EUROPEAN GROUP FOR THE STUDY OF DEVIANCE AND SOCIAL CONTROL
ESTABLISHED 1973
Coordinator: Emma Bell Secretary: Monish Bhatia
The Hopeless (Situation), still from 'Girls Behind Bars', BBC documentary (2008).Painting by Eva Merz, 120x160 cm (2008/09)
From 2007 to 2010, Eva Merz worked on the topic of female prisoners in the Scottish criminal justice system. You, Me, Us & Them is a book containing a series of interviews offering different perspectives, opinions and first-hand experiences of this system. The book can be purchased or downloaded for free from the following website: http://www.gsaevents.com/exhibitions/publications/youmeusandthem For more information about the project, see:http://www.newsocialartschool.org/wipMain.html
Phil article
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I European Group 40th Anniversary Conference / Celebrating the work of Stan CohenAbstract submission: FINAL DEADLINE
Conference fees & registration
Photo exhibition
II European Group news / European Group/ Centre for the Study of Crime, Criminalisation and Social Exclusion Conference: Mark Hayes reflects on the ‘Sites of Confinement’ conference
New national representatives
Working Group on Prisons, Punishment and Detention
European Group Resolutions
European Group Youtube Channel
III Comment and analysis / StratosGeorgoulas and DimosSarantidis: ‘Migration and State crimes: A critical criminological approach and a case study in Greece’
Joe Sim: ‘Where is penal activism? Contesting the neoliberal prison’
IV News from the Europe and the world / AustriaEuropeFinlandFranceGermanySloveniaSwitzerlandUnited KingdomUSA
I European Group Conference
Critical Criminology in a Changing World: Tradition and Innovation
University of Oslo, Norway
29th August to 1st September 2013
http://www.europeangroup.org/conferences/2013/Index.htm/
http://www.jus.uio.no/ikrs/english/research/news-and-events/events/conferences/2013/CCIACW/
Katja Franko Aas, professor in Criminology at the Department of Criminology and Sociology of Law, University of Oslo, will be speaking at this year’s European Group conference. She specialises in the use of advanced information and communication technologies in contemporary crime control strategies, border controls in particular, and in globalization processes and their impact on criminology and criminal justice.
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Celebrating the work of Stan Cohen
In tribute to Stanley Cohen, we would like to invite delegates to the Oslo conference to present papers which reflect the impact Stan Cohen had both on the European Group as well as on criminology more generally.
ABSTRACTS: FINAL CALL!!!
Abstracts are to be submitted by 28th April2013 to . In the subject-heading, please state ‘EUROPEAN GROUP -2013 – ABSTRACT – NAME’. IN THE ABSTRACT, PLEASE INCLUDE FULL NAME, POSITION AND CONTACT INFO AS WELL AS WHICH STREAM YOU WISH TO SUBMIT YOUR PAPER TO. Please note that it will not be possible to accept abstracts after this date.
Conference fees
Full fee for participants incl. dinner reception / 2200 NOK / 295€*Full fee for students incl. dinner reception / 1500 NOK / 200€
Full fee for participants excl. dinner reception / 1600 NOK / 215€
Full fee for students excl. dinner reception / 900 NOK / 120€
Please note that fees in euros are approximate only and may vary depending on the exchange rate at the time of registration. Fees are more expensive than usual this year due to the high costs of living in Norway but they do include the proceedings, all coffee/tea breaks and lunches during the conference (Friday – Sunday) as well as a welcome reception. In addition, fees include the cost of participation in a number of social events from which delegates can choose during the conference.
Conference places are limited to 200. Priority will be given to those who are presenting conference papers. However, a number of places will be reserved on a first-come, first-served basis for those who are not planning to present a paper. For those delegates, registration is now possible. Please contact Per Jorgen at . He will send you a code which you will need to log onto the registrations page on the university website.
