Holiday Newsletter 2024

It has once again been a busy year for Border Criminologies. As the nights close in in the Northern Hemisphere and we start to prepare for a few weeks away from work, it is a good time to take stock of what we have managed to achieve this year, and look ahead to our plans for 2025.

This was a year of growth and rejuvenation for Border Criminologies. We continue to widen our network, including new members and new strands of research. The thematic groups are taking shape nicely, with some already very active as you will read below, and others still planning their way. In September many of us managed to meet in person at the University of Essex at the second annual Border Criminologies workshop, generously and seamlessly organised by Samuel Singler, joint lead of the Technology and Digital Futures strand.

This event epitomised the character of the network. While many papers were, inevitably, on challenging and gloomy topics, spirits were high and everyone was friendly and, dare we say, somewhat optimistic. It was a real pleasure to see a change in the guard, with most presenters early in their careers and from a range of countries beyond the UK.

At the end of the two days of networking, we agreed that in 2025 we will look more directly at alternatives and techniques of resistance. An approach that will be all the more necessary given the result of the recent US and some European elections. We are thrilled to announce that our next workshop will be in Cambridge, hosted by Alpa Parmar, one of the co-chairs of the strand on Law and the Courts. Early in the new year, we will announce a call for papers for this event, so stay tuned.

As this report makes clear, our members remain highly active in research and teaching. There have been new books, including the first research handbook on border criminology, new grants and new jobs. Our blog has been very active, and we thank all contributors, reviewers and our managing editor for yet again using this platform to showcase our important work. Our policy work is also going to be a priority in 2025. In the UK, we are still trying to gauge the impact of the new Labour government on border control. So far, it doesn’t look too good, so a lot of work ahead. But at least they cancelled some of the most egregious policies of the previous government. In the EU, we are in preliminary contact with some Members of the European Parliament about how we can work together in the future. We are very excited about this development and will keep you updated in the new year.

Border Criminologies continues to develop its social media strategy. We are in the process of moving entirely over to Bluesky – @bordercrim.bluesky.social is the place where you can find all the updates about our work and events. Currently, we are still maintaining our Twitter account, but that may change as our colleagues, other universities and research networks move to this and other Twitter alternatives. We are also active on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and Threads so please follow us there too. In much of that activity, we are fortunate to have the skills and commitment of our two part-time staff members, Diana Volpe and Alla Lau. We are also thankful for Nayera El Bar, our new book reviews editor and the three Oxford student volunteers who are helping, Michael Chen, Tom Pugh and Joseph Aimard.

Border Criminologies is, as always, focused on the better, fairer futures we are making together. We stand for justice and human rights and are committed to our core mission. To keep our important work, we rely on all of you, our friends, academic and industry partners, affiliates, funders and supporters. Please get in touch if you wish to get involved and support us in 2025. Thank you, and onwards!

Mary, Sanja and Andriani

You can read our full report here.