School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Science
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The geography of crime and punishment in the Russian Federation
Eurasian Geography and Economics
co-authored with Judith Pallot and Laura Piacentini
A UK-based team of two geographers and a criminologist presents the results of its ongoing investigation of the... more A UK-based team of two geographers and a criminologist presents the results of its ongoing investigation of the geography of Russia's prison system, which in 2011 is in the early stages of transition from housing inmates in communal barracks (regardless of the severity of their crimes) to one more similar to that in the United States, in which facilities are differentiated to accommodate the entire spectrum of inmates from those housed in maximum security prisons (cellblocks) to minimum security institutions ("colony settlements"). The authors seek to determine whether a Soviet-era spatial bias in the location of facilities persists in presentday Russia by comparing the location of prisons across regions with the distribution of the country's population as well as the per capita incidence of recorded crimes and serious crimes.
Carceral Geography and the Spatialities of Prison Visiting: Visitation, Recidivism and Hyperincarceration
Forthcoming in Environment and Planning D: Society and Space
Geography, as a disciplinary lens, brings a valuable perspective to the study of the carceral, and carceral... more Geography, as a disciplinary lens, brings a valuable perspective to the study of the carceral, and carceral geography’s concern for the spatial could provide a new explanatory perspective to the consideration of some accepted tenets within criminology, whilst at the same time offering a productive and useful ‘grounding’ of contemporary geographies of emotion and affect. In the context of hyperincarceration and the carceral continuum of recidivism and repeated re-imprisonment, this paper considers the long-observed relationship between prison visitation and reduced recidivism, posits prison visiting rooms as under-researched carceral spaces, and develops theoretical and methodological innovations which nuance the understanding of prison visiting.
Between outside and inside? Prison visiting rooms as liminal carceral spaces
in early view in GeoJournal
This paper suggests that although carceral space seems to be sharply demarcated from the outside world, the prison... more This paper suggests that although carceral space seems to be sharply demarcated from the outside world, the prison wall is in fact more porous than might be assumed. The paper critiques Goffman’s theory of the ‘total institution’ by deploying a geographical engagement with liminality to theorise prison visiting rooms as spaces in which prisoners come face-to-face with persons and objects which come from and represent their lives on the ‘outside’. Drawing on a specific empirical example from recent research into imprisonment in the contemporary Russian prison system, it uses the example of visiting suites designed for long term ‘residential’ visits to explore the ways in which visiting spaces act as a space of betweenness where a metaphorical threshold-crossing takes place between outside and inside. The paper specifically explores the expression of that betweenness in the materiality of visiting, and in the destabilisation of rules and identities in visiting space. It contests the sense of linear transformation with which liminal spaces have previously been associated, suggesting that rather than spaces of linear transition from one state to another, liminal spaces can constitute a frustratingly repetitive, static or equilibriating form of transformation which is cumulative rather than immediate, and relates this suggestion to the wider study of prison visitation.
Disciplined mobility and carceral geography: prisoner transport in Russia
in early view in Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers
co-authored with Laura Piacentini and Judith Pallot
This paper identifies and addresses a significant weakness in the literature on mobility – the theorisation of... more This paper identifies and addresses a significant weakness in the literature on mobility – the theorisation of mobility and power, and specifically, the consideration of mobility as an expression of power. It argues that the ‘mobilities turn’ has tended to draw a connection between mobility, autonomy and freedom, and in so doing has inadequately explored and theorised involuntary and coerced mobility. To illustrate this, the paper draws together two literatures that have thus far been poorly integrated, and that at first seem an unlikely pairing – the mobilities work that has exploded in scope and diversity over the past decade and that seeks to ‘undermine sedentarist theories’ in geography (Sheller M and Urry J 2006 The new mobilities paradigm Environment and Planning A 38 207–26, p 208), and the nascent field of ‘carceral geography’, a body of work beginning to coalesce around the spatialities of detention and imprisonment, but that, in its focus on spatial regulation, has thus far tended to overlook the mobilities inherent in carceral practices. The two are drawn together through consideration of an example of ‘disciplined mobility’– contemporary prisoner transport in the Russian Federation, which serves as an illustration both of punitive power expressed through mobility and of mobility in the carceral context. The paper then argues that future research in mobilities must consider more fully the disciplinary nature of mobility, and suggests that the concept of ‘disciplined mobility’ (after Packer J 2003 Disciplining mobility: governing and safety in Bratich J Z, Packer J and McCarthy C eds Foucault, cultural studies, and governmentality State University of New York Press, New York 135–63), may form a framework for such future research.
