Amidst a renewal of abolitionist dialogues, the field of criminology has begun to turn its attention to a range of alternative justice mechanisms. However, academia remains somewhat detached from contemporary efforts to advance and interrogate the objectives of abolitionism. Seeking to reconcile this separation, this discussion group aims to provide a collaborative space for scholars, practitioners and activists to explore, suggest, develop and reckon with a broad range of abolitionist imaginaries and praxis.
The Discussion Group meets on Tuesdays alternating with the Southernising Criminology Group, with discussions taking the form of a presentation delivered by a guest speaker followed by an audience-led Q&A. For further information, please subscribe to our mailing list.
Next Event:
17 June 2025 | 4.15-5.30 BST | Lorena Burbano and Silvana Tapia Tapia on 'Anti-carceral feminisms in Ecuador: toward a non-penal feminist justice'
This presentation brings together the perspectives of academics and grassroots organisers on how living inside or near prisons can inform feminist understandings of justice and rights. Such understandings often move away from the traditional criminal legal paradigm and legalistic notions of justice more broadly.
Silvana will present research findings —produced in collaboration with Mujeres de Frente and other anti-carceral collectives— on how anti-carceral feminists engage with international human rights (IHRs). The latter are framed as a discourse that often promotes and even compels states to use penal and carceral mechanisms. Introducing the concept of 'penal violence against women', the findings reveal the systemic violence inflicted on women by the penal system, both directly and 'indirectly', including on women who are not incarcerated nor involved in criminal proceedings. Participants are generally sceptical of IHRs, which are regarded as an elitist framework with little transformative potential. Instead, they prefer community-building, resource and labour redistribution, and collective support as more effective strategies for preventing and overcoming violence.
Lorena, a member of Mujeres de Frente, will speak about the organisation, its history, projects, priorities, goals and challenges. She will also refer to their collective practices of justice and the reasons why they denounce punitive mechanisms as tools of social control, encouraging a critical dialogue on the existence of prisons and their consequences for women who pass through them or provide care for incarcerated people.
To support Mujeres de Frente, please consider donating:
https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/support-the-education-of-40-women-in-quito/
This event will take place online and in-person. Please register at the link to receive the Microsoft Teams link in advance of the event.
Location: Criminology Seminar Room, Centre for Criminology (St Cross Building, OX1 3TJ)
A List of Past Events:
6 February 2024 SM Rodriguez on Abolition and the Black Feminist Imagination
5 March 2024 Adam Elliott-Cooper: We did not come alive in Britain: From Anti-colonialism to Abolition In collaboration w/ Race and Post-Colonial Geographies Series. School of Geography
7 May 2024 Diana Volpe on Divest Borders - Reflections on Migrant Solidarity Activism on and off Campus.
21 May 2024 molly ackhurst and Ellie Whittingdale on Feminist Entanglements and the State of Stuckness: The Tensions, and Possibilities, of Abolition in Feminist Sexual Violence Work.
3 June 2024 Railda Alves and Miriam Duarte Peireira on Families Building Paths: A Talk with the Founders of the Brazilian Abolitionist Organisation AMPARAR (Associação de Amigos e Familiares de Presos/ Association of Prisoners’ Family Members and Friends). You can watch the recording here.
15 October 2024 Lisa Monchalin on Dismantling Colonial Punishment: Toward Indigenous Justice Solutions.
11 February 2025 Camila Pelsinger on Abolition Feminism and Theorizing Transformative Accountability.
11 March 2025 Hope Chilokoa-Mullen and 4FRONT on 'Decriminalising youth: Reframing "safety" for racialised young people'
20 May 2020 Shaïn Morisse on the co-authored book 'Brick by Brick by Brick, Wall by Wall: A History of Penal Abolitionism'
