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The death penalty in Barbados: reforming a colonial legacy
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-10, 06:47 authored by Lynsey Black, Lizzie SealLizzie Seal, Florence Seemungal, Bharat Malkani, Roger BallThis article explores the death penalty in Barbados. Drawing on the historical context and the punishment’s colonial origins, we seek to make sense of its more recent history, particularly a 2018 landmark legal judgment that has finally forced reform of the sanction in Barbados. The article explores the bifurcated penological history of the death penalty; while laws enacted in London were extended to colonial nations such as Barbados, suggesting a continuation of norms, the tools of criminal justice were wielded for different purposes in the metropole compared with the periphery. We consider the trajectory of this colonial imposition and the retention of repressive punishments after independence, the Caribbean resistance to international abolitionist pressure from the 1990s and the recent reform. The role of the death penalty as a political and symbolic tool is examined, considering especially the colonial legacy of capital punishment in Barbados and the extent to which this factor has shaped contemporary public debates on punishment.
History
Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Published version
Journal
International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social DemocracyISSN
2202-7998Publisher
Queensland University of TechnologyExternal DOI
Page range
1-10Department affiliated with
- Sociology and Criminology Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2023-04-18First Open Access (FOA) Date
2023-04-18First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2023-04-18Usage metrics
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