British/Irish Section Conferences

2026 Conference Announcement

The British/Irish Section of The European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control will be holding a conference in Cork, Ireland from 16th-17th April 2026.The conference will be supported by the Hulsman Foundation which was established in 2009 to preserve the legacy of Louk Hulsman’s work by making accessible publications, possible networks and initiatives that promote, support, or have realised ways to deal with problematic situations in society without the involvement of the criminal justice system.

Abolitionist struggles and critical engagements with penal and other problematic normative systems and doxa: historical continuities and current emergencies

It is a special honour to hold our event in Cork city as it is a place to which a variety of abolitionists, amongst them the well-known American abolitionist, suffragist and former slave Frederick Douglass have a connection. Douglass travelled to Cork in 1845 as he had to flee America for fear of recapture. Cork had a strong abolitionist community at that time; and Cork, specifically University College Cork, is also the place where the Irish Penal Abolition Network was formed in 2024, continuing this radical and important tradition. 

In: “An Abolitionist View of Restorative Justice” (2011) our much-missed friend and comrade Vincenzo Ruggiero stated that: “Penal abolitionism is not merely a decarceration programme, but also an approach, a perspective, a methodology, and most of all a way of seeing.”(Ruggiero 2011:1) This way of seeing is one that is specifically focused on the many ways in which harms are generated and re-produced. Abolitionist engagement, activism and analysis is therefore sensitive to the fact that current systems of domination and of state violence (both physical and symbolic) are deeply grounded and anchored in the histories and continuing realities of slavery, of colonialism, of imperialism, of patriarchal heteronormativity and of speciesism.

“The abstract character of the public perception of prisons militates against an engagement with the real issues afflicting the communities from which prisoners are drawn in such disproportionate numbers. This is the ideological work that the prison [and the ‘small boats’ discourse by media and politicians; comment by authors] performs -it relieves us of the responsibility of seriously engaging with the problems of late capitalism, of transnational capitalism. The naturalisation of Black people [ and of people moving between borders on small boats]as criminals thus also erects ideological barriers to an understanding of the connections between late-twentieth century structural racism and the globalisation of capital [and the total destruction of our planet; comment of authors].” (Davis 2024 :84). Exploring the socio-political construction and organisation of ‘nature’ Moore (2015) echoes these arguments and expands on them to the separation and destruction of ‘nature’ from our lives in ‘Capitalism in the web of life’. Moore thinks about capitalism as a “world-ecology” comprised of wealth, power, and of ‘nature’ constructed as an ever-ready resource and demonstrates ‘its’ profoundly destructive consequences.

The European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control works to dismantle such oppressive systems by transforming the associated contexts that allow them to persist. As such as this work and vision can be understood as a vehicle of education and of exchange. To Angela Davis genuine education is a powerful instrument for change, be it political, cultural, societal, philosophical. Let us use this powerful instrument of transformation and on this occasion in a truly historic space for abolitionism, to critically explore themes such as:   

How do the ‘prison industrial complex’ and the ‘Higher Education industrial complex complement each other in late capitalist societies?

 Angela Davis’ body of work is fundamentally grounded in and invites reflection on our roles and our behaviour within a problematic web of ‘realities’. How are we as tutors, facilitators, activists and artists engaging in / reflecting on our engagement in these realities?

The eco-feminist Leah Thomas and others have emphasised the crucial importance of engaging with forms of intersectional analysis especially in the context of global and local environmental destruction. How can we imagine abolitionist and/or critical criminological engagements with ‘earth-justice’?

 Critically exploring the interconnectedness and crucial relevance of genuine inclusiveness and collective struggles. How can critical pedagogy and abolitionist pedagogy and praxis, inform, enrich and learn from/through each other?

 Building upon the principles of Freire’s radical imagination, Love (2018) suggests that historically abolitionists’ imaginations fuelled resistance and that we should “freedom dream”: “Freedom dreaming gives teachers a collective space to methodically tear down the educational survival complex and collectively rebuild a school system” (Love 102). Let us develop ideas to ‘freedom dream’ together.

 Exploring histories, narratives and understandings of abolitionism.  What does abolitionist theory and practice look like in different contexts and communities?  What can we learn from each other today? And from the struggles and achievements of the past, which is never quite past?

 How do and should we understand domination? What are new and emerging sites of struggle, resistance and alternative praxis?  What can we learn from engagement with other histories of struggle?

Presentations, workshops, displays and art that relate/s to the above and that might include but are/is not limited to: Genocides, historical and continuing projects of purification; Crimes of the powerful and the harms of AI and other technologies of ‘progress’; The criminalisation of protest and resistance and the increasing powers and brutality of the state are especially welcome.

For further details and information about the conference please contact either Andrea Beckmann (abeckmann94@outlook.com) or Elizabeth Kiely (e.kiely@ucc.ie)

REGISTRATION DETAILS TO FOLLOW

History

The British/Irish section of the European Group also holds a regular conference. The last conference was held in Cardiff in 2024.

Prior to that a conference hosted by Andrea Beckman and Tony Ward, was held in Lincoln from 26-27th April 2014. It was entitled ‘Penal Law, Abolitionism and Anarchism’. Click here for the conference report.

For many years Andrea Beckmann has been the representative and treasurer of the English [or British/Irish section as it is also known] section of the European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control. She organized the third annual conference of the “British section of the European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control”. It was held in Lincoln. Its title was “Conditions of Domination and Modes of Resistance” and the venue was the Victorian Women’s Prison inside Lincoln Castle [17-19 April 2001].

Andrea also co-organized [together with Dr. Tony Ward at Hull University] the eighth annual conference of the “British section of the European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control” that was held in Hull. Its title was “Order and Violence: Delimiting control” and the venue was Hull’s Dennison Centre [19.-21.4.2006].

In April 2010 Andrea organised the annual meeting [later called the ‘Phoenix’ event] of the British/Irish section of the European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control in Manchester.

In 2014 Andrea organised a British/Irish section of the European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control conference.   In her position as Brit./Irish section representative as well as in her position as secretary of the international Hulsman Foundation she organised an international, very successful conference on “Penal law, Abolitionism and Anarchism” that ran from Saturday 26th – Sunday 27th April 2014 and took place in the dramatic venue that is the old Shire Hall in Nottingham.

Andrea co-organised an international conference of the British/Irish section of the European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control on “Defending and celebrating the Freedom to dissent: Critical social sciences and Praxis” together with Dr. Monish Bhatia at Abertay University in Dundee, Scotland which took place from the 31.3. to 1.4. 2016.

In 2020 the British/Irish section was going to hold another conference that due to COVID could not take place until the 22.10.-23.10.2021 and its theme is: “Redressing the harms and violence of ‘othering’ – towards the abolition of structures, discourses and practices of ‘othering’ “. It will take place at Nottingham’s Albert Hall.

Info:

abeckmann94@outlook.com