Major conference on prison abolition in May 2019
The Centre for Crime and Justice Studies and the Harm & Evidence Research Collaborative at The Open University, in partnership with Professor Joe Sim of Liverpool John Moores University, will be holding a major conference on prison abolition in the UK in 2019.
The conference will be on Thursday 23 and Friday 24 May, at The Open University campus in Milton Keynes.
The prison system in the UK is in ongoing, systemic crisis. While politicians pay lip service to the need to reduce prisoner numbers, further growth and expansion are far more likely.
There is a pressing need to reaffirm the importance and urgency of the abolitionist vision. Over two days, researchers, practitioners and activists will come together to discuss the development of abolitionism across the UK over the past half century, debate current approaches, and map out future possibilities for abolitionist research and practice in the UK.
Conference registration will open in early 2019.
More information about the conference, and details of how to keep in the loop on our plans, can be found on the conference page on our website.
The conference forms one part of a number of initiatives the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies plans to do around the theme of prison abolition.