Making room: Refurnishing, belonging and justice work in third spaces in prison

This article develops an embodied and relational account of creative and artistic engagements within prisons as grounds for speculative reflection about alternative, non-punitive approaches to justice. Building on scholarship concerning liminal prison spaces and ‘emotion zones’, sensorial and narrative criminology, geographical theories and anthropologies of belonging, we highlight how ‘refurnishing activities’ in prisons can produce differentiated, heterotopic spaces which can hold transformative potential. We reflect on qualitative material and professional experiences from the UK and the US, with a particular focus on individual and collective artistic practices. These illustrate and evoke prisoners’ desire and efforts to carve and reclaim space to pursue creative expression in prisons. We consider these as ‘room-making’ practices which can help reconceptualize the relationship between belonging, work and justice.