To the Wire and Beyond

As a relatively new member of the European Group and recent student of Criminology, the idea of attending the Annual Conference was, initially, a little daunting.  However, any feelings of angst soon dissipated following attendance at the introductory session during the afternoon of 5 September 2012 where the welcome was warm and members were informed of the purpose for convening the conference.  An overview was provided of “Beyond the Wire”, the Green Line, with particular focus on the issues associated with the division of communities in Cyprus.  It is evident that the emphasis on this and related issues at a global level is conducive to the work of the European Group, essentially as a platform for autonomous discussion and information sharing in relation to all aspects of critical criminology including constructions of crime.

The Conference was attended by individuals that have dedicated copious amounts of their time into research to raise awareness of problematic issues; thus highlighting the need for change for the greater good of mankind.  As the days unfolded, the extent of problems as a consequence of state power and class hierarchies, conflict, marginalisation, social control, human rights injustices and the infringement of civil liberties became clear through the delivery of papers by committed academics in a diverse selection of thought-provoking sessions that encompassed each of these areas with time allocated at the conclusion of each session for questions and answers which encouraged interactive discussion.

Having arrived home from Cyprus and reflecting on attendance at the European Group Conference, I feel fortunate to have participated in a forum that advocates mutual respect, equality and companionship amongst its members.  Thank you for the opportunity of attending the Conference which has been an informative, interesting and memorable experience.

Kathy Angus

Samantha Fletcher on Occupy

One of the best sessions of the conference this year for me was Sam Fletcher's paper on the Occupy movement - a really excellent critical analysis and best of all a good selection of her cartoons.

European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control

40^th Annual Conference

University of Nicosia

Cyprus

5^th-9^th September 2012

'Beyond the Wire': Regulating Division, Conflict and Resistance

Report

Thanks are owed to all those who worked so hard to put the conference together: Demetra Sorvatzioti who brought the conference to the University of Nicosia; Elisa Bosio who worked tirelessly before and during the conference, assisted by Marina, Anthos, Lambros and Linda; and all the stream co-ordinators who helped to put the excellent programme together.

The Nicosia conference was attended by more than 90 delegates from 20 different countries from across four continents: Australia, South Africa, Europe and North America. Almost 80 papers were given in both panel and parallel sessions which were divided up into six different streams focusing on the following issues: anti-security; social divisions and the application of the criminal law; eco-crimes; class, state power and corporate harms; the criminalisation and victimisation of migrants and minority ethnic communities; marginalisation, exclusion and social control. There were some fascinating sessions involving local activists, linking the conference’s ‘beyond the wire’ theme to its wider European and global context.

Delegates also got together outside the formal sessions, participating in a fascinating guided tour around the divided city of Nicosia, in a conference dinner inside the United Nations buffer zone, and in a bus tour which included a visit to the Kourion archaeological site and a wine museum. At these latter two events, delegates were treated to a spectacular rendition of Elvis’ greatest hits courtesy of our very own David Scott, the group’s coordinator from 2010-2012.

At the AGM held on Friday 5^th September, David Scott and the group secretary, Joanna Gilmore, sadly stepped down. Both David and Joanna have worked extraordinarily hard over the past few years, giving immense amounts of their own personal time to the Group to ensure that it has grown and continued to attract new members whilst retaining the support of older members. They will be missed. However, David and Joanna will continue to play a role as members of the conference steering group. They have been replaced by Emma Bell as coordinator and Monish Bhatia as secretary. Gilles Christoph from Lyon will also be helping out with secretarial duties.

