Generative Justice in Hindsight: On Knowing, doing, and sharing participatory arts-based research with criminal justice-impacted communities

This chapter re-examines two very different participatory arts-based projects within the justice sector through the lens of Generative Justice (hereafter GJ), an emerging concept-praxis that integrates prefigurative (seed-planting) community practices with criminal justice-impacted individuals to reimagine relationships based on solidarity rather than exclusion (McNeill, 2022; McNeill, Corcoran and Weaver, 2023). GJ constitutes a disruptive social change effort, which, like participatory arts-based projects, involves ‘shifting communities and networks’ working toward localised social transformation (Frödén, 2023: 104). In fact, ‘arts-based interventions have played a key role in enriching and mobilising prefigurative movements all over the world’ (Frödén, 2023: 105). As authors, we have been involved in participatory arts-based research and praxis that aims to challenge and transform power structures by leveraging community-driven creativity. Each of our works were designed to place lived experience of criminal justice systems at the centre of knowledge production, working with imagination to create diverse research communities based on solidarity, hope and systemic change (McNeill, 2022). Despite differences between our two projects, both align with GJ, sharing interests in reciprocity, generativity, active participation, and collective action.

Citation

Murray, E., Arias, L., Buck, G., Ryan, K., & Ryan, N. (2025). Generative justice in hindsight: On knowing, doing, and sharing participatory arts-based research with criminal justice-impacted communities. In F. McNeill, M. Corcoran, & B. Weaver (Eds.), Generative justice: Beyond crime and punishment. Bristol University Press.

Publisher

Bristol University Press

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10034/629240

Type

Book chapter

Description

This is a post-peer-review, pre-copy edited version of a chapter published in Generative justice: Beyond crime and punishment. The definitive publisher-authenticated version [Murray, E., Arias, L., Buck, G., Ryan, K., & Ryan, N. (2025). Generative justice in hindsight: On knowing, doing, and sharing participatory arts-based research with criminal justice-impacted communities. In F. McNeill, M. Corcoran, & B. Weaver (Eds.), Generative justice: Beyond crime and punishment. BUP.] is available online at: [DOI available on publication].

Additional Links

https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/generative-justice