Carceral Geography Conference 2016: Confinement, Crossings and Conditions

The School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Birmingham will host the first conference for Carceral Geography, on Tuesday 13th December 2016.

Abstract submission and registration for this conference has now closed.

Papers to be presented at the conference address the themes: Confinement, Crossings and Conditions. These themes pertain to the nature and experience of carceral confinement, broadly interpreted; the notion of crossing of an assumed or contested boundary both between spaces of confinement and 'other' spaces, and to the ways in which carceral experiences persist after periods of custody have ended - both for those confined, and for affected others. During the ESRC research project to which the conference is linked, (which focuses on the experience of carceral spaces) issues of absence, intimacy, choreography and the microscale emerged as significant, and speakers will be engaging with these notions, amongst many others. Papers also discuss methodological or theoretical approaches for carceral geography, and explore the 'place' of carceral geography in relation to human geography/criminology/carceral studies more generally.

As well as providing a forum for dissemination and discussion of new and recent research in carceral geography, this event will provide a 'springboard' for the development of an organisational structure for this subdiscipline: there will formal and informal opportunities to discuss and plan actions and activities around this topic.