At the AGM, it was agreed that we would try at future conferences to ensure that there will be a space set aside for the 25 national representatives from across Europe to get together to discuss issues affecting their particular localities. It was highlighted that the Group is still looking for representatives from Latvia, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Macedonia, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Malta. It was also suggested that an informal discussion session should be set up at future conferences at which students, activists and experienced members can share experiences and offer advice. Jackie Kerr volunteered to organise this support group. Both these initiatives will merely aim to revive older traditions well-established within the Group. There was also some discussion about funding. It was agreed that the Group’s funds should be moved from the UK to Greece where the Treasurer, Stratos Georgoulas, is currently based. Stratos said he would embark upon the rather difficult task of finding an ethical bank which would not conflict with the values of the Group. Attention was drawn to the fact that Group members should also attempt to ensure that their personal accounts are also placed with ethical banking cooperatives. There was also some discussion about future publications. It was suggested that an anthology of past working papers from forty years of European Group conferences should be compiled to mark the 40^th anniversary of the Group in 2013 (although this was the Group’s 40^th conference, its 40^th year will be celebrated in Oslo next year). It was also agreed that it would be interesting to try to compile oral histories from older members. On another issue, the Group’s commitment to ensuring gender balance across conference sessions was reiterated.

On the final day of the conference, it was announced that Vicky Canning agreed to become Social Convener for the Group, helping to organise additional social events outside the conference programme, ensuring that members can get together on a more informal basis.

During and after the AGM, a number of resolutions were passed in support of various causes in the UK, in Greece and in Cyprus. These are as follows:

The UK Border Agency and London Metropolitan University

That this Annual General Meeting of the European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control, representing over 1,000 members in more than 50 countries:

• values international collaboration between academics and students at all levels, and condemns the narrow and short-term oriented intervention of the UK Border Agency (UKBA) into higher education in the UK as setting a dangerous and destructive precedent;
• abhors the ideological and administrative targeting of overseas students in the UK in attempting to reduce net positive immigration in order to pander to anti-immigration lobbies;
• observes that the imposition of these policies effectively positions all overseas students as potential immigration fraudsters and requires them to prove their innocence. At the same time it inappropriately positions educational institutions as engaging in bogus operations unless they can prove otherwise;
• protests that the UKBA’s decision to withdraw the ‘highly trusted sponsor status’ of London Metropolitan University (LMU) collectively punishes legitimate overseas students for the apparent administrative shortcomings of the university administration;
• notes that checks and approvals for the issue of visas is not the proper function of higher education institutions and objects to the Home Office imposing these roles on universities as a cost-cutting measure and to address under-staffing in the UKBA;
• demands that the British government ensure that overseas students currently enrolled at LMU be allowed to enter or re-enter or continue their stay in the UK and to pursue the study in the UK for which they have been accepted in good faith and which they have a right to expect.

That this resolution be sent to the |Home Office, issued as a media release, and be placed on the European Group’s website.

[Carried unanimously]

Resolution on racist violence in Greece    
Brutal attacks and hate crimes, which are racially motivated, against migrants and refugees on the basis of the colour of their skin, their religion or country of origin have increased dramatically and have become an almost daily phenomenon in Greece.
            The fact that the perpetrators of such attacks operate almost undisturbed, in a systematic and organised manner and in teams often led by extremist elements, is an issue of serious concern. Such criminal acts, perpetrated by groups on motorcycles, have been documented since March 2012 and have been condemned by anti-racist organisations. However, no particular steps have been taken to prevent and address such acts which, as a result, has contributed to an escalation of violence.
            To date, the criminal justice system has not resulted in the conviction of any perpetrator of violent racist attacks. This, combined with the fear of the victims, often for lack of legal documents, to file complaints with the competent police authorities, but also the inability or reluctance of the law enforcement authorities to carry out arrests, contribute to maintaining and fuelling the vicious cycle of violence.
            The European Group for the study of Deviance and Social Control is concerned that such violence has become systematic and organised, targeting foreigners, under the pretext of the 'cleansing' of public space, by groups proclaiming that they guarantee public safety. Combined with the lack of a decisive and immediate response by the State and national institutions, this development is threatening Greek society as a whole, offending its culture and exposing the country internationally.
            Confronted with such a situation, which poses a threat to the rule of law and democratic stability, the Group:
 - Urges the Greek State to honour its primary constitutional obligations by taking steps to guarantee the protection of human dignity and of personal safety of all migrants and refugees in Greece;
 - Urges the justice system to uphold the rule of law and take decisive action to bring the perpetrators of racially motivated attacks to justice; and finally,
 - Calls on the Greek people to vigorously oppose racist violence in everyday life.