For those of you who are planning to present a paper, please wait until you have received confirmation that your abstract has been approved before registering. You will have received an answer by the 15th of May 2013. If your abstract is approved, you will receive a user-name and password to be able to log on to the ‘Registration Forms’ page on the University of Oslo website where you will have to fill in some information (name, country of origin, email + will be able to pay electronically). Please note that payment has to be made upon registration. The registration is only valid after the payment has successfully been carried out. Participants will receive a confirmation of their registration and a receipt for their payment by email immediately after their online payment. As the payments are online and the participants get a receipt from the credit card company as well, no other receipts will be provided to guests.
A photo exhibition celebrating 40 years of the European Group will be organised at the Oslo conference. If any of you have any photos that reflect the history of the Group, please send these either electronically to or by mail to Per Jorgen, Postboks 6706 St. Olavsplass, 0130 OSLO.
Oslo Marina (from www.visitnorway.com )
II European Group News
European Group/ Centre for the Study of Crime, Criminalisation and Social Exclusion Conference
This conference on ‘Sites of Confinement’, ranging from immigration removal centres to probation hostels and prisons, was jointly organised at Liverpool John Moores University on Friday 22nd March. Speakers included Emma Bell, Andrew Jefferson, Monish Bhatia, Joe Sim and David Scott from the European Group and Eloise Cockcroft from the migrant support group, Reprieve. Mark Hayes, who attended the event, shares his thoughts:
Monish – perhaps you can put this in a text box like the newsletter articles
Conference: Sites of Confinement
Centre for the Study of Crime, Criminalisation and Social Exclusion
22 March 2013 Liverpool JMU
Report by Mark Hayes
The above conference was used to launch the European Working Group on Prisons, Detention and Punishment, and was organised by Vicky Canning of Liverpool John Moores University. In fact, as a non-expert in this field, I saw attendance at this conference as an opportunity to learn something interesting about penal policy, incarceration and modes of confinement, rather than as an opportunity to contribute anything meaningful to the debates. Inevitably, therefore, my comments on the conference are impressionistic rather than analytical, and I apologise in advance for that. Nevertheless my thoughts may still provide other European Group members with a flavour of the event.
The first presentation was delivered by Emma Bell, who provided an excellent contextual overview of the neo-liberal framework within which penal policy has been constructed. This was important, of course, not only because practical policy outcomes cannot be detached from the ideological assumptions which currently prevail, but also because that particular ideological manifestation, “neo-liberalism”, is almost entirely pernicious in its social consequences. The emphasis on specifically “neo-liberal” solutions has infected penal policy, and Emma Bell made this point with admirable clarity. In fact, listening to Emma I was reminded of an old joke: “how many neo-liberal free market economists does it take to change a lightbulb?” Of course the answer is “none, because they all sit around waiting for the ‘invisible hand’”. Hayek, Friedman and the other disciples of unfettered free enterprise capitalism have an awful lot to answer for!
In the subsequent sessions Vickie Cooper examined semi-penal hostels, and made interesting observations about “punishment by dispersal”, and Andrew Jefferson outlined an ambitious comparative research project which aims to assess prisons in Kosovo, Sierra Leone and the Philippines – research which will undoubtedly yield important empirical data. Monish Bhatia provided some extraordinary detail on the actual experience of asylum seekers and the social effect of the attempt to control “illegal” migration. Monish’s prescient remarks were underscored by the contribution of Social Worker Eloise Cockcroft of Revive, an organisation which provides support and legal advice for those people seeking asylum. Eloise provided evidence to indicate quite clearly that the Border Agency is not “fit for purpose”. In fact Eloise’s eloquent presentation induced a variety of emotions and threw into a much sharper light the perverse priorities of a Coalition government which appears to know the price of everything and the value of nothing! Those members of the European Group anxious to discover more about this might consult the website of the National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns (NCADC). Here there is information on how to supply practical help to those individuals requiring assistance, two of whom (Fozia and Nawaz) related their story to conference members. The experience of Fozia and Nawaz was a potent reminder of the human cost of toxic social policies.
