Sweden´s new carceral geographies

Sweden is facing a historic expansion of both prisons and immigration detention facilities as a result of the incumbent government’s promise to reduce crime and tighten migration and border controls.

However, carceral institutions have proven to be ineffective in achieving these goals while incurring significant costs both for those incarcerated and for society at large.

The aim of the project is to investigate Sweden´s new prison geographies, and how the significant expansions and investments in incarceration reconfigures carceral institutions, their goals and standards, and their impact on the surrounding society.

The project uses qualitative methods, including document analysis and ethnographic fieldwork in four sites where immigration detention centers and prisons are renovated or newly constructed.

It traces the expansion processes and their impact on the goals and operational standards of the carceral institutions and on local communities. Theoretically, the project merges insights from carceral geography, critical border studies and political anthropology.

The project will contribute with unique empirical knowledge about Sweden´s new carceral landscapes and its societal consequences, of pressing relevance for policy makers, governmental authorities and other societal actors invested in working towards sustainable and equal societies.

It also provides new conceptual insights into the political and ideological links between migration policy and criminal policy.