[carried unanimously, Nicosia, 9^th September, 2012]

Workers’ rights denied at the Holiday Inn, Nicosia

The European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control held its 40th Annual Conference in Nicosia this week, 5th - 9th September 2012.

            Four of our delegates were staying at the Castelli and the Holiday Inn Hotels. We were all shocked to discover that the employees of these hotels had not been paid for the past two months and that their national health insurance, social security, trade union fee and provider fund payments have also not been paid for up to a year, contrary to employment law and European Union standards.

            We express our solidarity with the striking workers and wish to make the following statement: Until the strike is resolved and the workers have all received full back-pay and the payment of one year's missing social security, provider fund, health insurance and trade unions fee payments, the members of this Group, which has over 1000 members, representing academics from universities in six continents, will not stay in any Holiday Inn, anywhere globally. We will also ask our colleagues in all of our institutions to support this action.

Nicosia, 9th September 2012

During the AGM, more details were given about next year’s conference in Oslo by Per Jorgen and Ragnhild Sollund. The conference will be held from 29^th August-1^st September. Details concerning the 2014 conference in Liverpool will be firmed up in the coming months. Hopefully, it will be possible at next year’s conference to confirm conference venues for 2015 and 2016.

Looking forward to seeing you all in Oslo.

Emma

Emma, Monish & Gilles - the new Group Leadership

At the recent conference Emma Bell was elected as the Group's new Co-ordinator and as the Group's new Secretary we had a joint appointment - Monish Bhatia and Gilles Christoph.  Congratulations to all three and thanks for taking on these tasks.  

Emma & Monash

Resolution of European Group AGM, 7 September 2012 - London Metropolitan University

That this Annual General Meeting of the European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control, representing over 1,000 members in more than 50 countries:

• values international collaboration between academics and students at all levels, and condemns the narrow and short-term oriented intervention of the UK Border Agency (UKBA) into higher education in the UK as setting a dangerous and destructive precedent;
• abhors the ideological and administrative targeting of overseas students in the UK in attempting to reduce nett positive immigration in order to pander to anti-immigration lobbies;
• observes that the imposition of these policies effectively positions all overseas students as potential immigration fraudsters and requires them to prove their innocence. At the same time it inappropriately positions educational institutions as engaging in bogus operations unless they can prove otherwise;
• protests that the UKBA’s decision to withdraw the ‘highly trusted sponsor status’ of London Metropolitan University (LMU) collectively punishes legitimate overseas students for the apparent administrative shortcomings of the university administration;
• notes that checks and approvals for the issue of visas is not the proper function of higher education institutions and objects to the Home Office imposing these roles on universities as a cost-cutting measure and to address under-staffing in the UKBA;
• demands that the British government ensure that overseas students currently enrolled at LMU be allowed to enter or re-enter or continue their stay in the UK and to pursue the study in the UK for which they have been accepted in good faith and which they have a right to expect.

That this resolution be sent to the |Home Office, issued as a media release, and be placed on the European Group’s website.

[Carried unanimously.]

Solidarity with Nicosia Holiday Inn Workers

The European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control held its 40th Annual Conference in Nicosia this week, 5th - 9th September 2012.

Four of our delegates were staying at the Castelli and the Holiday Inn Hotels. We were all shocked to discover that the employees of these hotels had not been paid for the past two months and that their national health insurance, social security, trade union fee and provider fund payments have also not been paid for up to a year, contrary to employment law and European Union standards.

We express our solidarity with the striking workers and to make the following statement: Until the strike is resolved and the workers have all received full back-pay and the payment of one year's missing social security, provider fund, health insurance and trade unions fee payments, the members of this Group, which has over 600 members, representing academics from universities in six continent, will not stay in any Holiday Inn, anywhere globally. We will also ask our colleagues in all of our institutions to support this action.

