Time and Punishment

Reviews / Votes

"The concepts of 'time' and 'punishment' in the context of incarceration are so closely intertwined that they seem almost indistinguishable. One clearly informs the other in a historical, physical and psychological interaction. And yet, in another sense, in the mainstream sense that helps shape modern systems of punishment, the idea of time has either been grossly misunderstood, or neglected altogether. In a landmark corrective to this state of affairs, Time and Punishment offers a collection of innovative and penetrating essays that makes salient in an engaging and accessible way, a rich diversity of analyses, frameworks for understanding, and methodologies that have humantemporalities at their core. Skilfully curated by Nicola Carr and Gwen Robinson, who show a keen sense of what is important in the debates' historical, theoretical and practical dimensions of temporality, the collection is set to be a benchmark for our understanding of what time isand can be-and how it relates to the experience and narratives of punishment in the 21st Century." (Professor Robert Hassan, University of Melbourne, Editor-in-Chief, Time & Society)"Although criminologists have a long-standing tradition of exploring matters over time, such as via longitudinal studies of offenders, or studies of the outcomes of criminal justice interventions, time in such studies is a rather 'silenced' variable. Time is allowed to pass, and the differences between t1 and t2 measured, observed and discussed. In this brilliant collection, time is viewed in a different light, and the very nature of time itself is brought into sharp focus. This is, indeed, a very timely collection." (Professor Stephen Farrall, University of Nottingham) "Temporality has been taken seriously as an analytical and not merely empirical category by many legal anthropologists and some feminist and queer thinkers, but rarely by criminologists. This collection begins a much-needed conversation about the fruitfulness of analyses of punishment that consider how criminal justice practices create new, distinct temporalities, and not only within prisons. It is an important contribution to 'punishment and society' studies." (Mariana Valverde, Professor emeritus, Centre for Criminology & Sociolegal studies, University of Toronto)