Thesis advisor: Stephen Pfohl / In a moment when the legitimacy of institutions that respond to crime is being challenged in new ways, there is also a growing interest in the use of ecological sustainability and environmental justice initiatives as a possible intervention in this context. These initiatives take many social and spatial forms across correctional landscapes, from prisons, jails, and youth detention centers to communities impacted by incarceration. Across three articles, this dissertation critically examines some of the contexts, limits, and possibilities of ecological sustainability initiatives as a means to transform correctional landscapes. Considering that ecological sustainability programs can involve some form of work done by incarcerated people, the first article explores the social-historical context of prison labor. It reviews the contested development of theories about prison labor among scholars, reformers, and activists. The article examines how the role of prison labor has been imagined in society, from punitive and rehabilitative theories to the more recent restorative and abolitionist or transformative ones. Contested theories of prison labor across time and space suggest that although work programs have often been exploitative, there are pathways, within and outside of the present system, towards forms of labor that might better contribute to crime prevention and public safety. The second article looks at some current efforts to intervene in correctional landscapes through the lens of environmental justice and ecological sustainability programs in the Northeastern United States. It explores these efforts through surveys, workshops and experiences of practitioners who have been trying to implement green interventions in correctional landscapes over the last ten years. The article denaturalizes the commonsense assumption in sustainability discourses that green interventions are necessarily good for individuals and institutions, and instead looks to the social contexts within which practitioners aim to implement interventions towards the possibilities of transformation. Overall, the article shows how some educators and activists have sought to seed transformative possibilities from within the constraints of existing theories and practices of correctional rehabilitation, as they work to design and implement specific program protocols, practices, curricula, networks, and collaborations. Finally, the third article turns to a case study of the emerging role of social cooperatives in Italy, as a crime response and prevention strategy that promotes social inclusion. It situates the model of Italian Social Cooperative movement in the context of W.E.B. Du Bois’s coopertivist thought and the emerging field of design for transitions. It looks at specific Italian laws, policies, and organizations that relate to the transformation of correctional landscapes and have possible applications to U.S. context. The Italian case, which emphasizes the role of ecological sustainability and cooperative practices in the context of incarceration, is used to better understand how future interventions might become pathways to decarceration, environmental justice, and sustainable communities. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Sociology.

Os serviços ambientais são o tema de discussão desta tese, que apresenta análise de casos brasileiros de projetos de pagamentos por serviços ambientais (PSA), dando ênfase a casos de PSA-Água e PSA-Carbono. Os projetos são analisados sob a ótica da Nova Economia Institucional (NEI) com percepção analítica em diversos aspectos, como arranjos institucionais, ambiente institucional, remuneração pelos serviços ambientais, fontes de financiamento, e monitoramento da prestação dos serviços. Da análise dos projetos, identificou-se que todos são de existência recente, por isso os dados disponíveis são escassos. Na maioria dos arranjos institucionais desses projetos, há participação de entidades públicas e privadas, e uma significativa participação de recurso público em seu financiamento. Os projetos apontam os potenciais benefícios à sociedade e ao meio ambiente e suas possíveis limitações. A identificação das restrições na fase inicial do projeto é importante, pois permite que sejam evitadas ou, ao menos, minimizadas, otimizando a alocação dos recursos a ele destinados. Percebe-se que são projetos promissores, razoavelmente estáveis em sua maioria, com potencial de evolução, eficazes e eficientes no tocante ao emprego dos recursos direcionados aos financiamentos. Os critérios analisados nesses projetos podem ser aplicados a outros similares, da mesma forma como as lições depreendidas podem subsidiar a estruturação e a gestão de futuros projetos de PSA. Por fim, é fundamental consignar que o mercado de serviços ambientais só funcionará de forma eficiente com a presença de arranjos institucionais que atendam à demanda específica desses serviços. / Environmental services are the topic of discussion of this thesis, which presents case studies of Brazilians of payments for environmental services (PES) projects, emphasizing the cases of PSA and PSA-Water-Carbon. The projects are analyzed from the perspective of New Institutional Economics (NIE) with analytical insight into aspects such as institutional arrangements, institutional environment, compensation for environmental services, funding sources, and monitoring of service delivery. Analysis of the projects, it was identified that there are all recent, so the data available are scarce. Institutional arrangements in most of these projects, there is participation of public and private entities, and meaningful participation in public resource funding. The projects show the potential benefits to society and the environment and their possible limitations. The identification of constraints in the initial phase of the project is important as it allows them to be avoided or at least minimized by optimizing the allocation of resources allocated to it. Realize that they are promising projects, mostly fairly stable, with potential for development, effective and efficient with respect to employment of resources directed to financing. The criteria analyzed in these projects can be applied to other similar, just as the inferred lessons can support the structuring and management of future PES projects. Finally, it is essential to establish that the market for environmental services only work efficiently with the presence of institutional arrangements that meet the specific demand for these services.

Os serviços ambientais são o tema de discussão desta tese, que apresenta análise de casos brasileiros de projetos de pagamentos por serviços ambientais (PSA), dando ênfase a casos de PSA-Água e PSA-Carbono. Os projetos são analisados sob a ótica da Nova Economia Institucional (NEI) com percepção analítica em diversos aspectos, como arranjos institucionais, ambiente institucional, remuneração pelos serviços ambientais, fontes de financiamento, e monitoramento da prestação dos serviços. Da análise dos projetos, identificou-se que todos são de existência recente, por isso os dados disponíveis são escassos. Na maioria dos arranjos institucionais desses projetos, há participação de entidades públicas e privadas, e uma significativa participação de recurso público em seu financiamento. Os projetos apontam os potenciais benefícios à sociedade e ao meio ambiente e suas possíveis limitações. A identificação das restrições na fase inicial do projeto é importante, pois permite que sejam evitadas ou, ao menos, minimizadas, otimizando a alocação dos recursos a ele destinados. Percebe-se que são projetos promissores, razoavelmente estáveis em sua maioria, com potencial de evolução, eficazes e eficientes no tocante ao emprego dos recursos direcionados aos financiamentos. Os critérios analisados nesses projetos podem ser aplicados a outros similares, da mesma forma como as lições depreendidas podem subsidiar a estruturação e a gestão de futuros projetos de PSA. Por fim, é fundamental consignar que o mercado de serviços ambientais só funcionará de forma eficiente com a presença de arranjos institucionais que atendam à demanda específica desses serviços. / Environmental services are the topic of discussion of this thesis, which presents case studies of Brazilians of payments for environmental services (PES) projects, emphasizing the cases of PSA and PSA-Water-Carbon. The projects are analyzed from the perspective of New Institutional Economics (NIE) with analytical insight into aspects such as institutional arrangements, institutional environment, compensation for environmental services, funding sources, and monitoring of service delivery. Analysis of the projects, it was identified that there are all recent, so the data available are scarce. Institutional arrangements in most of these projects, there is participation of public and private entities, and meaningful participation in public resource funding. The projects show the potential benefits to society and the environment and their possible limitations. The identification of constraints in the initial phase of the project is important as it allows them to be avoided or at least minimized by optimizing the allocation of resources allocated to it. Realize that they are promising projects, mostly fairly stable, with potential for development, effective and efficient with respect to employment of resources directed to financing. The criteria analyzed in these projects can be applied to other similar, just as the inferred lessons can support the structuring and management of future PES projects. Finally, it is essential to establish that the market for environmental services only work efficiently with the presence of institutional arrangements that meet the specific demand for these services.