Nicosia, 9th September 2012

David and Joanna stand down

At yesterday's AGM of the Group David Scott and Joanna Gilmour stood down from their respective roles as Group Co-ordinator and Group Secretary.  The AGM made clear the immense debt we owe to both for their hard work and dedication over recent years. They have quite simply been brilliant.

Both David and Joanna will continue as members of the steering committee ensuring their knowledge, expertise and wisdom can continue to contribute to the life of the group.

Scholars hard at work - Thursday Evening

The conference dinner 

Day two - Thursday -Panel on Social Division and the application of the criminal law

Thursday morning kicked off with a plenary session. The two speakers were Maeve McMahon and Charis Papacharalambous. Maeve, a regular at European Group conferences, spoke passionately about the case of a colleague of hers from Carleton University Sociology Professor Hassan Diab who is facing extradition from Canada to France. The paper highlighted how few rights individuals have in resisting extradition and the Kaftaesque qualities of the legal process. Maeve called for both solidarity with Hassan and for critical criminologists to focus more on the complex processes of extradition.

Charis's paper provoked more discussion. He argued that violence against women needs to have any vestige of legitimacy or tolerance stripped from it. In particular he argued that the required responses that were required were essential punitive ones. 'In their most heinous forms' he argued violence against women needs to be 'systematically crushed through legal- politically resolute punitive mechanisms. In particular he rejected the appropriateness of restorative responses to violence against women. A number of delegates challenged the position and the ensuing discussion focused on both the narrowness of the feminist theory in which the paper was grounded and on the value of restorative justice. Firm chairing by Dave Whyte effectively stoped me from throwing in my two pence worth but the observation I would have made was that all the evidence suggests that punitive approaches are the most vulnerable to distortion of power. As such punitive responses to any crime of power is likely to be ineffective.

Conference Panel Sessions

SESSION	STREAM / CHAIRS	PAPERS
1 Thursday, 6 September 09:30-10:30 UNESCO Amphitheatre	Social divisions and the application of the criminal law Chair: David Whyte	Feminist Theory and Criminal Law Discourse: Countering Violence against Women through Widening Punitiveness on the Premises of Radical Democracy Charis Papacharalambous, University of Cyprus, Cyprus Violence, private sphere and social justice in the context of Finnish criminal law Riikka Kotanen, University of Helsinki, Finland
2 Thursday, 6 September 15:30-16:30 UNESCO Amphitheatre	Anti-security Chair: Andrew Jefferson	Bombed into Security: Air Power as Police Power Mark Neocleous Brunel University, UK Understanding the pacification of labour as a police science George Rigakos Carleton University, Canada
3 Friday, 7 September 10:00-11:00 UNESCO Amphitheatre	Class, state power and corporate harms Chair: Steve Tombs	These Grievances are not all Inclusive: The Occupy movement in the Age of Austerity Samantha Fletcher, Liverpool John Moores University, UK
4 Sunday, 9 September 10:00-11:00 UNESCO Amphitheatre	The criminalisation and victimisation of migrants and minority ethnic communities  Chair: Stratos Georgoulas	Criminalization of Immigrants. Life Stories of Foreign Prisoners from the Padua Jail Alessandro Maculan, Universita degli Studi di Padova, Italy Lampedusa 2011: a failed stress – test for migration control policies. Valeria Ferraris University of Turin, Italy Migration and state crimes in Greece: A case study Stratos Georgoulas and Dimos Sarantidis, University of the Aegean, Greece

Less than a week to register

Please note that the registration period for our 40th Annual Conference has been extended to Wednesday, 8 August, 12:00 (GMT) . Individuals presenting papers and/or interested in attending the conference must register by next week. Details of how to register for the conference can be found on our website: http://www.europeangroup.org/conferences/2012/registration_forms/index.htm

Conference Programme

The latest version of the conference programme will be available on our website from Monday (www.europeangroup.org). Could all paper presenters kindly review their details and get back to Elisa Bosio (bosio.e@unic.ac.cy) should they require any changes.

