Dr Leonidas Cheliotis, MPhil PhD (Cantab)

Cheliotis

Lecturer in Criminology and Deputy Director, Centre for Criminal Justice

Location: Mile End
email: l.cheliotis@qmul.ac.uk
Phone: +44 (0)20 7882 3944
Fax: +44 (0)207 882 7042

Leonidas Cheliotis joined the School of Law in September 2007 as a Lecturer in Criminology and Deputy Director of the Criminal Justice Centre. He completed his MPhil and PhD degrees at the Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge, winning the Manuel López-Rey Graduate Prize and the Nigel Walker Prize, respectively. He currently holds a Visiting Fellowship at the Centre for Criminology, University of Oxford.

Leonidas’ main research interests, theoretical as well as empirical, can be grouped under two broad headings: first, the political economy of state and public punitiveness, and second, ‘street-level’ criminal justice policies and practices. Specific subject areas range from the political rhetoric of law and order under conditions of capitalism, the role of managerialism in criminal justice matters, and the psychology of criminal justice policy-making, to the conditions of imprisonment (including immigration detention), the exercise of risk assessment in prison settings, and the implementation and effectiveness of so-called offender reintegration and rehabilitation schemes. Jurisdictionally, the focus is on the Anglo-American world and the Mediterranean region, predominantly Greece, from both national and international comparative angles. More general and theoretical interests include political domination and social exclusion (especially physical violence), the dialectics of power and resistance, and the epistemological intersections between sociology and psychoanalysis (particularly in Erich Fromm’s work). Leonidas is also the principal evaluator of a 3-year pilot arts mentoring programme for released prisoners, run by the Koestler Trust with funding from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation.

He sits on the editorial boards of the European Journal of Criminology (he also serves as Country Survey Editor of the journal), The British Journal of Criminology, The Open Criminology Journal, and the Resistance Studies Magazine.

Leonidas is convenor, lecturer and tutor for the optional undergraduate course Criminology (LAW045).

Publications:

Key publications include:

Sole-authored books

  • Cheliotis, L. K. The Punitive Heart: Neoliberal Capitalism and the Psychopolitics of Crime Control. (Manuscript in progress; estimated date of completion: August 2011)
    The prevalence of crime has long been falling on both sides of Atlantic, in sharp contrast with a rise in fear of criminal victimisation and in public and state punitiveness. Bringing Erich Fromm’s psychoanalysis to bear upon insights produced by political economies of contemporary punishment, this book traces the ways in which penality serves the broader project of state domination over the public in the US and the UK under conditions of neoliberal capitalism.
  • Cheliotis, L. K. Ναρκισσισμός, Kυριάρχηση και Ουμανιστική Αντίσταση: Μια Θεώρηση του Έριχ Φρομ [Narcissism, Domination and Humanist Resistance: A Frommian Perspective]. (manuscript completed; under review)
    This short book presents Erich Fromm’s view of human history as an ongoing dialectic between psychic domination and the ensuing potentialities of resistance, whereby the adequate deconstruction of the former paves the way to the realisation of the latter. The common, pathologising conception of narcissism as precursor to submission and evildoing is substituted with one that allows for reflexive disobedience and humanistic action, individual as well as collective.

