970418 Erikson This Dissertation Research Improvement project is a case study of the relationship between punishment and the development of the modern state. It takes as a starting point the 1718 Transportation Act, which empowered Parliament to banish criminals to the American colonies, as a critical attempt by the English government to consolidate state power. Rather than focusing on the coercive capacity of the state for waging war or imprisoning offenders, this project situates transportation in a state-centered framework to explore why, when, and how this specific penal policy was formed. This study examines the ability of the state to realize its goals in an historical context, given the competing demands of different social groups and classes and the relations between the state and its publics. Data collection will be done in London and Surrey national and local archives. State documents will be analyzed to investigate the decision-making process leading to the implementation of transportation, and local court records will be used to reconstruct the social conditions surrounding judicial decisions to transport offenders. In addition information gathered from state and court documents, this project will also use media accounts to examine the relations between the English state and its populace within the global-interstate system. ****