39th Annual Conference: Report

Below is a report on the last European Group conference in Chambery in France attended by over 120 delegates from 20 countries

The Chambery Conference

First of all many thanks to the organising team for the 39^th Annual Conference of the European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control at the University de Savoie, located in the historic city of Chambery, 3^rd – 7^th September 2011.  Emma Bell was an excellent host for the five day conference.  Emma was helpfully assisted by her students David, Maëlle, Amélie and Célie throughout the conference.  John Dennison provided great assistance and technical support.   Additional recognition should be give to Jean Marie Ruiz for his translation of the opening talks by Christian and Serge and Marie-Ange Mayoussier provided important administrative support in the lead up to the conference.                         

The Chambery conference was attended by more than 120 delegates from over 20 different countries including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Sates and the United Kingdom.  It was encouraging that there were so many new faces at the conference this year and that we were also able to welcome back some people who have not been to a European Group conference for a number of years.   We very much hope many will wish to attend future conferences.  There were more than 100 papers on the programme, including three plenary panels (two on European immigration policy and practice and one on penal policy) and two inspirational keynote talks.  The excursion to the Chartreuse Mountains, on Sunday 4^th September, included a meal at a beautiful mountain restaurant and a fascinating trip to an historic distillery, which included a short, but highly entertaining (and for some hilarious), 3D film.  There was also a guided historical tour of the city.

On the afternoon of the 5th September 2011, during the break in the immigration plenary panel, which consisted of a number of Italian delegates returning home that evening to participate in the Italian National Strike on the 6^th September, the following European Group Resolution was passed unanimously:

The delegates attending the 39th European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control express their support to all comrades in paid work and unemployed taking action in the National Strike in Italy. We recognise the significance of this mass action not only within Italy but also internationally.

New Constitution

The new European Group Constitution, after undergoing some minor amendments during the Annual General meeting on the 6^th September, was passed unanimously.  

At the Annual General Meeting [AGM] this year it was agreed that the European Group would open a new community bank account so that a number of people from the Group (namely the co-ordinator, treasurer and secretary) could have access to existing funds.   Current funds are limited and it was agreed that in future money could only be spent from the new European Group bank account if additional funds were raised.  Suggestions for fundraising ideas and donations would therefore be welcome over the coming months.

Athanasios Chouliaras is to be the new Greek National Representative.  Meropi Tzanetakis from Austria and Julien Niklaus from Switzerland have also agreed to be new National Representatives for their respective countries whilst members of a collective at Barcelona University are consulting about a possible Spanish representative.    Two new members were also added to the Conference Steering Committee – Steve Tombs and John Moore.  The locations of the 41^st and 42^nd Annual Conferences of the European Group were agreed - the 2013 Conference will be hosted in Oslo, Norway and the 2014 conference in Liverpool, England.  Further details regarding the 40^th Annual Conference in Cyprus in September 2012 will be announced shortly.

At the AGM it was also agreed that we needed further clarification of the role of the national representatives and the conference steering committee.  As a result of this discussion there will be further debate about how we can best support new National Representatives in the coming weeks and months.  The discussion will be led by the current National Representatives and members of the conference steering committee.

The City of Limassol

The old town Lemesos (Limassol) is the heart of the city with its narrow streets radiating out from the old fishing harbour. The medieval Lemesos Castle was the site of a royal wedding in the Middle Ages between Richard the Lionheart, King of England, and Berengaria of Navarre, and now houses the Cyprus Medieval Museum.   The town has grown in recent years and now covers a 15 kilometre coastline lined with hotels and apartment blocks, interspersed with eucalyptus groves and linked by a promenade popular with walkers or joggers.   The city’s inhabitants are renowned for their love of fun so not surprisingly the city’s nightlife is varied. All sorts of tavernas, discos and clubs are open all the year round, while beach bars along the coastal walkway add to the choice. Join in the Bacchian excesses at the Wine Festival in September, or enjoy a summer concert under the stars in the Greco-Roman theatre of Kourion.

