Roundtable. Parole Futures: Rationalities, Institutions and Practices

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Abstract

Does parole have a future? If it does, can we begin to (re)imagine a different path? Is progressive penal reform possible, or has the time come to consider more radical alternatives in a context where there is little, if any, consensus on the underlying aims and techniques of contemporary prison release? What does this all mean for the prisoners, families, victims and publics upon whose confidence the parole system ultimately depends? In seeking answers to these questions, this roundtable session will present findings from our new Edited Collection, Parole Futures: Rationalities, Institutions and Practices (Oñati International Series in Law and Society). At time when many parole systems are experiencing considerable strain, the aims of this Roundtable are twofold: First, to encourage systematic and critical reflection on the rationalities, institutions and practices of parole. Second, to invite contributing authors from the fields of law, sociology, criminology and political science to think big, and pose ambitious ‘what if’ questions about the possible futures of parole and prison release. Offering novel insights from Europe, North America, South America, South Africa, Japan, Israel and Australia, this roundtable will build the case for, and then showcase, a ‘way of doing’ parole research that is global in outlook, interdisciplinary in approach and unapologetically normative in character.

The roundtable session will be structured as follows:

1) Editors Introduction. Harry Annison, Nicola Carr and Thomas Guiney
2) Short presentations from a selection of our contributing authors
3) Audience questions and plenary discussion
4) Summing up

If possible we would like to run this roundtable session as a joint event between the Community Sanctions and Measures and the Sentencing and Penal Decision-making Working Groups

Subtopic

• Topic 5: Social Control and Criminal Justice / Community Sanctions (Community Sanctions WG)

Chairs

• Harry Annison, University of Southampton

• Thomas Guiney, University of Nottingham

Discussants

• Lars Breuls, Vrije Universiteit Brussel

• Netanel Dagan, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

• Mojca M. Plesničar, Institute of Criminology at the Faculty of Law Ljubljana

• Rosemary Ricciardelli, Memorial University of Newfoundland

• Christopher Seeds, University of California Irvine

• Saori Toda, Hitostubashi University