Fighting for Change

Critical Criminology is a more radical approach to examining crime and focuses on issues of social harm, social justice and the pains of criminal justice.  Abolitionist approaches are grounded in transformative and restorative alternatives to traditional criminal justice routes and advocate for community accountability, welfare support, rehabilitation and reparative measures for victims and offenders. Developing this area of criminology at Leeds Beckett, in both research and teaching, will provide students with a more rounded understanding of how to tackle some of the issues they will face when potentially working with vulnerable people caught up in the criminal justice system.

The first event, Social Movements and Activism Symposium involved a presentation delivered by Dr Raphael Schlembach from Brighton University and the launch of his new book Spycops: Secrets and Disclosure in the Undercover Policing Inquiry.

The event included a panel discussion on Dr Schlembach's book with Dr Waqas Tufail, Leeds Beckett University, and Chris Brian from the Undercover Research Group. In addition, Dr Joanna Gilmore, University of York presented a paper on 'Lawyers at the Coalface: Legal Solidarity and the 1984-5 Miners' Strike which informed and widened the discussion across movements.

The book is the first academic analysis of the activists' experiences and their attempts to find answers and accountability in the Undercover Policing Inquiry. The ‘spycops’ scandal has laid bare the sending of undercover police officers to infiltrate and undermine political campaigns and activist organisations with hugely damaging outcomes. The event was well attended with academics, campaigners, activists and students all coming together to discuss the book and crucially the implications for future organising.

The second event entitled Prison Modernisation and Abolitionist Perspectives kicked off the new academic year and saw a presentation by Dr Rob Jones (Cardiff University) Dr Emily Luise Hart (Leeds Beckett University) and Dr David Scott (Open University) on their research into, and recently published article on Prison Modernisation and prison expansion in England and Wales. This archival research offers the first in-depth critical account of the prison modernisation narrative in England and Wales. By closely examining the claims behind the UK Government’s current prison building policy, the article reveals that prison modernisation is severely undermined by a lack of supporting evidence as well as arguments which indisputably serve to contradict the government’s claims.

In addition, the School was honored to host a Keynote talk from the esteemed Professor Joe Sim, (Liverpool John Moores University) entitled: Punishing the Destitute in 'Iron Times': State Authoritarianism, Modern Prisons and Abolitionism. A passionate and vibrant scholar who's work on abolition and the harms of incarceration have influenced the research and activism of all those attending but radical and critical criminology more widely.

Both these talks prompted a lively discussion on the next steps in challenging the dominant reformist narratives around prisons and incarceration that are held by government and many academics and enabled attendees to examine how the abolitionist approach can be furthered and promoted. It was particularly great to see the contributions made by a number of the Schools new Post Graduate Research students alongside established scholars and activists.

Taken together these two symposiums are building a critical edge in criminological research and teaching in the School of Humanities and Social Science. Similar events are planned in the future so watch this space!