General overview of the participants of the Conference

[ENG] On September 15-16, the Law School of the University of A Coruna hosted the International Conference ‘Crises, Economy and Punishment: The Influence of the Great Recession on Crime and Penality‘. The Conference was organised by the ECRIM research group, in collaboration with Máximo Sozzo (National University of the Litoral, Argentina) and Russell Hogg (Queensland University of Technology, Australia) and it gathered around 45 scholars from a wide variety of American, Australasian, and European countries.

The Conference began with a plenary session in which Dario Melossi (University of Bologna, Italy) reflected on “The Prison and the Factory Revisited: Penality and the Critique of Political Economy”.

Two parallel sessions ensued this lecture. Parallel session no. 1 (“Crime and Penality 1”) included the presentations: “Crime and punishment in Brazil: Is restorative justice a suitable alternative to prison in the context of the (late) economic crisis?” (Daniel Achutti and Raffaella Pallamolla, UniLasalle, Brazil); “While the crisis had not yet arrived: mass incarceration in times of social inclusion in the Brazilian democracy” (David S. Fonseca, Queensland University of Technology, Australia), and  “Economic crisis, politics, and punishment: impacts and influences in the Brazilian case” (Bruno Rotta-Almeida, Federal University of Pelotas, Brazil). Parallel session no. 2 (“Political violence, torture and penal policies”) was formed by the talks: “The releasement of Arnaldo Otegi as a vanishing point for the analysis of the past and present exceptionalism trends in terrorism crime policies in Spain” (David Castro-Liñares, University of A Coruna, Spain); “Contours, resistances and limits of the so-called ‘Global War on Terrorism’: The (controversial) persistence of the enemy within the European Union” (Borxa Colmenero-Ferreiro, David Soto-Díaz and David Castro-Liñares, University of A Coruna, Spain), and  “To say the impossible, to imagine the unimaginable: the punitive experience of torture” (Ignacio Mendiola, University of Basque Country, Spain).

The morning session ended with the talk given by Máximo Sozzo (National University of the Litoral), who lectured on “Punishment and economic and social crises. Puzzling relations?”.

Parallel session no. 3 and 4 were carried out in the afternoon of September 15. Parallel session no. 3 (“Crises and Penality II”) integrated the presentations: “Six Years On: Reflections on the decline in the Spanish prison population and the post-crisis criminal justice system” (José A. Brandariz-García, University of A Coruna, Spain); “A different approach to understand the imprisonment rate decrease in the Netherlands” (David Soto-Díaz and Silvia Rodríguez-López, University of A Coruna, Spain); “Economic crisis and reduction of the prison population: the Italian case” (Giovanni Torrente, University of Turin, Italy), and “Studying the penal system in times of crises: conceptual, empirical and political challenges” (Ignacio González-Sánchez, University of Girona, Spain). Parallel session no. 4 (“Policies of migration control”) comprised the papers: “Who has been deported from Spain during the economic crisis? Some answers from a feminist and post-colonial perspective” (Cristina Fernández-Bessa, University of Barcelona, Spain); “Detention Centers for Foreigners: Punishing Undocumented Migrants by the Deprivation of Liberty in the Schengen Area” (Nerea Galdós-Pozo, University of A Coruna, Spain); “The deportation of foreigners in the Chilean criminal justice system: A technique of ‘actuarial justice’?” (Roberto A. Dufraix-Tapia, Arturo Prat University, Chile), and “Detaining migrants in times of crisis in Italy: Undeportability, discipline, and the differential inclusion” (Giulia Fabini, University of Bologna, Italy).

These parallel session were followed by a lecture given by Russell Hogg (Queensland University of Technology, Australia), who talked about “The Financialization of Society and the Monetization of Justice: Crime, Punishment and the Global Financial Crisis”.

Finally, the first day of the Conference came to an end with a panel session devoted to “Penological Issues: Community, Control and Penality, that included the presentations: “Neo-liberalism and changes in the role of European alternatives to imprisonment” (Daniela Ronco and Michele Miravalle, University of Turin, Italy); “What reentry? Prisoners’ expectations and perceptions about life inside and outside prison” (Sílvia Gomes, University of Minho, Portugal); “Social exclusion, digital technology and ‘smartpowers’” (Javier Cigüela,  Abat Oliba University-CEU, Spain), and  “State Violence and Economic Crises in Men and Women’s Prison: Discourses in the Portuguese Press” (Luísa Saavedra, Eunice Seixas, Miguel Cameira and Ana Margarida Silva, University of Minho, Portugal).

The second day of the Conference began with a plenary session, in which Patricia Faraldo-Cabana (University of A Coruna, Spain) lectured on “Do economic crises influence the use of fines? Revisiting Rusche and Kirchheimer’s Punishment and Social Structure”, and Marcelo F. Aebi (University of Lausanne, Switzerland) presented a paper on  “Why the financial crisis led to a decrease of prison populations in Europe?”.

