Call for Papers:

Perverting Justice: Law, Crime, Justice and the Perverse, May 13th to 15th, 2024.

The Centre for Interdisciplinary Justice Studies (CIJS) at the University of Winnipeg in collaboration with the Department of Criminal Justice, the Justice Research Institute (JRI) and the Centre for Access to Information and Justice (CAIJ) are organizing a conference titled Perverting Justice: Law, Crime, Justice and the Perverse, May 13th to 15th, 2024 at the University of Winnipeg.

There is no registration fee, and the conference is open to all students, faculty, and interested community members. Perverting Justice is being held in partnership with the 13th National Conference on Critical Perspectives in Criminology and Social Justice. We invite proposals for individual papers and thematic panels that address the theme described below as well as proposals that engage more broadly with the critical study of law, crime, order, and social justice.

Theme: Perverting Justice will offer a venue for scholars in the social sciences, humanities and beyond to critically examine how issues of crime, law, and justice intersect with the concept of perversion and how law, policing, and punishment can be perverse metaphorically and literally. The concept of perversion is a product of the pathologizing Western research tradition that aims to understand, in order to regulate and ultimately eliminate, sexual differences. Social, political, and legal processes contribute to the governance of sexuality and, as such, are key areas of life that serve to reproduce and reify, or alternatively to subvert and dismantle, the constructions and categories of “normal”/“abnormal” in sexual behaviours, relationships, identities and beyond. Interdisciplinary justice scholars are no strangers to engaging the notion of perversion when analyzing crime, policing, legal, and carceral outcomes. However, the perverse, as an analytical category encompassing diverse power formations that can both deny and advance rights, invites new ways to theoretically, conceptually, and empirically approach topics of justice, crime, punishment, and law.

Perverting Justice will interrogate how legal and justice actors define and govern perversion, as well as how legal institutions and practices (e.g., punishment, policing) produce perverse consequences and outcomes for individuals and society. For example, law and legal processes may be perverted through the actions or inactions of institutional actors, resulting in miscarriages of justice and public disrepute. Policing may be perverted through individual and institutionalized forms of bias and misconduct or byofficial policy. The criminal courts and law enforcement are responsible for regulating and policing conduct deemed perverse, a shifting label often used to target people who are othered in multiple ways. Regimes of punishment and moral regulation may also be analyzed critically through a lens of the perverse, while at a broader level, the politics of crime and justice frequently take on a perverse quality. Media and cultural representations distort and pervert legal and criminal justice processes, leading to a range of social reactions and driving perverse politics. At the same time, the concept of perversion is a valuable analytic tool to make sense of how the bodies, behaviours, and identities of those who are subjects of regulation may resist normalizing powers and challenge the very definition of what is considered perverse. Questions about politics as perverse, including how communities beyond the university seek to mobilize against such politics, are also at the forefront of our scholarly interest in perversion. All of these topics merit critical and interdisciplinary theoretical and empirical research, and Perverting Justice will offer an inclusive forum for scholarly dialogue on these issues. We encourage scholars from across the disciplines to provide analyses of diverse topics spanning all these dimensions at Perverting Justice.

Subthemes: Participants in Perverting Justice are encouraged to conceive of justice and the perverse in ways that extend beyond disciplinary boundaries, and consider the following six subthemes:

1) Theorizing the Perverse;

2) Perverse Politics;

3) Perverting and Subverting Law;

4) Policing Perversion;

5) Punishment as Perverse; and

6) Representing the Perverse.

We invite proposals that interrogate these subthemes as well as works that engage more broadly with the critical study of law, crime, order and social justice. We welcome submissions that offer novel and creative takes on the perverse and justice. This may include scholarly submissions representing legal, socio-legal, criminological, feminist, philosophical, and historical takes on the perverse and justice. Artistic, creative, and photographic views of these topics and reflections and applied works from professionals, community activists and others involved on the frontlines of justice work are also welcome. Perverting Justice aims to showcase work from scholars of multiple disciplinary backgrounds, as well as community groups, justice professionals and researchers, activists, and anyone who wishes to partake in a scholarly exchange about justice and the perverse.

We are organizing several keynote speakers, roundtables, thematic sessions, and presentations by leading and emerging scholars, community activists, jurists, and journalists. Finalized keynote speakers and topics will be announced at www.cijs.ca when confirmed, along with other conference details.

The Annual Review of Interdisciplinary Justice Research (IJR) will publish a thematic issue on the conference theme. A separate call for written submissions will be circulated following Perverting Justice inviting conference participants to submit research articles and shorter research notes for consideration. The IJR is a double-blind peer-reviewed journal that publishes works from across the disciplines on issues in justice. More information about the journal—along with downloadable past issues—can be found on our website: https://www.cijs.ca/ijr

Location and Accommodations: The conference will be held at the main campus of the University of Winnipeg, in downtown Winnipeg (515 Portage Avenue). The Downtown Winnipeg Holiday Inn (360 Colony Street) is located steps from campus and will offer Perverting Justice participants the most convenient accommodations for this event.

The hotel website is: http://www.hiwinnipegdowntown.com/

COVID Information: Please consult the University of Winnipeg website for current COVID related information and protocols: www.uwinnipeg.ca

Submission Procedures:

Proposals for papers, panels, or other submission types may be submitted in French or English, no later than April 1, 2024. Proposals should be sent by e-mail to: CIJS@uwinnipeg.ca

Note: Submissions in both official languages are welcome, but we are unable to provide simultaneous translation at the conference.

All proposals must include:

-mailing address, email, phone number, and affiliation for each participant

-a title and abstract of not more than 500 words for full sessions

-a title and abstract of not more than 250 words for individual paper presentations

Please contact Steven Kohm for further information: s.kohm@uwinnipeg.ca

We look forward to seeing you at Perverting Justice at the University of Winnipeg in May 2024!