This proposal sets out to create a video series, accompanying blog posts and two joint-authored articles on alternatives to current practice in border control. This project will provide the empirical and conceptual basis for a future funding application by the two co-applicants. The videos and blogs will be hosted on the Border Criminologies website (https://bordercriminologies.law.ox.ac.uk) to offer a unique intervention, outreach and resource for students, academics and policy makers. The articles will be submitted to a criminology and a sociology journal.

By filming short, structured conversations with leading international academics, this project seeks to break free from the impasse that characterises policy and academic debates over border control. The conversations will be initiated by the co-applicants Profs. Bosworth and Barker who are both leading scholars in the nascent field of ‘border criminology’ that has done much to draw attention to the growing intersections between criminal justice and immigration and their implications for penal power, citizenship and social justice. Both are well placed to successfully carry out this project. These videos, research output in their own right, which will be accessible to a wide range of people, will provide the basis for at least two scholarly articles. The project will be supported by a research assistant, Ms Fili, who will coordinate and organise the video series, edit and ensure their dissemination on the project website.

Under ‘border criminology’ the co-applicants have generated new empirical evidence and theoretical concepts to illuminate and critique current practice. Based on that foundation, we seek to generate creative ideas that challenge coercive practices and suggest ways to rebuild migration policies and citizenship for the 21st century. This grant will allow us the opportunity to work together in ways that are closely aligned with ISRF’s goals to facilitate conversation across disciplines and develop new modes of inquiry.