No More White Elephants for Restorative Justice: Bringing Race to the Forth

The Fourth National Conference on Restorative Justice

Dr. Theo Gavrielides, IARS Founder & Director

Wednesday 19th June, 14:45 – 16:00Toledo, Ohio

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Spot the white elephants!

White elephant no 1

All reviews, public inquiries, research and government surveys conclude that there are

persistent inequalities within society and hence the criminal justice system. Race always comes

first as a driving factor. And yet, in a difficult economic climate, race and equality are moved to the bottom of the policy agenda. A paradox?

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Spot the white elephants!

White elephant no 2

Restorative justice was brought back as a response to a failing criminal justice system

(prison rates, recidivism, costs etc). We know we certainty that black and minority ethnic groups

are affected the most by these failures. And yet, race is to be found at the bottom of the

restorative justice agenda in terms of research, policy and practice. A paradox?

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Spot the white elephants!

White elephant no 3

In the Western world, why are all the ‘fathers’, ‘mothers’ and ‘grandparents’ of restorative justice

mostly white? A paradox?

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Spot the white elephants!

White elephant no 4

In the US, UK, Europe etc. there is a recent obsession to legislate and standardise restorative justice. Isn't’ restorative justice a community born and community led ethos drawn from aboriginal,

indigenous and ancient traditions of ‘informal justice’? A paradox?

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Can you see the elephant?

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Naming the white elephants!

• White elephant no 1: Hanging onto power

• White elephant no 2: The ‘Trojan horses of race’

• White elephant no 3: Leadership

• White elephant no 4: Structured systems of domination and racial hierarchy

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For the restorative justice movement:

If the restorative justice movement is to continue, the obvious racial disparities in court and prison systems and the bureaucratisation

of restorative justice programmes must become the priority for scholars and

practitioners in the field.

Howard Zehr1st Liz Elliot memorial lecture 2011

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How do we bring race to the forth of restorative justice?

Option no 1: By abolishing what is

Option no 2: Through a continuous conflict

Option no 3: Through consensus

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Choosing option no 3

• Walking the talk: living by the restorative justice principle of:

• Non domination• No power structures in dialogue• Equality• Move away from labels

• The end of Abolitionism – The end of experimentation – The era of implementation

• A balanced approach: The case for and against

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An expansive model

Unstructured Restorative JusticeStructured Restorative Justice

Gavrielides, T. and V. Artinopoulou (2013). Reconstructing the Restorative Justice Philosophy, Ashgate Publishing: Furnham, UK.

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What does this mean?

• The end of definitions

• The end of abolitionism

• Ending the bottom up/ top down divide

• Understanding restorative justice campaigning

• Getting our values language right

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What does this mean?

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Dr. Theo GavrielidesFounder & Director, IARS159 Clapham Road,London SW9 0PU, UK

T.Gavrielides@iars.org.uk044 (0) 20 7820 0945www.iars.org.uk

Dr. Gavrielides is also the Founder & co-Director of Restorative Justice for All (RJ4All) www.rj4all.info

He is also an Adjunct Professor at Simon Fraser University (Canada), a Visiting Professor at Buckinghamshire New University (UK), a Visiting Professorial Research Fellow at Panteion University (Greece), and a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at Open University (UK).

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