Exploring the potential of ‘working-making-doing’ with people who have lived experience of the criminal justice system

Abstract

This book from well-established scholars of the criminal justice system contributes new insights to the developing field of ‘co-production’ with people who have lived experience of incarceration and criminalisation. Co-production efforts can fail to empower participants and disrupt the status quo if not sufficiently clear in method and intention. Using critical theory and Australian case studies, this book gives shape and coherence to co-production efforts and details the affordances, sensitivities and frictions of co-production practice. Despite its detailed account of the relational and institutional risks for practitioners and participants, the result is a manifesto for ‘working-making-doing together’ and the emancipatory potential of ‘looking from below’. This study offers a vital reference point for anyone engaging in this space.