Durkheimian insights into the evolution of Chinese punitiveness

Abstract

When the reasons for excessive legal punitiveness are better understood, strategies can be developed to reduce and prevent it. Émile Durkheim thought legal punitiveness rises when government power is more concentrated and unchecked. He also thought that legal punitiveness decreases as societies shift from a ‘mechanical’ stage, marked by insularity, ritualism, and limited social and occupational development, to an ‘organic’ stage, defined by an increased division of labour, personal autonomy, and power sharing. Durkheim’s theory of penal evolution is tested by punitiveness in two periods of Chinese history: the Qin-Han dynasties and the later imperial period. Changes in governance from the Qin to the Han dynasty and throughout the later imperial period were associated with increases and decreases in legal punitiveness in the way that Durkheim had posited. Concentrated and unchecked power within the Qin was linked to elevated legal punitiveness, while power sharing within the Han and Qing dynasties was linked to reduced legal punitiveness. These findings support Durkheim’s theory that societies are more punitive when power is concentrated and unchecked.