Abstract
This article sets out to question the relationship between criminal law, punishment and prohibition. The argument is made that criminal law is not founded upon prohibitive grounds but rather on permissive grounds. Criminal law does not operate as a set of prohibitive rules, whereby the rule breaker is punished, but rather as a system that is indexed by permission and particularly by the slogan ‘enjoy without restraints!’ If criminal law is viewed in this way, it can be read as a manual of citizenship. The article articulates this reading through the use of psychoanalytic myths. The aim is to open up a space whereby one can articulate and criticize the wider project in which criminal law is engaged, one whereby it creates the conditions for citizenship.
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