The Iconography of Punishment: Execution Prints and the Death Penalty

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>The last couple of decades have seen a remarkable cultural turn in the sociology of punishment. In a field dominated by approaches emphasising class control and disciplinary power, it is no longer possible to ignore the force of representation. This article develops a cultural analysis of punishment through two iconic examples. The first is an 18th‐<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">C</jats:styled-content>entury engraving by<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">W</jats:styled-content>illiam<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">H</jats:styled-content>ogarth and the second is a 20th‐<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">C</jats:styled-content>entury<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">A</jats:styled-content>ndy<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">W</jats:styled-content>arhol screen print. Each sheds light on the social and political conditions existing at the time the work was produced and condensed important disputes over the meaning of punishment.</jats:p>