The Conference continued with two parallel sessions. Parallel session no. 7 (“Neo-liberalism, Political Economy and Penality I”) included the presentations: “Itinerary of the issue of security since neoliberalism return in Argentina” (Gabriela Seghezzo and  Nicolás Dallorso, University of Buenos Aires-CONICET, Argentina); “Crisis and Economics of Crime and punishment in Argentina” (Diego Zysman-Quirós, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina); “The reorganization of ‘repression’ during the Great Recession: the Antiterrorism Act and the Anti-picketing Protocol in today’s Argentina” (Juan Cruz Goñi, National University of Lanús, Argentina), and “Media and political discourse on juvenile crime in Brazil: culture, economy and punishment” (Marília de Nardin Budó, Faculdade Meridional, Brazil, and Riccardo Cappi, State University of Bahia/State University of Feira de Santana, Brazil). Parallel session no. 8 (“Neo-liberalism, Political Economy and Penality II”) comprised the papers: “The limits of political economy in understanding criminalization” (António P. Dores, ISCTE-IUL, Portugal); “From project exile to mass delivery of pain: How many of us are being abandoned?” (Daniel Jiménez-Franco, University of Zaragoza, Spain), and “Institutional anomie and the Portuguese system of justice” (José N. Cruz, University of Porto, Portugal).

The second morning of the Conference finished with two additional parallel sessions. Parallel session no. 9 (“Managerialism, Crime Prevention and Penality”) integrated the presentations: “Towards an ‘Austere Prevention’? Impact of Austerity Policies on Crime Risk Management in the Field of Gender Violence in Spain” (David San Martín-Segura, University of La Rioja, Spain), and “Banal prevention of insecurity as a way of governance: A perspective from Madrid” (Sergio García-García and Débora Ávila-Cantos, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain). Parallel session no. 10 (“Political Economy and Penality: Reflections on organised crime”) was formed by four presentations: “The Yakuza and the reasons of its longevity” (Martina Baradel, University of London, United Kingdom); “Economic crisis and Organized Crime in Italy” (Antonella Pasculli, University of Bari, Italy); “The Business of Human Trafficking in Times of Economic Crisis: Implications for the Criminal Liability of Legal Persons” (Silvia Rodríguez-López, University of A Coruna, Spain), and “The North-South shipment of toxic waste as a new phenomenon of criminality of the powerful” (María A. Fuentes-Loureiro, University of A Coruna, Spain).

After the lunch break, the last parallel session of the Conference were carried out. Parallel session no. 11 (“Penality Issues”) was integrated by the presentations: “Explaining the differences in the application of detention for juvenile offenders in Spain” (Beatriz Cruz-Márquez, University of Cádiz, Spain); “Crisis and Neoliberal Hegemony in the European Union: Consequences in Criminal Law” (Jorge Correcher-Mira, University of València, Spain), and “Americanization of the penalty, populist punitiveness and security: recent proposals in the justification of the punishment” (Elena Górriz-Royo, University of Valencia, Spain). Parallel session no. 12 (“Corporate crime, corruption and penality”) was comprised by the papers: “Advantages and risks of self-regulation policies and corporate internal investigations” (Ana M. Neira-Pena, University of A Coruna, Spain); “Anticorruption discourses and neoliberalism” (Manuel Maroto-Calatayud, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Spain), and “Consequences of the prosecution of Icelandic bankers following the bank collapse in 2008” (Sigur?ur Tómas Magnússon, University of Reykjavik, Iceland).

A final plenary session closed the Conference. This last panel encompassed the lectures: “Beyond the Punitive Turn: The Sources of Transformation in the Post-Rehabilitative Prison: European and American Perspectives. Part I: Europe” (Elena Larrauri-Pijoan, Pompeu Fabra University, Spain), and “Beyond the Punitive Turn: The Sources of Transformation in the Post-Rehabilitative Prison: European and American Perspectives. Part II: US” (Jonathan Simon, University of California-Berkeley, United States).

From left to right: Máximo Sozzo, Russell Hogg, Carmen Garcimartín, Patricia Faraldo, José Ángel Brandariz

From left to right: Máximo Sozzo, Dario Melossi

From left to right: David Castro, Borxa Colmenero, Daniel Jiménez

Ignacio Mendiola

From left to right: Ignacio González, Daniel Achutti, David Fonseca, Bruno Almeida, Luísa Saavedra

Bruno Almeida

From left to right: Russell Hogg, Raffaella Pallamolla, Diego Zysman

From left to right: Diego Zysman, Ignacio González, Daniel Achutti

Máximo Sozzo

From left to right: Silvia Rodríguez, David Castro, Russell Hogg

General overview of Ignacio González’s presentation

From left to right: Giulia Fabini, Marián Fuentes, Roberto Dufraix, Cristina Fernández, Nerea Galdos

From left to right: Luz María Puente, Russell Hogg

From left to right: Silvia Rodríguez, Daniela Ronco, Michele Miravalle

From left to right: Silvia Rodríguez, Luísa Saavedra

From left to right: Javier Cigüela, Luísa Saavedre, Sílvia Gomes, Daniela Ronco, Michele Miravalle

From left to right: Marcelo Aebi, Patricia Faraldo, Kerry Carrington

From left to right: Marcelo Aebi, Patricia Faraldo, Kerry Carrington

From left to right: António Dores, Cristina Fernández

Daniel Jiménez

José Cruz

From left to right: Débora Ávila, Ignacio González, Juan Goñi, Marília Budó, Gabriela Seghezzo, Diego Zysman

From left to right: Débora Ávila, David San Martín, Daniel Jiménez

From left to right: Marián Fuentes, Antonella Pasculli, Martina Baradel, Silvia Rodríguez

Ana Neira

Manuel Maroto

Sigurdur Magnússon

From left to right: Jorge Correcher, Silvia Rodríguez, Elena Górriz

From left to right: Elena Larrauri, José Ángel Brandariz

Jonathan Simon