The futility and necessity of human rights in an era of carceral hyperinflation*

This chapter is a revised version of notes prepared for a keynote address to the Gendarmeria de Chile, Division of Human Rights, 16 October 2013, at the Gran Palace Hotel, Santiago de Chile. It argues that, although it may seem absurd to grant and enforce human rights behind bars when these same rights are denied outside prison, there is, none the less, a definite utility to a human rights discourse in prison; legal and rights discourses can serve as weapons to curb penal illegality and to minimize human damage within carceral facilities. The address concludes by suggesting some necessary material changes pre-conditional to the effective enforcement of prisoners’ rights.