Abstract:
Based on qualitative fieldwork conducted in the Auckland District Court, this article argues that contemporary modes of punishment under neoliberal governance are characterised by three inter-related trends: A tendency to expand the frontiers of criminality; the development of multiple juridical spaces, each accompanied by distinct forms of legal consciousness amongst professionals; and institutional practices informed by numerous logics of power. I use the term ‘flexible penality’ to summarise these worrying trends and close by considering alternatives to our growing dependence on criminal justice systems to manage the problems that accompany neoliberal regimes.