Edited collections

  • Cheliotis, L. K. (2011, forthcoming) The Arts of Imprisonment: Control, Resistance and Empowerment. Aldershot: Ashgate (Advances in Criminology Series).
    The arts offer an alternative lens through which to dissect imprisonment. Integrating a variety of cross-disciplinary theoretical traditions with the highest-quality empirical research conducted on both sides of the Atlantic, this collection probes three main areas: how state authorities may deploy artistic presentations and representations of the world of prisons to solidify domination over subordinates, prisoners or otherwise; the use of the arts, both inside and outside prisons, as a means of challenging or coping with the inherently harsh prison system and the broader project of domination it reflects and serves; and the evaluation research on the implementation and effectiveness of arts-related programmes in prisons. Contributors (in alphabetical order): Michelle Brown, W. B. Carnochan, Eamonn Carrabine, Sarah Colvin, Alexandra Cox, Mary Cohen, Leonidas Cheliotis, andré douglas pond cummings, Léon Digard, Thomas Fahy, Stathis Gauntlett, Loraine Gelsthorpe, David Gussak, Yvonne Jewkes, Robert Johnson, Alison Liebling, Mike Nellis, Vincenzo Ruggiero, Aylwyn Walsh, Rachel Marie-Crane Williams.
  • Cheliotis, L. K. and S. Xenakis (2011, forthcoming) Crime and Punishment in Contemporary Greece: International Comparative Perspectives, Volumes One and Two. Oxford: Peter Lang AG.
    This book constitutes the most comprehensive and authoritative single work on crime and its control in contemporary Greece. Bringing together empirical and theoretical work, it sheds light on such diverse themes as fear of crime; media, crime, and criminal justice; youth and crime; immigration, crime, and criminal justice; corruption; organised crime and political violence; surveillance; sex trafficking; drugs, crime, and criminal justice; honour, violence, and crime; the impact of the EU on criminal justice; policing; youth justice and probation; the adult judicial system; and prisons and parole. Primary chapters are followed by discussant pieces from internationally recognised non-Greek generalists, a format that highlights the wider relevance of criminological research on Greece to international audiences. Contributors (in alphabetical order): Claudia Aradau, Efi Avdela, Margaret E. Beare, Trevor Bennett, Didier Bigo, Paraskevi S. Bouklis, Peter Bratsis, Leonidas K. Cheliotis, Carolyn Côté-Lussier, Monica den Boer, Monica Gerber, Kevin D. Haggerty, Jonathan Jackson, Vassilis Karydis, Roy D. King, Effi Lambropoulou, Rob I. Mawby, Valsamis Mitsilegas, John Muncie, Nicola Padfield, Giannis Panousis, Charis Papacharalambous, Ioannis Papageorgiou, Georgios Papanicolaou, Angelika Pitsela, Robert Reiner, Vincenzo Ruggiero, Minas Samatas, Pieter Spierenburg, Michael Tonry (foreword), Joanna Tsiganou, Sophie Vidali, Sappho Xenakis.
  • Cheliotis, L. K. (2010) Special issue of Criminology & Criminal Justice: An International Journal (Sage) on ‘Neoliberalism and Penality: Reflections on the Work of Loïc Wacquant’, 10(4). For nearly two decades now, through an extensive and ever-growing series of interventions in academia and beyond, Loïc Wacquant has been scrutinising and criticising what he views as the inextricable link between the ascendancy of neoliberalism and the rise of the penal state. In this special issue, a number of scholars debate from their diverse vantage points Wacquant’s two latest books, Punishing the Poor and Prisons of Poverty. Contributors (in alphabetical order): Leonidas K. Cheliotis, Stanley Cohen, Loraine Gelsthorpe, Martin Jones, Ian Loader, David Nelken, Tim Newburn, Richard Sparks, Sappho Xenakis.
  • Cheliotis, L. K. (2010) Roots, Rites and Sites of Resistance: The Banality of Good. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Whilst the condition of a damaged ethical life has received due scholarly attention to date, only rarely is resistance to it conceived as an actual possibility with the potential of real effects on a macro-social scale. This is not just a curious lacuna in the literature. To ignore or miss concrete possibilities or even instances of resistance is to reinforce the apparent naturalness and inevitability of structures of injustice. The aim of this edited collection is to help address this epistemological neglect, exploring the multiplicity of motives, presuppositions, sites, ways, and consequences of acts of resistance. As shown in the ensuing contributions, resistance can be recalcitrant or transformative in its aims, discursive or physical in its means, and local or generalised in its loci. If there is a single argument that can be distilled, it is that the emergence of progressive resistance entails the incessant rational critique of so-styled ‘common sense’ and prevalent ethical claims–a process which could be called ‘the banality of good’. Contributors (in alphabetical order): Andrea Mubi Brighenti, Leonidas K. Cheliotis, Lilie Chouliaraki, Spiros Gangas, Richard Kearney, Alison Liebling, John O’Neill, Nancy Scheper-Hughes, Justice Tankebe, Ezra Tessler, Sappho Xenakis.

