Exploring exceptionalism, the nature of being a penal outlier

Citation

Brangan L (2019) Exploring exceptionalism, the nature of being a penal outlier. The North South Criminology Conference, University College Cork, 02.09.2019-03.09.2019.

Abstract
This paper will explore the concept of penal exceptionalism. While the term exceptionalism remains pervasive in the penology and the comparative literature, it tends to be undertheorised. What does it mean to be exceptional in terms of penality? What are the limitations of the existing concept? By continuing to define certain nation's penal practises as exceptional do we reveal something more fundamental, but often unacknowledged, about the mental geography and post-colonial character of criminological theory, rather than something distinct about the country in question? Thus, does the declaration of exceptionalism still (albeit inadvertently) perpetuate and reify the dominance of Anglophone trends? But it may be possible that there are benefits of the sui generis definition. Is it and act of intellectual resistance against epistemic inequalities, showing the limits of some criminological theory? It could also be an optimistic act of policy learning, illuminating less punitive crime control and penal trends elsewhere? I explore these issues in relation to the Republic of Ireland, itself and understudied penal outlier and where the term Hibernian exceptionalism has gained traction in the literature in recent years.