break off in groups of 3-5 Discuss the purpose of the contract, authority, morality Discuss punishment How else could it be ordered (agreement/validity)?

Contemporary Critiques “…social contract theory is at least an incomplete picture of our moral and political lives, and may in fact camouflage some of the ways in which the contract is itself parasitical upon the subjugations of classes of persons.” Ethnocentric View of Social Order