Seminar with Professor Matthew Ball, Queensland University of Technology

Queer Criminology and the Global South

In recent times, Queer Criminology has drawn criminological attention to the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in criminal justice contexts. This movement, however, has largely emerged in the Global North. Its epistemological and political foundations within criminology and queer theory remain firmly situated in the Global North, developing in response to specific political concerns encountered within those contexts. The recent emergence of ‘Southern’ and counter-colonial criminological perspectives, then, allow Queer Criminology to reflect on its positioning, and to reveal the oversights and exclusions that this positioning produces. This paper will critically interrogate Queer Criminology’s positioning in the Global North and consider the implications for addressing the criminal justice concerns of sexuality and gender diverse people around the world.

About the speaker

Matthew Ball is a Professor in the School of Justice at Queensland University of Technology, Australia. His research explores the intersections of sexuality, gender diversity, and criminal justice, and he is a foundational scholar in the field of Queer Criminology. He is the author of Criminology and Queer Theory (2016) and the editor of several volumes, most recently LGBTQ+ Issues in Criminology and Criminal Justice (2024).