The Cultural Idiosyncrasy of Penal Populism

Li, Enshen

doi:10.1093/bjc/azu059

Cited by 10 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Rather than categorising political systems based on ascendant ideological and instrumental thinking, this means investigating how these ideas work in practice to shape penal policies. Comparatively investigating these questions beyond the metropole may reveal new dynamics that shape the power to punish (Sozzo 2018;Li 2015). These kinds of questions also open up a space within comparative inquiry which understands the important of role of agency in shaping penal politics and takes the time to appreciatively map intentions, motives and values of those who hold the state power to punish (Nelken 2009;Loader 2006).…”

Section: Rethinking the Prison And Penal Politicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exceptional states: The political geography of comparative penology

Brangan

2020

Punishment & Society

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It is now common in the sociology of punishment to lament that comparative penology has not matured as an area of research. While there have been seminal works in the comparative canon, their conceptual tools tend to be drawn from grand narratives and macro-structural perspectives. Comparative researchers therefore lack concepts that can help capture the complexity of penality within a single nation, limiting the cross-national perspective. Why is this relative lack of comparative refinement still the case? This article investigates this question by looking specifically at penal exceptionalism, a concept central to comparative penology. While punitiveness as a comparative and descriptive category has been critiqued, its converse, penal exceptionalism remains prevalent but undertheorised. Examining exceptionalism reveals that it is not merely the macro-structural approach to comparison that has limited the development of cross-national sociology of punishment, but the Anglocentric assumptions, which are the bedrock of comparative penology. In this essay, I argue that penal exceptionalism versus punitiveness is an Anglocentric formulation. These taken-for-granted assumptions have become so central to the comparative enterprise that they act as a barrier to developing new innovative comparative frameworks and concepts. The article concludes by suggesting some methodological strategies that are intended as a way of helping comparative penology to expand its toolkit and support the ongoing development of more equitable criminological knowledge.

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Section: Rethinking the Prison And Penal Politicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exceptional states: The political geography of comparative penology

Brangan

2020

Punishment & Society

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“…Harsh punishment is commonly considered as a core element in Chinese culture and penal practice, which is attributed to “heavy penaltylism”, a predominant penal philosophy in Chinese history (Li, 2015). However, some scholars contend that “Chinese cultural harshness” is a simplified and misleading argument, as mercy and benevolence is no less profound and prevalent in Chinese legal tradition (Bakken, 2011; Liu et al, 2012).…”

Section: The Chinese Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Convicting the Innocent or Freeing the Guilty? Public Attitudes Toward Criminal Justice Errors

Zhuo

2020

Int J Offender Ther Comp Criminol

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Two types of judicial errors—convicting an innocent person or acquitting a guilty person—challenge the integrity and legitimacy of criminal justice. How citizens view these errors plays an important role in criminal justice policy. Utilizing data from a national survey, this study applies the established Western theories to explore the correlates of public attitudes regarding the relative acceptance of wrongful convictions and erroneous acquittals in contemporary China. The findings lend support to both constructionist/conflict and symbolic theories.

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“…In Bottoms' (1995) original writing, penal populism mainly applies to the situation where politicians use punitive penal policies to win floating voters. As Li (2015) rightfully points out, there are no voters to 'win' in China due to the absence of competitive elections. An alternative explanation is needed for the responsiveness of Chinese governments in the current case, especially the hyperresponsiveness of local governments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the Bottom-Up Reform of Sex Offender Registration in China: Carceral Feminism and Populist Authoritarianism

Chen

2020

Crime Law Soc Change

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In 2017, the Minhang District of Shanghai introduced sex offender registration. This reform attracted positive reactions on social media. Local governments in Jiangsu, Guangdong and Chongqing quickly followed the precedent. In 2019, the central government announced that it will establish national sex offender registries by 2022, although it limited the scope of registration to paedophiles. This study explores how this bottom-up reform unfolded and what implications it has in theory and practice. Based on qualitative and quantitative analysis of 2261 posts on Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter, this study reveals two major players in the current reform: the Chinese feminists who are pursuing a punitive agenda online (a phenomenon known as 'carceral feminism'), and the local governments that are eager to win the public's trust, although such trust is mainly reserved for the central authority in the Chinese political culture (a culture known as 'populist authoritarianism'). Drawing on the findings, this study pushes the discussion about Chinese penal policy beyond the dichotomy of 'penal professionalism' and 'penal populism'. It argues that while the influence of professionalism is evident in central-level policy making, local penal policies can be easily led by populist punitiveness. The latter deserves more academic attention. This study also takes a non-partisan approach to the feminist movements on Chinese social media. It reveals the class conflicts and regional inequality underlying the gender schism. The polarisation effect in online discussion is also highlighted, which alerts policy makers to the reliability of 'public opinion' online.

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The Cultural Idiosyncrasy of Penal Populism

Cited by 10 publications

References 36 publications

Exceptional states: The political geography of comparative penology

Exceptional states: The political geography of comparative penology

Convicting the Innocent or Freeing the Guilty? Public Attitudes Toward Criminal Justice Errors

Exploring the Bottom-Up Reform of Sex Offender Registration in China: Carceral Feminism and Populist Authoritarianism

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