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Beyond Papillon, Beyond Papillon, 0803244495, 0-8032-4449-5, 978-0-8032-4449-8, 9780803244498, Stephen A. Toth, France Overseas: Studies in Empire and Decolonization, Beyond Papillon, 0803256426, 0-8032-5642-6, 978-0-8032-5642-2, 9780803256422, Stephen A. Toth, France Overseas: Studies in Empire and Decolonization, Beyond Papillon, 0803217986, 0-8032-1798-6, 978-0-8032-1798-0, 9780803217980, Stephen A. Toth
, France Overseas: Studies in Empire and Decolonizatio
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Beyond Papillon
hardcover
2006.
216 pp.
Illus., maps
978-0-8032-4449-8
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Out of Stock
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paperback
2008.
240 pp.
Illus., maps
978-0-8032-1798-0
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 For French criminologists and colonialists of the mid-nineteenth century, the penal colonies of Guiana and New Caledonia seemed to satisfy two needs, namely, to incarcerate a growing number of criminals and to supply manpower for these developing colonies. But were these two goals not contradictory? Was the primary purpose of the penal colonies to punish or to colonize? In the prisons, inmates found means of subversion, guards resisted militaristic discipline, and camp commanders fought physicians for authority. Back in the metropole, journalistic exposés catered to the public’s fascination with the penal colonies’ horror and exoticism. An understanding of modern France is not complete without an examination of this institution, which existed for more than a century and imprisoned more than one hundred thousand people. Stephen A. Toth invites readers to experience the prisons firsthand. Through a careful analysis of criminal case files, administrative records, and prisoner biographies, Toth reconstructs life in the penal colonies and examines how the social sciences, tropical medicine, and sensational journalism evaluated and exploited the inmates’ experiences. In exploring the disjuncture between the real and the imagined, he moves beyond mythic characterizations of the penal colonies to reveal how power, discipline, and punishment were construed and enforced in these prison outposts.  Stephen A. Toth is an assistant professor of history at Arizona State University’s West campus.
 "Stephen A. Toth adds to the growing literature on colonial police forces and prisons with this sophisticated, archivally grounded history of French penal colonies in French Guiana and New Caledonia from their creation in 1854 to their final closure in 1952. . . . [T]his is a very satisfying piece of work, a welcome addition to new colonial history."—American Historical Review “[Toth] succeeds in providing a readable, balanced and thoughtful account of the system of the bagne and the debates it provoked. . . . Toth’s book makes a useful contribution to a part of French colonial history that is familiar in its general outlines to many readers but that also benefits from his detailed consideration.”—H-Net Book Reviews H-France “This is a fascinating and well-written account of the debate around French overseas penal colonies, offering readers a vivid description of the experiences of prisoners and guards within the colonies. . . . [Beyond Papillon] is useful for anyone trying to understand the institution of penal colonies as well as the criminological debates of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century France.”—Ruth Ginio, International History Review
“An engaging and well-researched account of the 100-year histories of the penal colonies of French Guiana and New Caledonia. . . . Beyond Papillon makes important contributions to the histories of colonization and crime and punishment. . . . The very idea of creating overseas penal colonies presents us with troubling questions about how societies deal with offenders against the social order, and Toth’s discussion provides historical perspectives on important contemporary debates.”—Deborah Neill, Itinerario
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