Exile and exclusion: The legacy of soviet forestry for villages in the north of Perm oblast
GeoJournal
This paper explores the relationship between the forestry enterprises (leskhozi) and the inhabitants of forestry... more This paper explores the relationship between the forestry enterprises (leskhozi) and the inhabitants of forestry villages in the northern rayony of Perm oblast, Russian Federation in the context of the `new regional geography'. These relationships are compared with those identified between peasant farmers and collective and state farms post-1991, and a theory of the cultivation of these relationships as a coping mechanism for both households and enterprises facing difficult economic circumstances is advanced. The situation in the northern rayony is contextualised through discussion of the settlement and development history of the region, which was a recipient of forced and voluntary labour migration during the Soviet period. The paper concludes that in accordance with recent theories of post-communist regional development, the experience of transition in the northern rayony of Perm oblast is determined at least in part by its social and economic context.
Download (.pdf)Hewn from Stone: (Re)Presenting Soviet Material Cultures and Identities
Journal of Social History
This paper is concerned with the 'production' of items of material
culture, including monuments, made from... more
This paper is concerned with the 'production' of items of material
culture, including monuments, made from precious and semi-precious stone, in the early Soviet Union (1920s and 1930s). Selecting examples such as the stars which top the Kremlin towers, it engages with the issues of production of these items, in particular the significance of the materials from which they were made, and the (re)constructed identities of the craftsmen who made them. Drawing on contemporary press sources in order to access a particularly opaque public discourse surrounding these issues, the paper considers these items as embodiments of the labour of their makers, and interrogates the significance of that labour for the regime for which the objects were made. It concludes that through the act of production, Soviet workers re-produced and re-presented themselves in line with the imperatives of the commissioning state
Exile in the Soviet forest: ‘special settlers’ in northern Perm' Oblast
Journal of Historical Geography
This paper seeks to contribute to the growing body of knowledge about the local conditions which accompanied the dual... more This paper seeks to contribute to the growing body of knowledge about the local conditions which accompanied the dual policies of settlement and development of the resource-rich Russian North during the Soviet period. Archival research is presented in the context of recent debate over the focus of Stalinist policies towards the penal labour force, and its use is suggested as a means for understanding the historical socio-economic context of the locality for post-Soviet transformation.
Lesniki and Leskhozy: Life and Work in Russia's Northern Forests
Environment and History
This paper examines the history of forestry in the Russian North through a study area in the North Urals. The... more This paper examines the history of forestry in the Russian North through a study area in the North Urals. The relationships between the local leskhozy (forestry enterprises) and the lesniki (forestry workers) and the environment are contrasted. The paper explores four key aspects: exile, planned production, decline in rural population and environmental problems which characterised the Soviet period, and links these to conditions in the region post-1991, drawing on archival sources, contemporary accounts from the Soviet period and fieldwork in the study area.
“A Riddle, Wrapped in a Mystery, inside an Enigma”: Teaching Post-Socialist Transformation to UK Students in Moscow
Journal of Geography in Higher Education
co-authored with John Round
In the 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, teaching post-socialist transition to undergraduate students has... more In the 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, teaching post-socialist transition to undergraduate students has become increasingly challenging. This paper relates the development, planning and operation of a fieldwork module in Moscow, for Year Three geography undergraduates. It argues that ‘on-street’ teaching and imaginative use of visual sources can partially overcome the linguistic drawbacks of fieldwork in this context. It supports the utility of fieldwork for teaching post-socialist transformation, but stresses the need for local knowledge and contacts, linguistic ability on the part of module staff, and careful planning, to overcome anticipated and unexpected challenges.
Patriotic Discourses in Russia's Penal Peripheries: Remembering the Mordovan Gulag
in Europe Asia Studies
co authored with Judith Pallot and Laura Piacentini
Using materials gathered during field work in the penal region in the southwest corner of the Republic of Mordoviya in... more Using materials gathered during field work in the penal region in the southwest corner of the Republic of Mordoviya in 2007, the authors examine the official representations of the history of the Mordovan gulag from 1930 to the present day. Through an analysis of the penal authority's institutional newspaper, its museum and anniversary celebrations marking the founding of the Mordovan gulag, the authors argue that a stress in the official history on continuity and tradition of service is evidence of growing confidence of this part of the security apparatus after their loss of status in the 1990s associated with the collapse of the penal economy and negative comment by international monitors and domestic penal reformers.
