Penal tourism and a tale of four cities: Reflecting on the museum effect in London, Sydney, Melbourne, and Buenos Aires

Abstract

The resurrection of former prisons as museums has caught the attention of tourists along with scholars interested in studying penal tourism. This work expands on previous research on prison museums in Buenos Aires, Melbourne, and Sydney to include London. The analysis advances a cultural sociology of punishment by throwing critical light on three thematic couplings: prisons/economics; religion/governance; and pain/penal progress. While reflecting on those unifying subjects, the discussion addresses the manner by which prison museums tell a historical tale about their host city with respect to punishment and social control. Observations and interpretations are situated within a growing literature on museum studies, penal spectatorship, and dark tourism.

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