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CJC members Ana Aliverti, Henrique Carvalho and Anastasia Chamberlen along with Máximo Sozza, professor of Sociology of Law and Criminology and Director of the Program on Crime and Society at the National University of Litoral (Argentina) have published a new Article 'Decolonizing the Criminal Question' in Punishment and Society.

This article examines this debate surrounding the impact of colonialism in the past and present of institutions and practices of crime control, both at the central and peripheral contexts, as well as in the production of knowledge in the criminological field.

It offers a critical account of key themes and problems that emerge from the intimate relationship between colonialism and punishment that directly challenge the persistent neglect of these dimensions in mainstream criminological scholarship. The authors aim to foreground the relevance of this relationship to contemporary enquiries. They highlight that decolonization did not dismantle the colonial roots of the cultural, social and political mechanisms informing contemporary punishment. These colonial roots are still very much part of criminal justice practice and are thus also central to criminological knowledge productions.

For access to the article click here .

The European Society of Criminology will be hosting an online event from 8-11 November 2021. Border Criminologies is inviting submissions for papers to organise one or two panels within this conference.

Two members of the Criminal Justice Centre Henrique Carvalho and Anastasia Chamberlen recently worked with colleagues from Brunel University London, University of Oxford and University of York on an expert report on COVID-19 and the criminal law which was submitted to the Parliamentary Justice Committee.

The written expert which these academics submitted can be viewed here: Expert evidence on COVID-19 and the criminal law .

Crimmigration has rapidly become the dominant response to human mobility around the globe. It has emerged, ironically, in tandem with growing economic globalization. For capital, national borders have virtually disappeared, while the walls, virtual and literal, are growing higher for workers and others who need mobility to thrive, and even survive. Race, ethnicity, and personal wealth matter in who gains entry.

This hybrid conference will treat crimmigration and bordering holistically as systems nested within economy and society in subtle, and not-so-subtle ways. In so doing, the conference calls attention to the various 'faces' and experiences of crimmigration and bordering across the globe as well as to a critical examination of the scholarship so far.

Deadline for panels/ individual papers: May 1st, 2021

To apply, submit a (maximum) 200-word abstract, with a tentative title and contact information.

“Deporting Europeans reveals an unexpected feature of the political, institutional and cultural entanglement between two EU countries, Romania and France. Contemporary structural dependencies are rooted in a deeply neo-colonial predicament that perpetuates the inferior position of Romania vis-à-vis France and results in the implementation of policies that ultimately disadvantage and discriminate against some of the most vulnerable citizens in the EU. By analysing the deportation of Romanians from France, the book shows how policing the mobility of poor EU citizens, who are often identified as Roma, is effectively a racist policy. Deporting Europeans uncovers the justifications set forward by states in policing for deportation and in normalizing violence. The book argues that EU citizens deportation within the EU territory serves the reinforcement of state sovereignty in relation to processes of globalization. Curbing the freedom of movement, re-articulating borders and racializing the policing of certain EU citizens attest to neo-colonial patterns that structure power relations and legitimize hierarchy in Europe. This book is a compelling contribution to decolonial critique of state power in the European continent.”