Abstract
The paper connects automation in globalized supply chains with U.S. skill shortages and the labor-market effects of incarceration and recidivism. It argues that reshoring policy needs to be paired with vocational training, apprenticeships, reentry support, and local capability-building rather than relying on tariffs alone.
What the paper examines
- It treats definitions and institutional connections as part of the analysis: automation, skills, incarceration, and reentry are related policy questions.
- It tests whether a trade or industrial policy can improve work without ignoring geographic flexibility and automation.
- It frames second-chance hiring and apprenticeship pathways as human-capital and democratic-capacity interventions.
Publication boundary
This document is presented as a public reading copy connected to the Independent Observer program. Its source trail and status remain visible so readers can distinguish a working preprint from a released publication.
The SSRN record was verified on 30 August 2026; its usage figures are descriptive signals, not peer review or a quality rating. It is a working paper, and the paper’s proposed relationships require further empirical testing.
References
- SSRN Harsh Wardhan, Siddhartha, A Systems-Centered Manifesto on Automation, Education, and the Carceral State (2025), SSRN abstract 5432014.Open source ↗
Source notes
- Verified as a public SSRN record matched to an author Volume I submission PDF.
- The site uses a public-safe synopsis and SSRN link; it does not publish the raw source PDF.
Limitations and unresolved boundaries
- The paper is a working paper, not a peer-reviewed publication.
- The policy recommendations are proposals, not evidence that any single intervention will produce a given result.
- Downloads and abstract views are usage signals, not scholarly quality ratings.
Suggested citation
Siddhartha Harsh Wardhan. “A Systems-Centered Manifesto on Automation, Education, and the Carceral State.” Independent Observer, 19 September 2025.