Gordon Lafer

In the following viewpoint, Gordon Lafer argues that inmate labor today sets the work reform movement back an entire century. Lafer asserts that inmate labor does little for the betterment of inmates’ lives. He claims that inmate labor exploits inmates for capital gain and undermines the jobs and wages of ordinary workers. Lafer is an assistant professor for the Labor Education and Research Center at the University of Oregon and a member of the National Coordinating Committee of Scholars, Artists and Writers for Social Justice.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. In Lafer’s opinion, what makes a prison workforce desirable to private companies"
2. How does Lafer support his argument that inmate labor does not prepare inmates for re-entry to society"
3. According to the author, who is for and against inmate labor? Why"

When...