Abolitionist Perspectives: Challenges for Research with Gwenola Ricordeau
The bilingual action-research team Cultures du Témoignage| Testimonial Cultures, the Coalition d’action et de surveillance sur l’incarcération des femmes au Québec (CASIFQ) and the School of Social Work of the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) organized a masterclass with Gwenola Ricordeau on Thursday, May 19, 2022 from 4 to 6 p.m. at UQAM.
«Gwenola Ricordeau is a feminist and a penal abolitionist. Originally from France where she obtained her PhD and began her academic career, she lives in Northern California since 2017 and she is an associate professor of Criminal Justice at the California State University, Chico.»
This event allowed the academic and local community (students, doctoral students, professors, activists) to make the most of Gwenola Ricordeau’s visit to Tiohtià:ke / Montreal. Benefiting from a dedicated time with the author, her academic and activist career as well as her recent books Crimes & Peines. Penser l’abolitionnisme pénal (2021) and Pour elles toutes. Femmes contre la prison (2019) were explained. The exchange led to a discussion for which participants – who were invited to prepare questions and lines of thought beforehand – had the chance to address different tools and paradigms in their current research/actions and/or their desire to approach the following issues: abolitionism(s), critical theories of punishment, feminisms and carceralities, research policies and ethical issues.
The event was conducted in french only. However, if necessary, questions could be addressed in other languages, in particular in english.