The City of Nicosia (and host city of conference)

Lefkosia (Nicosia), the island’s capital, combines both old and new in a busy modern commercial and business centre and a centuries-old culture. The centre of the city is its old quarter surrounded by a Venetian sandstone fortress wall with a moat and heart-shaped bastions. Mosques and palm trees give an oriental atmosphere to the old city. Wander round narrow streets with overhanging balconies and the beautifully restored pedestrian precinct with craft shops, cafes and tavernas. Make sure you stop off at Ayios Ioannis (St John) cathedral with its frescoes and the marvellous museum of Byzantine icons.  The new town spreads beyond the walls with a modern Europeanised centre of high-rise buildings, office blocks, shops and pavement cafes, expanding into suburban residential areas. Lefkosia offers the best in shopping and Stassicratous Street is the place for the ultimate shopping experience.  Of the city’s main sights, the Cyprus Museum houses the best collection of archaeological artefacts on the island, including a first century AD Roman statuette of Aphrodite of Soli and the original mosaic of Leda and the Swan, while the Leventis Museum depicts the history of the town.

Cyprus Weather

Cyprus enjoys a very sunny climate compared with most countries with 11.5 hours of bright sunshine per day over the six summer months.  Cyprus enjoys an intense Mediterranean climate of hot dry summers starting in mid-May and lasting until mid-September and rainy, quite mild winters from November to mid-March. Spring and autumn are effectively short intervals in between, characterised by smooth weather. With almost year-round clear skies and sunshine, daylight length ranges from 9.8 hours in December to 14.5 hours in June.  In broad lines, Cyprus's climate is characterised by hot summers and mild winters. Daily temperatures during the hottest months of July and August range between 29°C on the central plain and 22°C on the Troodos Mountains. The average maximum temperatures for these two months range between 36°C and 27°C.  During summer humidity is very low near midday, ranging from 15% to 30% on the central plain. Fog is rare and typically occurs in early morning. Visibility is normally very good or excellent.   Clothing requirements vary, depending on the length and the period of your visit. From June to the end of August, very light summer clothing is a must. September to October see quite a few warm days and cool evenings.

Visiting Cyprus

Cyprus has no dangerous infectious diseases. Visitors do not require any vaccinations to travel to Cyprus. Greek and Turkish are the main languages spoken by the Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot communities respectively. English is widely spoken. French and German are also well spoken within the tourist industry. The price of products and services in Cyprus varies depending on the season and the location.  Since a 10% service charge is levied in hotels and restaurants, tipping is not obligatory but is always welcome and appreciated.

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Travelling to Cyprus

Travelling to Cyprus is very easy. The documentation required varies, depending on your nationality. A valid passport is required for a stay of up to 90 days for all bonafide tourists except citizens of European Union countries, Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway who may enter Cyprus with their national identity card provided it bears a photo. Some non-EU third country nationals require a visa. Further detailed information can be obtained from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  The legal ports of entry into the Republic of Cyprus are the airports of Larnaka (Larnaca) and Pafos (Paphos) and the ports of Larnaka (Larnaca), Lemesos (Limassol), Latsi and Pafos (Paphos), which are situated in the area under the effective control of the Government of the Republic of Cyprus. Entry into the territory of the Republic of Cyprus via any other port or airport in which the Government of the Republic does not exercise effective control (Turkish occupied areas) is illegal.

Registration

The deadline for registration of our 40^th Annual Conference “Beyond the Wire: Regulating division, conflict and resistance” is the 31^st July 2012. 

We realise that a number of people can only secure conference funding if they are delivering a paper.  Elisa has kindly agreed that anyone who would like to submit an abstract for the conference can do so up until the registration deadline (31^st July). 