Lipstick, lace, and longing: constructions of femininity inside a Russian prison
Environment and Planning D: Society and Space
co-authored with Judith Pallot and Laura Piacentini
This paper examines the construction of femininity within Russian women's prisons. On the basis of fieldwork carried... more This paper examines the construction of femininity within Russian women's prisons. On the basis of fieldwork carried out in three women's prisons in the secure and restricted penal zone within Mordovia, Russian Federation, we present unique and original qualitative data, as well as a critical engagement with contemporary Russian press sources. Starting from the assumption that the (free) female body is a particular target of Foucauldian disciplinary power, in that gender is a discipline which produces bodies and identities and operates as an effective form of social control, we examine the ways in which this disciplinary power of gender is compounded by bodily imprisonment. Criminal women are often considered not only to have broken the law but also to have offended against their culturally specific gender role expectations, and punishment applied to women prisoners is grounded not on what women are like, but on how women 'ought' to behave in a particular cultural context, with interventions coercing or persuading women to reintegrate into a recognisably 'feminine' form.We uncover Russia's exceptional and exclusionary geography of women's imprison- ment, and rehabilitative and educational processes, including a beauty pageant, which seek to rescript criminal women toward a predetermined 'ideal' of Russian womanhood, and also explore the ways in which women seek to resist.
Soviet cartography set in stone: the ‘Map of Industrialization’
Environment and Planning D: Society and Space
In this paper I take the example of the `Map of Industrialization', a huge stone mosaic map of 1930s USSR as a point... more In this paper I take the example of the `Map of Industrialization', a huge stone mosaic map of 1930s USSR as a point of convergence for discourses connecting Soviet propaganda and the depiction of Soviet space through cartography, the nature of maps as social constructs, the relationship between cartography and art in Soviet Russia, and the role of cartography in shaping the image of the Soviet nation-state. I trace the history of the Map and consider the Map as a work of art and as an instrument of the state, exploring these notions in the context of its history of exhibition in the USSR and overseas and of its periodic alteration. I conclude with a consideration of the changing discourses surrounding the Map in the post-Soviet era and link this discussion to broader themes of cultural memory, monuments,and the negotiation of national identity.
The Geography of HIV/AIDS in Russia: Risk and Vulnerability in Transition
Eurasian Geography and Economics
A British geographer discusses the spatial distribution of HIV infections in the Russian Federation, and the... more A British geographer discusses the spatial distribution of HIV infections in the Russian Federation, and the comparative lack of geographical research probing this phenomenon. Drawing on literature that suggests a connection between HIV and the impact of transition, the paper reports results of exploratory analysis of associations between prevalence of HIV/AIDS (dependent variable) and a range of socioeconomic measures reflecting transition (independent variables). It offers some explanations for the distribution of prevalence rates, and considers the potential regional impacts of the epidemic, arguing that future geographical research will further explicate regional differentiation in the rates of infection
HIV/AIDS in Russia: determinants of regional prevalence
International Journal of Health Geographics
co-authored with Jacob A Jordaan
Background: The motivation for this paper is to inform the selection of future policy directions for tackling HIV/AIDS... more
Background: The motivation for this paper is to inform the selection of future policy directions for tackling HIV/AIDS in Russia. The Russian Federation has more people living with HIV/AIDS than any other country in Europe, and nearly 70% of the known infections in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The epidemic is particularly young, with 80% of those infected aged less than thirty, and no Russian region has escaped the detection of infections. However, measures to address the
epidemic in Russia have been hampered by late recognition of the scale of the problem, poor data on HIV prevalence, potentially counterproductive narcotics legislation, and competing health priorities. An additional complication has been the relative lack of research into the spatial heterogeneity of the Russian HIV/AIDS epidemic, investigating the variety of prevalence rates in the constituent regions and questioning assumptions about the links between the epidemic and the
circumstances of post-Soviet transformation. In the light of these recent developments, this paper presents research into the determinants of regional HIV prevalence levels in Russia.
Results: Statistical empirical research on HIV and other infectious diseases has identified a variety of factors that influence the spread and development of these diseases. In our empirical analysis of determinants of HIV prevalence in Russia at the regional level, we identify factors that are statistically related to the level of HIV prevalence in Russian regions, and obtain some indication of the relative importance of these factors. We estimate an empirical model that includes factors
which describe economic and socio-cultural characteristics.
Conclusion: Our analysis statistically identifies four main factors that influence HIV prevalence in Russian regions. Given the different nature of the factors that we identify to be of importance, we conclude that successful HIV intervention policies will need to be multidisciplinary in nature. Finally,
we stress that further research is needed to obtain a better understanding of the statistical relations that we have identified; our empirical findings can serve as an important guide in these future research efforts, as they indicate which processes play an important role in regional HIV/AIDS
prevalence rates in contemporary Russia.
Radiation and extinction patterns in Permian floras from North China as indicators for environmental and climate change
by Phil Jardine
Stevens, L., Hilton, J., Bond, D., Glasspool, I. and Jardine, P.E. 2011. Journal of the Geological Society of London, 168, 607-619.
