Lombroso et les Amériques

Lombroso and the Americas


Call for Papers


Turin

26-28 September 2023


Cesare Lombroso (1835-1909), a key figure in the emergence and development of criminology and social Darwinism, had a large following in the Americas, where his books, papers and press articles on a wide range of topics influenced the cultural debate and the reform of the criminal justice system. This conference aims to promote a transdisciplinary dialogue between Americanist, Latin Americanist and Lombroso scholars in order to investigate Lombroso’s enduring scientific and cultural legacy in Latin and North America.

Given the amount of proposal focusing on the Latin American case that we have already received, we are interested only in papers concerning Lombroso’s reception in the United States and/or Canada.

We welcome submissions for 30 minute talks by speakers from any discipline. Themes may include (but are certainly not limited to):

• The spread and impact of Lombrosian criminal anthropology in North America

• The reception of Lombroso’s The Criminal Man

• Lombroso and prison science

• Lombroso in the press and public opinion

• Lombroso’s theories in the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology

• The debate on genius and madness

• Criminal anthropology and criminal law reform

• Criminal anthropology, eugenics and racial theory

• Museums of criminal anthropology and criminology

• Lombroso’s legacy in the inter-war period

• The Chicago School of Criminology and its relationship with Lombroso

• Biocriminology after Lombroso: Ernest Hooton and Leo Stanley • Lombroso’s theory of political crime • Lombroso and spiritualism



Deadline for abstracts: 1 February 2023

Abstracts of 300-500 words (including a short bio) can be submitted to museo.lombroso@unito.it

Enquiries can be addressed to: franco.capozzi@kuleuven.be


Travel costs and accommodations for speakers will be provided. Talks can be given in the following languages: English, Spanish, Italian, French and Portuguese. The papers presented at the conference will be considered for publication in an edited volume, to be published in 2024.