Manufacturing Consent for Human Warehousing: The Back and Front State of Open Houses for New Jails and Prisons in Canada

• In Event: Cultural Representations of (In)justice

Abstract

Many new jails and prisons have been built in Canada in recent years. In some cases, new human warehouses were welcomed in some host communities, while generating considerable resistance in others. Open houses, where local residents are given the opportunity to tour future sites of incarceration prior to their official opening, is one strategy used in some Canadian jurisdictions to appease public concerns and expose residents to the realities of imprisonment. Drawing on the materials produced by penal system functionaries and their communications advisors in preparation for these penal promotions (e.g. event management plans, tour scripts, Q&A documents), as well as marketing materials produced for public consumption (e.g. brochures, placards, videos), this paper examines the back and front stages of these penal spectacles. In particular, we highlight the cultural representations of confinement and punishment communicated to the public during these open houses that reproduce the idea that imprisonment is a necessary social practice.

Authors

• Shanisse Kleuskens, University of Ottawa

• Justin Piche, University of Ottawa