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Call for contributions/papers - RGS-IBG Annual Conference 2026 – London, England (1st-4th September 2026)

Session title: Accessing the Carceral Continuum: Success, Denial and Negotiation 

Co-organisers: Renzo Szkwarok (Newcastle University, UK) and Caitlin MacKinlay (Durham University, UK). 

Session abstract: 

Carceral spaces, despite their multiple mobilities and porous patchwork boundaries, remain inherently difficult for researchers to access. Whilst the intricacies of entry differs according to different institutional and national contexts, common to most access attempts is the need to liaise with institutional actors via personal connections or lengthy formal applications. Such negotiations see scholar’s access gatekept, restricted and often denied under the guise that projects are unaligned to official interests or compromise organisational security. Despite having to navigate such access conditions, reflections on such processes are often overlooked within carceral geographic scholarship, with papers instead favouring the sharing of research findings. 

This session creates space for further discussion around the underexplored experiences of negotiating, gaining and being denied access to carceral space-times. Uncovering how the carceral apparatuses we (attempt) to work alongside operate, govern and control not only those who are incarcerated but also those who study carceral spaces. Engaging with the conference theme of geographies of inequalities, such reflections allow us to address the inequalities which emerge when attempting to do carceral research, and to acknowledge how research restrictions (re)produce inequalities in knowledge regarding the lived experience of incarcerated people. 

We propose to host a split-session, comprised of paper presentations followed by an interactive workshop. Both are explored in greater detail below. 

Session 1 – Paper Presentations 

Within the first session we invite scholars (at all career stages and from diverse geographical contexts) to reflect upon and share their experiences of accessing carceral spaces via a paper presentation session. We welcome reflections upon the processes of negotiating, being granted, and being denied access. We are particularly interested in papers which engage with the emotional and affective nature of conducting research in and negotiating access to these securitised spaces of inequality and injustice. Potential themes may include (but are not limited to): 

  • Experiences with gatekeepers. 
  • Ethics of gaining, maintaining, (re)negotiating access. 
  • Responses to being denied access. 
  • Positionality as a key factor in negotiating access. 
  • The conflict between abolitionism and working with carceral institutions. 
  • Contributions to geographical debates on critical methodological scholarship. 
  • Responsibility towards incarcerated people when negotiating access. 

Session 2 - Workshop 

In the second session we will collectively explore the challenges discussed above through an interactive workshop. Specifically, we will address the three themes of success, denial and negotiation, coming together to share experiences, knowledge and solutions. By bringing researchers at all stages of career together we hope that this session will address some of the inequalities experienced when attempting to do carceral research. Often, knowledge about and access to carceral spaces is limited, reproducing inequalities for incarcerated people. With more understanding about access processes, and what a lack of access can tell us, we can work towards more just spaces. After the session, we will produce a resource to collate our collective reflections that we will share with attendees through the Carceral Geographies Working Group network. 

If you are interested in contributing a paper to the panel session, please send abstracts of up to 250 words to Renzo Szkwarok (r.szkwarok1@newcastle.ac.uk) and Caitlin MacKinlay (caitlin.mackinlay@durham.ac.uk) by Friday 13th February 2026.

Alongside the abstract, please include your full name, email address, and institutional affiliation (if applicable). All are welcome to attend and contribute to the second session without submitting an abstract.