The Yugoslavian “Penal Nationalism” and the Politics of Punishment in the Contemporary Western Balkans

Yugoslavian Prison Nationalism, the Politics of Punishment is a Finnish-Academy funded, four-year project (2021-2024).

This project asks why the prison culture in the contemporary Western Balkans – the region of major geopolitical significance for the European Union – is so resilient to change?

We pose this question in the context of over two decades of continuous endeavours on part of the EU, the Council of Europe (CoE), and other international actors, to reform the Balkan penitentiary establishments, and try to align them with the European humanitarian standards.

The site of research is the Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki.

The PI and research director of the project is Professor (emerita), Judith Pallot, University of Oxford and Christ Church; President of BASEES.

The other researchers are Dr. Olga Kantokoski, Dr. Brendan Humphreys and visiting researcher Dr. Mykhailo Romanov.