In the afternoon Joe Sim articulated a message that was not only witty and informative, but deliberate in its underlying purpose of speaking truth to power. The presentation, moreover, was delivered in undiluted working class Glaswegian mode – it bristled with righteous indignation and anger at the grotesque inequity, indeed the sheer absurdity, of contemporary penal policy (my partner is Glaswegian, so I know it doesn’t pay to make them angry – I often have to sleep with one eye open!). I was left with two over-riding impressions after listening to Joe: firstly that the students at JMU are lucky to be taught by him; and secondly that it would be great to see him on Question Time with Theresa May! The latter prospect is unlikely of course, not least because Joe could deconstruct and destroy a Ministerial reputation in the time it takes to boil a kettle! Joe Sim is simply too dangerous for widespread public consumption.
Dave Scott ended the conference with a concise account of what needed to be done, and he set out a programme of action designed to engage activists with a shared agenda. It was a perfect way to finish because Dave embodies that synthesis of academic and activist which is so characteristic of the European Group. Dave Scott has the capacity to critically evaluate and conceptualise, as well as being able to plot a progressive path toward a better future via an emphasis on more sensible and socially responsible penal policy.
Overall the conference was successful because it facilitated a broad contextual analysis, it examined key areas of weakness in policy practice by focussing on specific examples, and it constructed a programme of action designed to address the difficulties that had been identified. This is precisely what committed, critically engaged academics in the social sciences should be doing. (However, if I was to make a single critical observation it would be that I would have thought Vicky Canning could have provided better weather! It was freezing, and I am certain that if Sam Fletcher was still at JMU she would have organised blinding sunshine!).
Can I also point EG members in the direction of a forthcoming conference organised by Dave Whyte, who looks to have assembled an outstanding collection of contributors. “How Corrupt is Britain?” is not only apt, it is set to be another example of an event which embodies all the features characteristic of the European Group – academic excellence, critical engagement and progressive political activism.
Finally, can I take this opportunity to inform you that my good friend and comrade Tommy McKearney (ex-IRA/Hunger Striker and leader of the Ex-Prisoners’ Assistance Committee, Ireland) will be speaking at Solent University, Southampton on 10 April at 2pm in the Sir James Matthews’ Building – all welcome!
25 March 2013
MH
New national representatives:
We are pleased to announce two new national representatives for
Macedonia: Hasan Jashari ()
Bulgaria: Slavka Dimitrova ()
Other country rep???
European Working Groups
The ‘Working Group on Prisons, Detention and Punishment’ was launched in Liverpool at the ‘Sites of Confinement’ conference (see above). It now includes over 50 members. The group provides a network and database for teachers, researchers, students and activists across Europe (and beyond) who have an interest studying prisons, detention and punishment. The working group will provide an opportunity to share our knowledge of sites of confinement and the operation of the penal rationale and help establish new links with activists and academics worldwide who critically engage with the current forms, extent and nature of detention and punishment. The working group also aims to foster a greater understanding of contemporary penality; offer possibilities for collaborative research; and work towards emancipatory change.
David Scott will be acting coordinator of the working group, accompanied by a steering group including the European Group Coordinator (Emma Bell) and the Group Secretary (Monish Bhatia). A new working group coordinator will be elected at the AGM in Oslo. Should anyone be interested in taking on this role, please get in touch with David.
A working manifesto and full details of membership will soon be posted on the European Group website.
Please address all enquiries to the new working group e-mail address: .
European Group Resolutions
Resolution against the excessive use of detention in the UK and across the globe
Members of the European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control would like to express their deep concern at the record high levels of detention in the United Kingdom in 2013. We believe that the number of people currently detained under immigration, mental health and penal law is unacceptable and presents a seriousdanger to democracy. We believe as academics, students, activists and members of the general public that it is important that a principled and practical stand is taken now against current expansionist penal policies and call upon the government of the United Kingdom to make immediate provision for a radical reduction in the number of people detained. Members of the European Group also offer their full support to activists and campaigners currently working to expose the brutal realities of detainment in the UK and elsewhere and offer our solidaritywith their struggles for a more socially just society and the promotion of more humane means of dealing with problematic human conduct popularly referred to as 'crime'.
Resolution in support of the National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns and similar activist organisations across the globe