The Return of the Wheelbarrow Men; or, the Arrival of Postmodern Penality?

This paper examines a range of new penal trends and attempts to assess their significance, in the context of the growing debate on modernist and postmodernist penality. It argues that they can be seen as early indicators of an emerging postmodern penality, even if its contours may still be unclear and unmarked. The paper then goes on to discuss the empirical and theoretical significance of this contention.