Online seminar series: What is the Global South and why it matters - Session 12

Session 1: Queer Criminology and the Global South 

Speaker: Professor Matthew Ball, School of Justice, Queensland University of Technology

In recent times, Queer Criminology has drawn criminological attention to the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in criminal justice contexts. This movement, however, has largely emerged in the Global North. Its epistemological and political foundations within criminology and queer theory remain firmly situated in the Global North, developing in response to specific political concerns encountered within those contexts. The recent emergence of ‘Southern’ and counter-colonial criminological perspectives, then, allow Queer Criminology to reflect on its positioning, and to reveal the oversights and exclusions that this positioning produces. This paper will critically interrogate Queer Criminology’s positioning in the Global North and consider the implications for addressing the criminal justice concerns of sexuality and gender diverse people around the world.

Date and Time: Wednesday 25 February, 1pm–2pm GMT/BST

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About the speaker

Matthew Ball is a Professor in the School of Justice at Queensland University of Technology, Australia. His research explores the intersections of sexuality, gender diversity, and criminal justice, and he is a foundational scholar in the field of Queer Criminology. He is the author of Criminology and Queer Theory (2016) and the editor of several volumes, most recently LGBTQ+ Issues in Criminology and Criminal Justice (2024).

About the seminar series

This online seminar series aims at both centring and critiquing discussions around the ‘Global South’.

Contributions will come from leading academics drawn principally from the social and human sciences whose research or practice engages with, challenges, or advances the concept of the ‘Global South’ and who, to do so, draw on a variety of theoretical, scholarship and research positions.

The series will be of interest to academics, professionals, students, researchers and policy makers eager to diversify their knowledge and make their professional practice more inclusive. It would appeal to those working in the areas of criminal justice including prisons, probation services and policing, education, nursing, psychology, social policy, sociology, and social work.

The series will take place every Wednesday, 1-2pm (BST/GMT), in February and March 2026, starting Wednesday 11 February. It will be Co-Chaired by Professor Elaine Arnull and Dr Amy Duvenage.

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If you have any questions, please email elaine.arnull@solent.ac.uk.