Reassessing the camp/prison dichotomy: New directions in geographic research on confinement

Abstract

What separates camps and prisons as distinct institutions of confinement? This question has important implications for geographic research, and particularly for current and potential intersections between “camp studies” and other contiguous fields in geography. Here, I conceptualize camps and prisons as historical formations, whose distinction varies at specific junctures. I compare confinement sites in reference to their temporal equilibriums and changes over time, so as to highlight possible convergences among them. To demonstrate my argument, I take legal developments concerning the Guantánamo Bay detention camp as an empirical reference point, and I examine the camp’s progressive normalization within the US carceral circuit.