The phrases, “essential businesses” and “essential jobs,” emerged at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, raising questions about and reflecting concerns over which goods, services, and workers were necessary to prevent societal collapse. In an attempt to continue to probe “essentiality,” this article coins the term “essential crimes” to refer to those socially injurious acts and omissions that are part and parcel of a global neoliberal capitalist order, and that are, therefore, vital to keep the socioeconomic system running. In other words, if keeping humans alive in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic required supermarkets and hospitals to remain open (“essential business and jobs”), maintaining the existing socioeconomic system and ensuring that the powerful remained powerful required harmful acts and omissions by states and corporations—what we refer to as “essential crimes.” This article sheds light on how the COVID-19 pandemic has helped illuminate just how essential these crimes and harms are to the perpetuation of the status quo by the powerful. In addition, this article encourages us to consider which punishments, if any, are vital to a well-ordered society, and it demands that we rethink whether prison is an “essential punishment” for ensuring public safety.

“基本业务”和“基本工作”这两个词出现在 COVID-19 大流行初期，引发了人们对哪些商品、服务和工人是防止社会崩溃所必需的问题并反映了担忧。为了继续探讨“本质性”，本文创造了“本质性犯罪”一词来指代那些具有社会危害性的行为和不作为，它们是全球新自由主义资本主义秩序的重要组成部分，因此对于保持社会经济系统运行。换句话说，如果在 COVID-19 大流行期间保持人类生存需要超市和医院保持营业（“基本业务和工作”），维持现有的社会经济体系并确保强者保持强大需要国家和公司的有害作为和不作为——我们称之为“基本犯罪”。本文阐明了 COVID-19 大流行如何帮助阐明这些罪行和危害的本质是强权者维持现状。此外，这篇文章鼓励我们思考哪些惩罚，如果有的话，对于一个良好的社会秩序是至关重要的，它要求我们重新思考监狱是否是保障公共安全的“必要惩罚”。