Convict labour in the southern borderlands of Latin America (c. 1750-1910s). Comparative perspectives

Convict labour –defined as “the work performed by individuals under penal and/or administrative control” 2 – has hitherto remained marginal within both theoretical debates on “free” and “unfree” labour, and the literature on the relationship between the abolition process of chattel slavery and the persistence of other forms of coerced labour. In this respect, this chapter aims to bring it back into these debates, by making convict presence visible and by interpreting the role of convict labour at the crossroad of multiple regimes of punishment and labour relations. In particular, the essay addresses three broad questions: What historical conditions favoured the exploitation of convict labour as part of the larger process of commodification of labour? In which economic sectors did convicts work, and how did their tasks differ from those of other labourers? How did convict transportation interact with other labour migrations? [First Paragraph]