The pleasure of punishment - a research synthesis
The aim of this sabbatical is to write a research synthesis that ties together existing work on the pleasure of punishment. The book builds on research within the area, narrowly conceived, including my own previous work on the topic. It will also actively engage with insights from other disciplines to deepen the understanding of penal pleasure as a specifically modern experience. The book would constitute the first systematic treatment in social science. Penal pleasure has mainly been discussed outside of social science. In disciplines such as philosophy, psychoanalysis, and cultural theory, it has often been pointed out, from the ancient Greece until today, that ritualized infliction of pain provides audiences with pleasure. In this tradition, four themes are particularly relevant; the carnivalesque character of cruelty, the dynamics of desire, sublimation, and ressentiment. I will account for the mechanisms in separate chapters, and discuss them on the basis of empirical results from the sociological literature. To what extent can a strictly sociological interpretation of sublimation, or of ressentiment, account for the modern experience? In other words, how is the pleasure of punishment currently expressed, given that it is rarely openly shared with others yet seem to persist with undiminished intensity? The book will come up with a series of answers to this question. The wider purpose of the project is to better understand what drives punishment against better knowledge.
Final report
RJ Sabbatical 2018 allowed me to complete a research monograph on the pleasure of punishment. Following an intense writing period, as well as some additional research, I have a first draft ready at the end of the sabbatical. The publication of the monograph is scheduled for early 2021.
In terms of enabling scientific creativity, the effects can hardly be exaggerated, at least from a personal horizon. Beyond enablig writing, which was the main purpose of the sabbatical, the effects on future teaching and research are likely to be significant. The grant provided a rare opportunity to stay abroad for a duration of two months at one of the world’s finest universities, the London School of Economics and Political Science, which contributed to strengthened collaborative research networks as well as new ideas for graduate-level courses. These are resources that will be useful in the future, both for me and for my colleagues at Stockholm University.
Overview of the progress of the project 1 Dec 2018 - Nov 30 2019
December 2018-February 2019: Chapters 1-3 (Early-modern executions, excitement and the apparent disappearance of pleasure: provides overview of theory, historical context and research from other disciplines)
March - May 2019: Chapters 4-5 (Prisons, and post-Enlightenment mechanisms of penal pleasure: discusses available approaches, extensive engagement with empirical literature in criminology and sociology)
June - September 2019: Chapters 6-7 (ressentiment and the sublime, in current as well as in historical perspective); updating literature review.
October - November 2019: Visiting Professor at the Mannheim Centre for Criminology, London School of Economics; presenting preliminary conclusions of the forthcoming book in the Mannheim Seminar Series on Nov 13th, working on joint book proposal on Global riots with Tim Newburn, discussing shared course-design and implications for Public criminology). writing Introduction and preliminary Conclusions.
November 2019: Working on a ERC Consolidator Grant proposal on everyday recognition as a direct continuation of the sabbatical research synthesis, submitted Nov 28th for internal review at Stockholm university, to be finally submitted on Feb 4th 2020.
In terms of enabling scientific creativity, the effects can hardly be exaggerated, at least from a personal horizon. Beyond enablig writing, which was the main purpose of the sabbatical, the effects on future teaching and research are likely to be significant. The grant provided a rare opportunity to stay abroad for a duration of two months at one of the world’s finest universities, the London School of Economics and Political Science, which contributed to strengthened collaborative research networks as well as new ideas for graduate-level courses. These are resources that will be useful in the future, both for me and for my colleagues at Stockholm University.
Overview of the progress of the project 1 Dec 2018 - Nov 30 2019
December 2018-February 2019: Chapters 1-3 (Early-modern executions, excitement and the apparent disappearance of pleasure: provides overview of theory, historical context and research from other disciplines)
March - May 2019: Chapters 4-5 (Prisons, and post-Enlightenment mechanisms of penal pleasure: discusses available approaches, extensive engagement with empirical literature in criminology and sociology)
June - September 2019: Chapters 6-7 (ressentiment and the sublime, in current as well as in historical perspective); updating literature review.
October - November 2019: Visiting Professor at the Mannheim Centre for Criminology, London School of Economics; presenting preliminary conclusions of the forthcoming book in the Mannheim Seminar Series on Nov 13th, working on joint book proposal on Global riots with Tim Newburn, discussing shared course-design and implications for Public criminology). writing Introduction and preliminary Conclusions.
November 2019: Working on a ERC Consolidator Grant proposal on everyday recognition as a direct continuation of the sabbatical research synthesis, submitted Nov 28th for internal review at Stockholm university, to be finally submitted on Feb 4th 2020.