Doing good, doing wrong, doing time and doing harm: Criminalising the marginal in charity shops

Abstract

This paper builds upon theories of carceral spatiality and criminalisation to explore the extension of the carceral state into everyday spaces. In particular, here we consider the UK charity shop, which not only covertly relies on carceral labour from people ‘doing time’, but also abets the carceral state by criminalising everyday lives on the social and economic margins, thereby doing harm. Moreover, this criminalisation means charity shops become part of a broader system of governing in which social issues are treated as criminal problems with carceral solutions. We draw on ethnographic fieldwork in charity shops and news discourse over more than a decade to consider the pivotal yet hidden role of charity shops as instruments of criminalisation. We explore how charity shops as liminal spaces play a significant role in criminalisation through: sensationalising stories of ‘good’ charities and ‘bad’ criminals; policing theft, scams, and salvage; judging moments of what, and who, is criminal; and guarding against breaches of the terms of penal work orders. We argue that unpicking how charity shops criminalise the marginal matters, particularly in a context of both rising social inequality and the popularity of second-hand spaces, and brings into focus overlooked aspects of carceral power.