Please send any late abstracts direct to Elisa at: bosio.e@unic.ac.cy

Conference registration can only be made online at the following website (please ensure that you book the correct conference as more than one is listed on the site):

http://www.tamasostours.com.cy/Conferences/conferences.php

If you experience any problems with the online registration please contact Elisa (bosio.e@unic.ac.cy)

Registration Fee:
 Students -     75 Euro
Academics - 150 Euro

 

Registration Fee Includes:

• Admission to all Conference sessions
• Conference Material
• Lunches and Coffee Breaks during Conference
• Return Transfer Hotels – University of Nicosia – Hotels on scheduled times

CALL FOR PAPERS

This conference aims to explore the complexity of social conflicts and the way in which occupation (military or otherwise) can lead to the marginalisation of identifiable groups of people in societies divided by historical and territorial claims.  It will examine the meaning of going ‘beyond the wire’ or beyond the frontiers of a given conflict.  The conference intends to place deeply embedded social fault lines into context, and specifically to consider their impact on processes of criminalisation, justice and social control.  The conference organisers therefore encourage papers that will analyse social division, conflict and resistance across Europe and beyond.  For example, we welcome consideration of the long term implications of the re-unification of Germany; the consequences for Eastern European nations following the collapse of communist states and the Soviet Union; political and community developments in North of Ireland since the Good Friday Agreement; and the continued conflict in Palestine and resistance of the Palestinian people.

The conference will seek to examine the manner in which social divisions and conflicts implicitly or explicitly underpin definitions of ‘crime’, justice, political constructions of order and ideologies of the ‘other’.  In uncertain economic and political times, what will be the impact of profound social divisions on the application of the criminal law?  Will the harms of the powerful, corporations and nation states against humans and non-humans remain relatively invisible and under-enforced? How might current insecurities and inequalities impact on policing conflict, unrest and popular resistance?  Which identifiable groups are being placed ‘beyond the wire’ and how might deepening social divisions impact on the marginalization and criminalisation of children, young people, migrants and minority ethnic groups? What are the dynamics of persistent struggle, criminalisation and social justice in societies transitioning from conflict?

We welcome papers on a range of issues connected to the theme of ‘Beyond the Wire': Regulating Division, Conflict and Resistance, grouped under the six streams below.

Stream	Potential Topics
Social divisions and the application of the criminal law For further details contact: Athanasios Chouliaras tchouliaras@hotmail.com  and/or Vicky Vasilantonopoulou vickyvassila@hotmail.com	Gendered violence Identity, diversity and criminalisation Gendered perspectives on social and criminal policy The criminalisation of children and young people. Contemporary anatomo-politics and bio-politics (incl. gender, sex and sexualities)
Anti-security For further details contact: George Rigakos grigakos@connect.carleton.ca and/or Mark Neocleous mark.neocleous@brunel.ac.uk	Policing disorder Domestic and imperial projects of pacification Police science and political economy Private policing and the commodification of security Warfare in all its guises (class, race, gender)
Eco-global ‘crimes’, harms and abuse and consequences for human and nonhuman individuals and species For further details contact: Ragnhild Sollund ragnhild.sollund@jus.uio.no	Environmental crimes and harms The effects of globalisation on environmental justice and species justice The criminalisation of green and animal rights’ movements
Class, state power and corporate harms For further details contact: Steve Tombs s.p.tombs@ljmu.ac.uk	Analysing ‘crime’ and harm in late capitalism Corporate crime and financial regulation: private profits, global contexts and consequences Truth, knowledge and the corporate state
The criminalisation and victimisation of migrants and minority ethnic communities  For further details contact: Stratos Georgoulas s.georgoulas@soc.aegean.gr and / or Georgios A. Antonopoulos g.antonopoulos@tees.ac.uk	Border controls and control of migration Explorations of the neo-colonial and post-colonial condition National / transnational exercises of power Mapping the current scientific and technological matrix
Marginalisation, exclusion and social control For further details contact: Alejandro Forero Cuellar aleforero@ub.edu and /or Andrea Beckmann abeckmann@lincoln.ac.uk	Economic crisis, uprisings and social control Relationship between punishment and economic conditions The ever-expanding prison system Marginalisation in societies divided by history and territorial claims The criminalization of poverty

Further details of the conference can be viewed at: www.europeangroup.org

We also welcome papers broadly reflecting the wider interests of the European Group for the Study of Deviancy and Social Control.  If you would like any further information please contact David Scott or Joanna Gilmore at europeangroupcoordinator@gmail.com

Abstracts to be submitted by 28 April 2012 to: europeangroupcoordinator@gmail.com