Modern Vagrancy in the Anglophone Caribbean

Caribbean Journal of Criminology, Vol. 1, No. 4, April 2019, 123–154

32 Pages Posted: 22 Nov 2019

See all articles by Janeille Matthews

Janeille Matthews

University of the West Indies, Cave Hill

Tracy Robinson

The University of the West Indies, Mona

Date Written: July 9, 2019

Abstract

The contemporary debates about crime and criminalisation in the Anglophone Caribbean are centred on serious or major crimes. The body of laws that govern minor offences and vagrancy that have been very durable and are applied to police the poor and socially excluded have received little attention. Yet these broadly and vaguely worded colonial criminal laws have become indispensable in constructing gender non-conforming and transgressive persons as modern vagrants in the Caribbean. This article explores the history and persistence of vagrancy legislation and their current use in policing gendered bodies that are “out of place” and “out of order”.

Suggested Citation

Matthews, Janeille and Robinson, Tracy, Modern Vagrancy in the Anglophone Caribbean (July 9, 2019). Caribbean Journal of Criminology, Vol. 1, No. 4, April 2019, 123–154, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3210831

Janeille Matthews

University of the West Indies, Cave Hill ( email )

Wanstead
Barbados

Tracy Robinson (Contact Author)

The University of the West Indies, Mona ( email )

Mona
Kingston
Jamaica

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