Decolonization and justice: Multiple criminological perspectives
Décolonisation et justice : regards criminologiques multiples
Criminologie journal
Revue Criminologie
Published on Thursday, November 13, 2025
Abstract
This thematic issue aims to bring together scholarly contributions that explore the relationship between decolonization and justice from multiple criminological perspectives by offering both theoretical and empirical reflections. It provides a venue for critical dialogue across disciplines concerned with the persistence of colonial relations within justice systems, while foregrounding the forms of knowledge and approaches that contest or transform them. Core concerns include social justice, alternative systems, care for marginalized populations, recognition of structural violence and reparations for victims.
Announcement
Rationale
Criminology-and, more broadly, the social sciences— are more closely tied to decolonization than they might seem. The historical relationship between conventional criminology and Indigenous peoples has been marked by a profound imbalance, both in practice and epistemically. This unequal power dynamic stems largely from the discipline's sustained proximity to the interests of the colonial state. A decolonial lens enables us to question dominant perspectives in the social sciences that shape professionals working with marginalized populations. The decolonization process has far-reaching implications for the penal apparatus and the justice system in particular, which both must reckon with how those who are over-represented, especially Indigenous peoples, are perceived and treated.
Beyond conventional legal mechanisms, justice takes multiple forms, including reconciliation, reparation and recognition. By addressing these dynamics, this issue seeks a more nuanced understanding of how decolonization bears upon justice, both in its foundations and in its contemporary applications. In this respect, integrating critical and diverse perspectives on violence, which too often is framed solely as interpersonal, is scientifically and socially valuable. Such framing can obscure the structural and systemic dimensions of violence that are essential to understanding persistent inequalities in access to justice, the distribution of resources and mechanisms of recognition.
Here are some targeted questions intended to mobilize perspectives often marginalized in criminological debates (this is a non-exhaustive list):
- How do justice systems perpetuate (or transform) colonial relations?
Penal institutions, policing practices, criminal justice: what continuities or ruptures exist with colonial logics? - What alternatives to criminal justice can question (or break away from) colonial logics?
Community-based, Indigenous, restorative, abolitionist approaches: what do they teach us about justice? - What forms of knowledge, and which voices and epistemologies are required for a decolonial criminology?
How can dominant paradigms in the social sciences be challenged, and what space should be made for Indigenous and Global South knowledge? - How can structural victimization be recognized and addressed?
What forms of recognition, reparation, or justice are possible and appropriate? - How do identity positions and collective emotions arising from intergroup conflict shape relationships to justice and reconciliation?
Guilt, empathy, responsibility, forgiveness: what roles do these processes play in reconciliation dynamics?
Submission guidelines
To propose a contribution to this thematic issue, please send the authors' names, affiliations and contact information to Ismehen Melouka, Andreea Zota, and Jo-Anne Wemmers at ismehen.melouka@umontreal.ca, andreea.ioana.zota@umontreal.ca, andjo-anne.m.wemmers@umontreal.ca. Your proposal must also include a title and a French-language abstract of 250 to 500 words.The deadline to submit your proposal is January 30, 2026. Authors whose proposals are accepted will then have until April 30, 2026, to submit the first completed version of their manuscript.
The Criminologie journal
Founded by Denis Szabo in 1968, the Criminologie journal is published by the Presses de l'Université de Montréal. Among the first social-science journals in Quebec, it is today the only French-language criminology journal in North America.
Since 2002, Criminologie has also been available on the Erudit digital platform, where all issues since 1968 have been digitized and are accessible online. Since 2017, Criminologie has offered full open access to all of its publications. In addition, the journal's online submission platform (http://www.criminologie.ca) allows authors to submit their scholarly articles. Each issue features around ten thematic articles as well as non-thematic contributions.
Scientific committee
- Melouka, Ismehen, Université de Montréal
- Zota Andreea, Université de Montréal
- Wemmers Jo-Anne, Université de Montréal
Subjects
- Sociology (Main category)
- Society > Geography > Migration, immigration, minorities
- Society > Law > Sociology of law
- Society > Ethnology, anthropology > Political anthropology
- Periods > Modern
- Mind and language > Representation > Cultural identities
- Society > Political studies > Governance and public policies
- Society > Sociology > Criminology
Date(s)
- Saturday, January 31, 2026
Attached files
Keywords
- décolonisation, justice pénale, peuples autochtones
Contact(s)
- David Décary-Hétu
courriel : admin [at] criminologie [dot] ca - Ismehen Melouka
courriel : ismehen [dot] melouka [at] hotmail [dot] fr
Reference Urls
Information source
- Lune Wagner
courriel : coordonnatrice [at] criminologie [dot] ca
License
This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.
To cite this announcement
« Decolonization and justice: Multiple criminological perspectives », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on Thursday, November 13, 2025, https://doi.org/10.58079/15542