Peer-reviewed journal articles

  • Cheliotis, L. K. (under review) ‘Conditions of Imprisonment and Prisoner Health in Contemporary Greece’.
  • Cheliotis, L. K. (under review) ‘Governing through the Looking-Glass: A Frommian Critique of Neoliberal Capitalism and the Psychopolitics of Crime Control’.
    • Extended version in Italian translation: ‘Governare attraverso lo specchio: Neoliberismo, managerialismo e la psicopolitica del controllo della devianza’, Studi sulla questione criminale: Nuova serie di ‘Dei delitti e delle pene’ (Rome) 6(1) (2011): 47-94.
  • Cheliotis, L. K. (under review) ‘Violence and Narcissism: A Frommian Perspective’.
  • Cheliotis, L. K. (forthcoming) ‘For a Freudo-Marxist Critique of Social Domination: Rediscovering Erich Fromm through the Mirror of Pierre Bourdieu’, Journal of Classical Sociology.
  • Cheliotis, L. K. (2011) ‘The Perils of Non-Adversarialism: Commentary on Freiberg’, European Journal of Criminology 8(1): 108-112.
  • Cheliotis, L. K. and S. Xenakis (2010) ‘What’s Neoliberalism Got to Do With It? Towards a Political Economy of Punishment in Greece’, Criminology & Criminal Justice: An International Journal (special issue on ‘Neoliberalism and Penality: Reflections on the Work of Loïc Wacquant’, edited by L. K. Cheliotis) 10(4): 353-373.
    • Translated into Spanish as: ‘Qué tiene que ver el neoliberalismo con esto? Hacia una economía política del castigo en Grecia’, in I. González Sánchez (ed.) (2011, forthcoming) La sociología de Loïc Wacquant: Teoría social, marginalidad urbana y Estado penal [The Sociology of Loïc Wacquant: Social Theory, Urban Marginality and the Penal State]. Madrid: Dykinson.
  • Cheliotis, L. K. (2010) ‘Preface to the Special Issue: Neoliberalism and Penality: Reflections on the Work of Loïc Wacquant’, Criminology & Criminal Justice: An International Journal (special issue on ‘Neoliberalism and Penality: Reflections on the Work of Loïc Wacquant’, edited by L. K. Cheliotis) 10(4): 325-328.
  • Cheliotis, L. K. (2010) ‘The Sociospatial Mechanics of Domination: Transcending the “Exclusion/Inclusion” Dualism’, Law & Critique: The International Journal of Critical Legal Thought 21(2): 131-145.
    • Extended version published as: ‘Exploring the Symbolic Roots of Spatial Exclusion’, Annuaire International des Droits de l’Homme (Athens/Brussels) 6 (2011, forthcoming).
    • Translated into Portuguese as: ‘Eyes Wide Shut: (Re)Situando a Questão da Exclusão Social’, Forum Sociológico (Lisbon) Série II, 18 (2008): 103-121.
    • Abridged version in Italian translation: ‘La meccanica sociospaziale della dominazione: Trascendere la dualità esclusione/inclusione’, Studi sulla questione criminale: Nuova serie di ‘Dei delitti e delle pene’ (Rome) 4(2) (2009): 7-23.
  • Cheliotis, L. K. (2010) ‘The Ambivalent Consequences of Visibility: Crime and Prisons in the Mass Media’, Crime, Media, Culture: An International Journal 6(2): 169-184. o Excerpt published as: ‘‘No Sympathy For the Devil (Unless She Wears Prada)’, Lo squaderno: Rivista di discussione culturale (Trento) (special issue on ‘Democracy and Government-Democrazia e Governo’, edited by P. Blokker, A. M. Brighenti and P. Schaefer) 9 (September 2008): 28-31.
  • Cheliotis, L. K. (2009) ‘Before the Next Storm: Some Evidence-based Reminders about Temporary Release’, International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology 53(4): 420-432.
  • Cheliotis, L. K. (2008) ‘Reconsidering the Effectiveness of Temporary Release: A Systematic Review’, Aggression and Violent Behavior: A Review Journal 13(3): 153-168.
  • Cheliotis, L. K. (2006) ‘Penal Managerialism from within: Implications for Theory and Research’, International Journal of Law and Psychiatry (special issue on ‘Prisons’, edited by N. Konrad) 29(5): 397-404.
  • Cheliotis, L. K. (2006) ‘How Iron is the Iron Cage of New Penology? The Role of Human Agency in the Implementation of Criminal Justice Policy’, Punishment & Society: The International Journal of Penology 8(3): 313-340.
    • Abridged version: ‘Resisting the Scourge of Managerialism: On the Uses of Discretion in Late-Modern Prisons’, in J. Bennett, B. Crewe and A. Wahidin (eds) (2007) Understanding Prison Staff, pp. 247-261. Cullompton: Willan Publishing.
    • Homonymous excerpt reprinted in English and translated into Italian as: ‘Resistere al flagello del managerialismo: Gli usi della discrezionalità nelle carceri tardo-moderne’, Lo squaderno: Rivista di discussione culturale (Trento) (special issue on ‘Ex: percorsi d’uscita/Ex: Paths of Exit’, edited by P. Schaefer) 5 (September 2007): 25-28.
  • Cheliotis, L. K. (2006) ‘Demystifying Risk Management: A Process Evaluation of the Prisoners’ Home Leave Scheme in Greece’, Criminology & Criminal Justice: An International Journal 6(2): 163-195.
  • Cheliotis, L. K. and A. Liebling (2006) ‘Race Matters in British Prisons: Towards a Research Agenda’, The British Journal of Criminology: An International Review of Crime and Society 46(2): 286-317.
  • Cheliotis, L. K. (2005) ‘The Prison Furlough Programme in Greece: Findings from a Research Project in the Male Prison of Korydallos’, Punishment & Society: The International Journal of Penology 7(2): 201-215.
    • Greek translation (N.B.: sole-authored): ‘Ο Θεσμός της Χορήγησης Τακτικών Αδειών Απουσίας σε Κρατουμένους: Πορίσματα από Έρευνα στη Δικαστική Φυλακή Κορυδαλλού’, Ποινικός Λόγος (Athens), 5 (September-October 2002): 2137-2152

