26-29 August 2009
University of Central Lancashire, Preston (UK)
Times of recession tend to be periods of exclusion and repression which have profound implications for the lived realities of the powerless. Alongside other social divisions, such as age, 'race’, disability and gender, times of increased economic hardship are likely to have significant repercussions for the governance of the poor, the unwanted and vulnerable populations. The aim of this conference is to place the latest capitalist economic recession into context, and specifically to consider its impact on processes of criminalisation, justice and control across Europe. Around the world, state controls over migrant workers and asylum seekers have hardened, social divisions have become more entrenched and polarised, and penal polices have moved from rehabilitation towards incapacitation. As we face the current economic meltdown, what will be the impact of recession on gendered relations and gendered violence? How might recession impact on the marginalization and criminalisation of children and young people? What are the consequences for state, institutional and interpersonal racism? How might the global recession affect transitional societies and the treatment of already marginalised groups, such as the Roma? Will we witness new forms of state intervention in the economy displacing the centrality of ‘crime’, or will there emerge an even greater intensity in the criminalisation of poverty? Should economic and social harms be defined as ‘crimes’ and how should state responses to such harms be shaped? What, in short, does the challenge of recession imply for ‘crime’, justice and control?
For further details, including the call for paper and conference booking form, please refer to the attachment below
