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:
29 April 2025 | 4:15PM-5:30PM | Sarah Lamble (Birkbeck, University of London) | Practicing Everyday Abolition in the Context of Britain’s Culture Wars
Abstract: Abolitionist politics are often easier to embrace in theory than in practice. For many, the ideals of abolition offer an aspirational framework for challenging the violence of prisons, police and punishment. Yet when confronted with the painful realities of harm and violence in our communities, punitive impulses can easily resurface. We may turn to strategies that inadvertently replicate the same systems of harm we seek to dismantle. Similarly, it can sometimes be difficult to distinguish between reformist and abolitionist strategies, particularly when trying to deploy “non-reformist reforms” in strategic ways. Further challenges arise in navigating tensions between macro-level structural change and micro-level interpersonal change. This presentation will explore some of these dilemmas through various examples in Britian’s ‘culture wars’ – including current debates around trans rights – to consider what it means to collectively foster everyday practices of abolition.
Speaker: Sarah Lamble is Professor of Criminology & Queer Theory at Birkbeck, University of London. Focussing on questions of gender, sexuality, and justice, Lamble’s research explores queer / feminist alternatives to prisons, policing, and punishment. Lamble is currently completing a Leverhulme-funded research project, ‘Beyond sex versus gender: Rethinking the 'gender wars' in Britain’, which considers the carceral safety politics of disputes over transgender rights. In addition to their academic work, Lamble is co-founder of the Bent Bars Project, a penpal scheme for imprisoned LGBTQ+ people in Britain, and has been an organiser with Abolitionist Futures, which develops education and resources for abolition in the UK and Ireland.
This event will take place both in-person and online. The in-person event will be hosted at the Criminology Seminar Room at the Centre for Criminology (St. Cross Building, OX1 3TJ). For those attending online, register here to receive a Microsoft Teams link.
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'
