Are prison and space what we think they are? Reconsidering space and prison through their relationships

Criminologists usually pay little attention to carceral spaces, and, when they do, they usually do not consider the actual space itself. Likewise, only a few geographers have paid attention to prison, and, when they did, the carceral system in itself was little more than a global context. Although obviously there are exceptions, we can see that the possibilities of a spatial approach to prison are far from being fully covered. On the contrary, carceral geography is an attempt to make criminology and geography initiate a dialogue on ‘the carceral”, one that includes all forms of detention. In my contribution, I shall try to show how space can confront prison, even in its basic principles of a closed and immobilising institution… and how prison can help us to challenge our mere definition of space as a material dimension. On the basis of the parliamentary documents for the Belgian penitentiary law, I shall show that the representation of prison as intricated spaces (material, social, relational, etc.) helps us understand a contemporary discourse on prison and its legitimacy as an attempt to represent the prison as an open and mobilising institution. In doing so, I will also show the potential of a spatial approach to the carceral… on the condition of accepting that space is not just a material dimension.