Getting "Beyond the Fence" (ATI reference 20)

In 2015, Correctional Service Canada launched a virtual tour promising a 'first-hand' and 'realistic' depiction of life and work inside a federal penitentiary titled Beyond the Fence. Based on an analysis of Access to Information disclosures, we examine the backstage activities that went into the production, marketing, and evaluation of the tour. Drawing on Goffman's (1959) notions of frontstage and backstage, as well as MacCannell's (1973) idea of staged authenticity, we reveal how representations of incarceration and punishment were sanitized to build legitimacy and consent for carceralism. We conclude by reflecting on the need to study the content and form of state representations of penality, and the challenges that representations pose to working toward a future without carceral institutions.

2015年，加拿大惩教署（Correctional Service Canada）推出了一款虚拟导览项目，题为《围栏之外》（Beyond the Fence），承诺为受众呈现联邦监狱内部生活与工作的“亲历式”与“写实性”图景。本研究基于对信息获取申请披露文件（Access to Information disclosures）的分析，考察了该导览项目在制作、营销与评估各环节的幕后运作。研究借鉴了戈夫曼（Goffman, 1959）的前台（frontstage）与后台（backstage）理论，以及麦坎内尔（MacCannell, 1973）的“舞台化真实性”（staged authenticity）概念，揭示了监禁与刑罚的表征如何被净化修饰，以构建监禁主义（carceralism）的合法性并获取公众认同。本研究最后反思了研究国家刑罚表征的内容与形式的必要性，以及此类表征对迈向无监禁制度未来所构成的挑战。