The re-centralization of work in prison. The Punta de Rieles experiment in Montevideo, Uruguay

This paper examines the approach to prisoner labour and work programs at Punta de Rieles prison in Montevideo, Uruguay-a medium-security, non-traditional prison that offers a lens to interrogate the intersections of labour and punishment. At Punta de Rieles, prisoners are responsibilized as part of a broader governance strategy, where the state delegates significant autonomy to prisoners to engage in activities deemed 'productive' within a framework of "governing at a distance." This strategy has formalized a prison-based labour market characterized by horizontal labour relations, expanded opportunities, prisoner participation in the regulation of work, and state oversight of labour relations and business initiatives. While this model reframes and recenters work in prisons, shifting its focus from direct disciplinary control to self-governance and economic integration, it also raises critical questions about how labour functions as a tool of both autonomy and discipline. By embedding labour within formalized economic structures and regulation by prison authorities, the Punta de Rieles model complicates traditional understandings of prison work, revealing the blurred boundaries between empowerment and control, autonomy and exploitation. This analysis underscores the need for a nuanced critique of prison labour as a site where economic, social, and penal logics converge.