Contributions to books:

  • Cheliotis, L. K. (2012, forthcoming) ‘Fromm, Erich’, in M. T. Gibbons, D. Coole, W. E. Connolly and E. Ellis (eds) The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Political Thought. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
  • Cheliotis, L. K. (2011, forthcoming) ‘Prisons and Parole’, in L. K. Cheliotis and S. Xenakis (eds) Crime and Punishment in Contemporary Greece: International Comparative Perspectives. Oxford: Peter Lang AG. (with a response by Roy D. King)
    • Abridged version: ‘Greece’, in N. Padfield, D. van Zyl Smit and F. Dünkel (eds) (2010) Release from Prison: European Policy and Practice, pp. 213-236. Cullompton: Willan Publishing.
    • Excerpt published in English and translated into Italian as: ‘The 2008 Hunger Strikes in Greek Prisons and their Aftermath–Lo sciopero della fame del 2008 nelle prigioni greche e il suo seguito’, Lo squaderno: Rivista di discussione culturale (Trento) (special issue on ‘Protests and Revolts-Proteste e rivolte’, edited by E. Romanos and A. M. Brighenti) 14(December 2009): 29-34.
  • Cheliotis, L. K. (2011, forthcoming) ‘Family Factors and Delinquency: A Brief International Review of Longitudinal Research’, in L. K. Cheliotis and S. Xenakis (eds) Crime and Punishment in Contemporary Greece: International Comparative Perspectives. Oxford: Peter Lang AG.
  • Cheliotis, L. K. and S. Xenakis (2011, forthcoming) ‘Crime, Fear of Crime and Punitiveness’, in L. K. Cheliotis and S. Xenakis (eds) Crime and Punishment in Contemporary Greece: International Comparative Perspectives. Oxford: Peter Lang AG. (with a response by Jonathan Jackson, Monica Gerber and Carolyn Côté-Lussier)
  • Cheliotis, L. K. and S. Xenakis (2011, forthcoming) ‘Crime and Punishment in Contemporary Greece: An Introduction’, in L. K. Cheliotis and S. Xenakis (eds) Crime and Punishment in Contemporary Greece: International Comparative Perspectives. Oxford: Peter Lang AG.
  • Cheliotis, L. K. (2011, forthcoming) ‘The Arts of Imprisonment: An Introduction’, in L. K. Cheliotis (ed.) The Arts of Imprisonment: Control, Resistance and Empowerment. Aldershot: Ashgate.
  • Cheliotis, L. K. (2010) ‘Narcissism, Humanism and the Revolutionary Character in Erich Fromm’s Work’, in L. K. Cheliotis (ed.) Roots, Rites and Sites of Resistance: The Banality of Good, pp. 36-58. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Cheliotis, L. K. (2010) ‘Roots, Rites and Sites of Resistance: The Banality of Good–An Introduction’, in L. K. Cheliotis (ed.) Roots, Rites and Sites of Resistance: The Banality of Good, pp. 1-11. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Cheliotis, L. K. (2007) ‘Temporary Release’, in Y. Jewkes and J. Bennett (eds) Dictionary of Prisons and Punishment, pp. 288-290. Cullompton: Willan Publishing.
  • Murray, J., Cheliotis, L. K. and S. Maruna (2006) ‘Social Factors and Crime’ (second author with Joseph Murray and Shadd Maruna), in M. Parker (ed.) Dynamic Security: The Democratic Therapeutic Community in Prison, pp. 23-36. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Supervision:

Leonidas welcomes high-quality proposals for doctoral research in all fields of criminology, especially in the fields of his immediate interest (see earlier). In addition to hard work and dedication, prospective candidates must be able to demonstrate the capacity for critical thinking, strong research potential, and proficiency in academic written English.

Leonidas is currently co-supervisor (with Prof. Richard Ashcroft) of Ms Mary Kathleen Yarwood, whose doctoral project aims to debate the right to procreation under conditions of imprisonment.

Undergraduate teaching:

  • LAW6045 Criminology