Questioning Punishment and Feeling Justice

Speakers: Henrique Carvalho and Anastasia Chamberlen, University of Warwick. Chaired by Milena Tripkovic, University of Edinburgh. Abstract: In this talk, Anastasia Chamberlen and Henrique Carvalho will present some of the main themes of their recently co-authored book, Questioning Punishment (2024, Routledge). The book offers a cultural and psychosocial examination of contemporary punishment, which the authors identify as a symptom and manifestation of a deeper social problem, the hegemonic character of punitive logics and punitive justice. To expose this issue, the authors argue that it is necessary to challenge the main assumptions underpinning punishment, and to see it as a problem rather than its usual status as a solution or response. The talk will focus on two main aspects of this approach. The first is the emotional dimension of punishment, which arguably underpins its hegemonic character. The book argues that the main answer to the question ‘why do we punish?’ lies in the link between punishment and the phenomenon of hostile solidarity. The second, then, is a discussion of how the allure of hostile solidarity and the hold it has on contemporary justice can be addressed and resisted – what the authors call a ‘lived sense of justice’. The SCCJR Justice Futures Seminar is brand new series for 2026. This monthly series will engage with a range of concerns and questions relating to new and evolving social harms, how social systems and institutions can contribute to, or alleviate, harms and injustices and how justice futures might be re-enacted or reimagined. https://www.sccjr.ac.uk/