The Prison Industry: How It Works and Who Profits
(Paperback)
Publishing Details
The Prison Industry: How It Works and Who Profits
By (Author) Bianca Tylek
By (author) Worth Rises
The New Press
The New Press
16th July 2025
United Kingdom
Classifications
General
Non Fiction
Crime and criminology
Social classes
Physical Properties
Paperback
208
Width 155mm, Height 200mm, Spine 13mm
Description
A meticulous expos of who profits from mass incarceration, culminating in a compelling case for abolition
Based on years of research by the criminal justice organization Worth Risesbest known for campaigns that have revolutionized prison telecom and made prison and jail communication free in cities and states around the countryThe Prison Industrymaps the range of ways in which private corporations, often with their government partners, make money off our overincarcerated prison population. It further details the extraction of wealth from incarcerated people and their families, who have been brutalized by overpolicing and mass criminalization.
Chapters on labor, telecom, healthcare, community corrections, and more explore the origin story of privatization for the prison sector and how much money is at stake for the corporations involved. Stretching far beyond private prisons to look at all beneficiaries of incarceration, the authors illuminate the methods used to extract resources from public coffers and communities, which corporations are most active and how they partner with governments, and the harms these profit-based approaches to justice cause people, families, and communities.
Ultimately,The Prison Industrymakes a compelling case for prison abolition and serves as a tool for the dismantling and destruction of this wholly oppressive systemthe ashes of which we can use to create a better world built on care, not cages.
Author Bio
Bianca Tylek is the founder and executive director of Worth Rises, a New Yorkbased criminal justice advocacy organization known for its innovative research; federal, state, and local policy work; corporate activism; and a range of other initiatives. She lives in New York City. Worth Rises, a New Yorkbased criminal justice advocacy organization, is known for its innovative research; federal, state, and local policy work; corporate activism; and a range of other initiatives.