Pennsylvanian-Permian continental sequences from North China contain previously unrecognised episodes of plant... more Pennsylvanian-Permian continental sequences from North China contain previously unrecognised episodes of plant radiation and elevated extinction. The lowest extinction, in the Lower Shihhotse Formation (Roadian, Guadalupian), records a 45% floral species loss and is tentatively correlated with global extinctions amongst dinocephalian reptiles. The younger extinctions are dated by correlating the Illawara Reversal and palaeomagnetic polarity sequences from Shanxi Province against global palaeomagnetic history. Missing data from the Shanxi sequence is evaluated using a novel approach estimating likely maximum and minimum sequence changes that provide age estimates for post-Illawara events in North China. The second extinction in the middle Upper Shihhotse Formation is more significant and is dated to the mid-Capitanian with a loss of 56% of plant species coinciding with two phases of volcanism of the Emeishan Large Igneous Province in South China, previously linked to the mid-Capitanian marine mass extinction. The youngest extinction in the upper Upper Shihhotse Formation (late-Capitanian to mid-Wuchapingian), is catastrophic and represents the end of range in the sequence. Changes in sedimentary facies suggest it to be related to global climatic warming and drying. Other viable causal mechanisms for the extinction episodes include plate motion and collision, global climate change, volcanism and biological competition.
Regional-scale spatial heterogeneity in the late Paleocene paratropical forests of the US Gulf Coast
by Phil Jardine
Jardine, P.E., Harrington, G.J. and Stidham, T.A. 2012. Paleobiology 38(1), 15-39.
The study of spatial patterns in biotic compositional variability in deep time is key to understanding the... more The study of spatial patterns in biotic compositional variability in deep time is key to understanding the macroecological response of species assemblages to global change. Globally warm climatic phases are marked by the expansion of megathermal climates into currently extra-tropical areas. However, there is currently little information on whether vegetation in these “paratropical” regions resembled spatially modern tropical or extra-tropical biomes. In this paper we explore spatial heterogeneity in extra-tropical megathermal vegetation, using sporomorph (pollen and spore) data from the late Paleocene Calvert Bluff and Tuscahoma Formations of the formerly paratropical U.S. Gulf Coast (Texas, Mississippi, and Alabama). The data set comprises 139 sporomorph taxa recorded from 56 samples. Additive diversity partitioning, nonmetric multidimensional scaling, and cluster analysis show compositional heterogeneity both spatially and lithologically within the U.S. Gulf Coastal Plain (GCP) microflora. We then use sporomorph data from Holocene lake cores to compare spatial patterns in the late Paleocene GCP with modern tropical and extra-tropical biomes. Distance decay analysis of the Holocene data reveals a higher rate of spatial turnover in tropical versus extra-tropical vegetation types, consistent with a latitudinal gradient in floral compositional heterogeneity. The specific combination of rate and scale dependency of distance decay in the Holocene assemblages prevented us from associating the late Paleocene GCP with any particular modern biome. Our results demonstrate the importance of spatial scale, taphonomy, and lithology in determining patterns of spatial heterogeneity, and show the potential of the fossil sporomorph record for studying spatial patterns and processes in deep time.
The Red Hills Mine palynoflora: A diverse swamp assemblage from the Late Paleocene of Mississippi, USA
by Phil Jardine
Jardine, P.E. and Harrington, G.J. 2008. Palynology, 32, 183-204.
Lignite deposits from the Red Hills Mine in Mississippi contain pollen and spores derived from paratropical swamp... more Lignite deposits from the Red Hills Mine in Mississippi contain pollen and spores derived from paratropical swamp vegetation on the U.S. Gulf Coast during the Late Paleocene. Most previous studies of the Gulf Coast sporomorph record have been limited to a restricted taxonomic group, or just those taxa that are relevant to biostratigraphy, meaning that true sporomorph diversity may be higher than previously appreciated. Eight samples were taken for palynological analysis from the Red Hills Lignite Mine in Ackerman, Mississippi. All taxa observed during counting (minimum of 300 hundred grains per sample) were included in the sample count. Rarefaction, relative abundance distributions, and non-metric multidimensional scaling were used to analyse floral composition, richness and evenness. The lignite samples are heterogeneous in terms of composition and relative abundances, indicating patchiness in the swamp communities. Clay horizons representing temporary marine incursions contain significantly higher proportions of bisaccate pollen, which may have originated a considerable distance inland from the swamps. These samples therefore represent a much larger source area (regional to sub-continental) compared to the local signal contained in the lignite samples. Richness in the Red Hills Mine assemblage is higher than has previously been recorded for the Late Paleocene of the eastern Gulf Coast. This, combined with the recognition of twenty-three previously undescribed taxa, suggests that a detailed reappraisal of the Gulf Coast Paleocene sporomorph record is warranted to improve understanding of evolution of the North American vegetation type.