Unpacking Prison Reform in the Former Soviet Union

Abstract

Introduction This special issue is dedicated to the issue of the evolution of punishment in the former Soviet Union (fSU). This is a particularly timely topic. Carceral institutions, whether investigation isolators, remand prisons, prison colonies or resettlement centres, play a hugely important role in the political and social dynamics of former Soviet countries. In Tajikistan in the last year, prison breaks, riots and suspicious deaths in custody have threatened to completely destabilise ...