NOTES
ON PRISON
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Each entry in the archive represents
a contribution to the broader discussion on prison abolition. The selected terms outlined below are intended to foster
a shared understanding of their meanings within the context of the text, and to support readers in formulating feedback or engaging in related debates. It should be noted that these are not exhaustive or definitive definitions.
in the context of the archive, used to denote the system of governmental or administrative bodies.
AUBURN SYSTEM
also known as the silent system, introduced in 1819. Prison regime places inmates in individual cells overnight, while during the day they work collectively – in both phases, however, absolute silence is enforced, and prisoners are required to remain silent for the entire duration of their sentence.
CARCERAL
an adjective relating to prison (as a building or a system), imprisonment (as a condition or strategy), or to other formal mechanisms of societal or institutional control.
CARCERAL CAPITALISM
a form of the capitalist politico-economic system focused on the commodification of incarceration and the operation of industries that profit from imprisonment. Profit is often generated through the exploitation of marginalised communities, fauna, flora, and nature.
COMMODIFICATION
the transformation of things that are not ordinarily considered commodities (such as events, signs, symbols, human labour, or nature) into commodities – that is, objects of exchange.
COUNTER PRACTICE
are actions that resist or subvert dominant systems of power – especially state violence – by exposing, documenting, or. They turn the tools of control into tools of resistance.
DECARCERATION
a general term referring to policies aimed at reducing the number of people held in prisons, jail and detention facilities.
DECONSTRUCTION
the opposite of construction in the sense of building a story, phenomenon, or tradition. Deconstruction subjects such conventions to critical analysis and challenges one-dimensional interpretations.
INCARCERATION
a general term referring to the condition of imprisonment, restriction of liberty, or confinement.
JAIL
not to be confused with a prison proper, represents a facility that holds individuals who are legally detained pending a final court decision. It also serves to hold individuals arrested under criminal procedure, or to carry out short-term sentences. The remand prison functions as an intermediary space between police holding cells and prisons for serving custodial sentences.
MATERIAL WITNESS
a term used by researcher Susan Schuppli to describe a non-human agent (living or non-living) that physically archives its interactions with the world. The information and transformations inscribed within its materiality can be uncovered and reconstructed into historical narratives.
MOBILITY
the capacity for movement or relocation; the possibility of motion.
NARRATIVE
a mode of storytelling (spoken or visual) that is intended to be interpreted within a specific framework or purpose.
PANOPTICISM
a concept developed by French philosopher Michel Foucault, referring to a mode of social control whereby individuals internalise the feeling of constant surveillance and behave accordingly. This mechanism produces disciplined, obedient, and productive bodies.
PHILADELPHIA MODEL
sometimes referred to as the Pennsylvania system, this prison regime involves complete isolation of inmates in individual cells, without labour, where all time is meant to be devoted to introspection, reading the Bible, and spiritual reform.
PRISON
a state institution designated for the execution of custodial sentences or other forms of lawful deprivation of liberty, imposed through judicial or other legal authority. It houses individuals sentenced to unconditional imprisonment. In the Czech Republic, prisons are administered by the Prison Service of the Czech Republic and operate in accordance with the Act on the Execution of Imprisonment.
PRISON ABOLITION
a movement that seeks to limit or abolish prisons and the prison system, aiming instead to replace them with systems of rehabilitation, education, and accessible healthcare. The prison abolition movement is critical of conventional reform efforts, which focus on improving prison conditions and, in doing so, often reinforce the role of prisons in society.
PRISON-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX
is a critical concept introduced by American theorist and urbanist Mike Davis. Modelled on the term “military-industrial complex,” it draws attention to the entanglement of public and private power. In the case of the prison-industrial complex, this refers primarily to the relationships between political actors, the state apparatus of policing (or control), and private service providers involved in the operation of prisons (in the case of the military-industrial complex, policing is replaced by the military, and service providers by arms manufacturers). This complex then compensates for the absence of state policies for the socially and economically disadvantaged population.
RECIDIVISM
the repeated engagement in criminal behaviour by an individual – specifically, when a person commits a new offence after having been lawfully convicted of a previous one.
RESISTANCE
the capacity of living or non-living entities, as well as systems, to oppose or withstand force or pressure.
RESTORATIVE JUSTICE
a legal concept focused primarily on repairing the harm caused to victims. This approach to criminal justice is inclusive, flexible, and participatory – it offers all parties involved (offenders, victims, and their families or communities) the opportunity to engage in addressing the offence and working towards restitution.
RETRIBUTIVE JUSTICE
a legal concept centred on punishment for the commission of a crime. In this approach, the primary victim is, in effect, the state, and the role of the actual victim is often marginalised or entirely overlooked.
TOTAL INSTITUTION
a sociological term introduced by Erving Goffman, referring to institutions in which individuals are isolated from the rest of society and all aspects of their lives are governed by internal rules and routines of the specific institution.
ADÉLA VAVŘÍKOVÁ
THEORETICAL TEXT
The project’s political dimension contributes to the discourse on prison abolition, while also serving as a professional appeal to the architectural community: to learn to recognise spaces designed for oppression and violence, and to refuse further participation in their production. Instead, it calls for the use of imagination as a design tool, encouraging the creation of a society grounded in care and social equality.
At the top of the webpage, readers will find (1) a list of frequently asked questions related to prison abolition, (2) a glossary of terms, and (3) a manual explaining the structure of the online archive, including its categories, tags, and entries.