Preliminary Programme

The draft programme for the Oslo conference can be accessed here:  http://www.jus.uio.no/ikrs/english/research/news-and-events/events/conferences/2013/CCIACW/programme-and-abstracts.html  

Meeting with the Norwegian Association for Penal Reform (KROM) planned during the Oslo conference

KROM, one of the oldest penal abolitionist associations, was founded in 1968. Thomas Mathiesen, the association's very first chairperson, has written a fascinating account which may be read in English here: http://www.krom.no/hva_er_krom_more.php?id=89_0_26_0_C

Conference Update

Some news about the Oslo conference has been posted here: http://www.jus.uio.no/ikrs/english/research/news-and-events/events/conferences/2013/CCIACW/news/welcome-to-oslo.html
 At this years’ conference there will be over 150 papers presented, and well over 250 people participating from over 40 different countries. This promises to be one of the most successful conferences ever - a great way to celebrate the European Group's 40th anniversary. Some of those who attended the very first conference back in 1973, such as Thomas Mathiesen, will be participating.

Call for Papers

With the formation of the European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control in the early 1970s, the aim was to establish an alternative critical criminology forum. The group’s founders sought not just to cover topics marginalised or ignored by mainstream, administrative and official criminology but to establish a new network that could support, and provide solidarity with, emerging social movements. Recognising the dominant influence of Anglo-American criminology and other related disciplines such as sociology, this new forum was to be characterised by a distinct European focus. This sense of place was to be significant on a further level, linking the conference theme with the conference location and offering support to local political activists, for example through press releases and resolutions and sometimes even joining them on demonstrations. Shaped by an unequivocal commitment to social justice; inspired by the radical activism of the Norwegian prisoner rights movement, the French mental patients' union and the German radical lawyers' group; and building on the model of the York Deviancy Conferences in England in the early 1970s, the European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control held its first conference in Italy in 1973.

The European Group last convened a conference in Norway in 1988, nearly twenty five years ago. The two decades that have passed since this time have witnessed great changes in modern society, for example relating to globalisation, migration and the development and use of communication technology and social media. Whilst these changes have had many positive effects, they have also generated many human casualties and wreaked havoc in the natural world. New technologies, for example, may be used to increase the surveillance of people under the pretext of protection, for example, against a narrowly (and often ethnically) defined notion of terrorism.  Recent developments have also engendered changes in the ways in which crimes are perceived and what role the concepts of harm should play in such analysis. Included in the broadening of criminology as a discipline is the recognition of the fact that not only humans are victims, but also the natural environment and the other species which inhabit the earth. For example, the fact that more people die from air pollution than those who are victims of traditional street crime, has generated new perspectives, in green criminology. Green criminology is but one example of a new criminological perspective to which can be added cultural criminology, post-colonial criminology, queer criminology, gothic criminology and feminist criminology, alongside other important developments in related disciplines such as urban studies, anthropology and geography. As a consequence, there are also changes in terms of what the ‘criminological imagination’ entails and the role it should play in understanding and counteracting the multitude of harms people and non human species are subject to.

The conference organisers particularly welcome papers which empirically and theoretically discuss the ways in which those studying deviance and social control have traditionally responded to challenges in society and how and in which ways ‘criminology’ is challenged today.  For example, papers could engage with questions concerning how these challenges should be met in the development of new theoretical perspectives? what are the limits to critical criminology? and what, if anything, defines critical analysis in criminology?

We welcome papers on a range of issues connected to the theme of Critical Criminology in a Changing World - Tradition & Innovation (see streams below) as well as papers broadly reflecting the wider interests of the European Group for the Study of Deviancy and Social Control.  Following the death of Stanley Cohen, we would also like to invite delegates to the Oslo conference to present papers which reflect the impact Stan had both on the European Group as well as on criminology more in general. Stanley Cohen died on January 7, 2013. He was one of the founders of the European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control. His books include Folk devils and Moral Panics, Psychological Survival (with Laurie Taylor), Visions of Social Control and States of Denial. Stan Cohen’s work and his never ending struggle for human rights has been, and continues to be, of great inspiration to the members of the European Group and for critical criminologists worldwide.

Abstracts of approximately 300 words to be submitted by 28th April 2013 to p.j.ystehede@jus.uio.no. 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.

Stream	Potential Topics
Critical criminology and political activism	Critical criminologies and struggles for social justice Ethics and critical criminological research Whose side are we on (revisited)?  The nature / limits of 'public' criminology  Universities and local activism
Reconsidering deviance, harm, regulation and social control	40 years of the European Group  Critical analysis in historical perspective Reflections on deviance and social control  Zemiology Social harm studies and corporate harms Prospects for an anti-criminology Abolitionism and anti-prison activism
Critical analysis and the concept of ’crime’: contemporary debates	Who/what is critical criminology for?  What is critical criminology today: Green; Cultural; Convict; Post-colonial; Queer; and Gothic criminologies
A changing world: Globalisation, migration and social control	Border controls and control of migration Explorations of the neo-colonial / post-colonial condition National / transnational exercises of power Glocalisation Crimmigration and detainment
Challenging tradition: Gender, power and difference	Feminist perspectives Gendered violence Identity, diversity and criminalisation Gendered perspectives on social and criminal policy Contemporary anatomo-politics and bio-politics (incl. gender, sex and sexualities)
New technologies, innovation and social control futures	Social networks and social control Surveillance and CCTV Mapping the current scientific and technological matrix Future forms of social control

Inquiries regarding the programme may be directed to Prof. Ragnhild Sollund: ragnhild.sollund@jus.uio.no.

If you would like any further information regarding the conference please contact: Per-Jørgen Ystehedep.j.ystehede@jus.uio.no.

Accomodation

Obviously Oslo is an expensive destination. For those of you seeking to keep the cost down, there are fairly cheap rooms available at Cochs pensjonat. A number of us (including myself) are also planning to camp. If you don't have a tent, you can also rent cabins. A decent-looking campsite is located  just 9 km and a 30 minute bus-ride from the city centre of Oslo. See http://www.bogstadcamping.no/eng/adkomst.php.
Emma

 

Deadline for abstracts

Please note that the deadline for abstracts for this year's Oslo conference is 28th April. Unfortunately, it will not be possible to extend the deadline beyond this date, so please send in your absracts as soon as possible to Per Jorgen: p.j.ystehede@jus.uio.no
Hope to see lots of you in August!