Call for Papers - Proposed Special Issue: British Columbia Incarcerated

19-08-2026

Title: British Columbia Incarcerated  

Guest Editors: Dr Kirsten McIlveen (Capilano University) & Dr. Michelle Rhodes (independent researcher; project consultant, Continuing Education, University of Fraser Valley)  

This proposed special issue examines prison spaces in British Columbia as historically produced, geographically situated, and socially contested environments. Bringing together scholars from history, geography, criminology, and other fields, the proposed issue explores how carceral institutions have shaped — and been shaped by — provincial politics, settler colonialism, labour regimes, urban and rural development, public policy, and community life across British Columbia. 

Prisons and other sites of confinement have played a significant but understudied role in the province’s social and political development. From colonial-era jails and Indigenous incarceration to contemporary debates surrounding prison expansion, mental health, addiction, policing, and decarceration, carceral spaces offer a powerful lens through which to understand broader provincial histories and geographies. British Columbia’s prison landscapes also intersect with ongoing conversations around reconciliation, Indigenous sovereignty, racialization, migration, resource economies, and regional inequality — all themes central to the journal’s interdisciplinary mandate. 

This call for papers for inclusion in a special issue of BC Studies is meant to provide a venue for this critical reflection. We are particularly interested in work that bridges historical and contemporary analysis, connecting archival research with present-day policy debates concerning prison reform, abolition, public health, housing, and social justice. We also welcome contributions that examine how incarceration shapes—and is shaped by—local communities, economies, and landscapes across British Columbia. 

BC Studies publishes articles with a strong BC focus, so please keep this in mind as you plan your research. Consult with the guest editors and the journal for advice. BC Studies also accepts submissions for peer review in a range of other scholarly forms including research notes, case comments, photo essays, scholarly podcasts, soundworks, and digital media. 

Potential topics may include: 

  • Colonial jails and the formation of provincial governance 
  • Indigenous incarceration and settler colonialism in British Columbia 
  • Prison labour and resource economies 
  • Prison development, design, and integration into rural and urban fabric of the Fraser Valley  
  • Evolution and organization of women’s incarceration and gendered confinement in British Columbia  
  • Mental health institutions and overlapping systems of confinement 
  • Migration, detention, and border enforcement in British Columbia 
  • Community activism, prison justice movements, and abolitionist organizing 
  • Contemporary debates around overcrowding, privatization, and prison expansion 
  • The intersection of incarceration, abolitionism and peace-building movements. 
  • Localized experiences and community impacts of incarceration of migrant communities and cultural/religious groups such as the Doukhobors.  

Together, these contributions would provide a multidimensional examination of prison spaces across British Columbia while advancing interdisciplinary dialogue on punishment, space, colonialism, and social justice within provincial scholarship. The issue would combine historical scholarship with contemporary critical analysis, offering both archival depth and policy relevance. In doing so, it would provide one of the first sustained interdisciplinary examinations of British Columbia’s prison spaces and their broader significance within provincial history and society. 

Submission Guidelines: 

Please submit an abstract of 200–300 words by 15 October 2026 to: kmcilvee@capilanou.ca or michellerhodesbc@gmail.com 

All papers must be submitted through the BC Studies OJS submission system by 1 April 2027. Contributors will need to register and follow submission guidelines at: 
https://bcstudies.com/submissions/submission-guidelines/ 

Submissions will undergo blind peer review. Publication is planned for BC Studies no. 236 (Winter 2027/28) January 2028 

Inquiries: 

For questions or expressions of interest, please contact the guest editors: