Projects

The Prison Blueprint: How Colonial Incarceration Forged Modern Racial Injustice

Sanjurjo-Ramos, Jesus (Principal Investigator) Belton, Lloyd (CoPI) Moshfeghi, Yashar (Co-investigator) Izaguirre, Yaimara (Co-investigator) Weaver, Beth (Researcher) Thompson-Brown, Beverley (Co-investigator) Bardes, John (Researcher) Guyatt, Nicholas (Researcher) Naranjo, Consuelo (Researcher) Barcia, Manuel (Researcher) Bhopal, Aneel Singh (Fellow) Jardine, Cara (Researcher) Gyollai, Daniel (Researcher) Moss, Kellie (Researcher) Piacentini, Laura (Researcher) Basques, Messias (Researcher) Mantilla Morales, Valeria Sofia (Researcher) Sabala, Vanesa (Researcher) Sarmiento Ramirez, Ismael (Researcher) GONZALEZ ARANA, Roberto (Researcher)

This flagship project encompasses various initiatives to examine the historical origins of systemic racism and class discrimination in contemporary criminal justice systems by bringing together historians, computer scientists specialising in AI, criminologists, philosophers, and justice policy experts. Led by Dr Jesús Sanjurjo (University of Strathclyde) and Dr Lloyd Belton (University of Glasgow), our research is centred on the recent unearthing of a unique historical collection: Havana's Royal Prison Logbooks. Spanning a century (1837-1937), these extraordinary manuscripts from one of the Atlantic's largest colonial prisons contain detailed records of thousands of men, women, and children, both free and enslaved. By connecting this rich historical data with contemporary policy, we aim to directly inform current debates on prison reform and the enduring legacies of racial injustice. The initiative is supported by major grants from the British Library's Endangered Archives Programme, the ESRC Impact Acceleration Account, and Strathclyde’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Science.

The project encompasses the following research initiatives:

1. 'Using AI for Tracking Systemic Racism in Historical Carceral Systems', co-led by Dr Sanjurjo, Dr Moshfeghi, and Dr Belton, 1/02/25 → 31/07/25, funded by a University of Strathclyde's Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Research Grant, £2,000.00.

2. 'Havana’s Royal Prison Logbooks (1836-1898): Digitisation, Preservation and Dissemination', co-led by Dr Sanjurjo, Dr Moshfeghi, and Dr Belton, 1/10/25 → Ongoing, funded by the British Library's Endangered Archives Programme (Pilot), £15,000.00, additional funding from the British Academy is TBC.

3. 'To contain the diffusion of pernicious ideas. The systematic imprisonment of Black sailors in Cuba and the United States, 1830-1850' ['Para contener la
difusión de ideas perniciosas: Encarcelamiento sistemático de marineros negros en Cuba y Estados Unidos, 1830-1850'], co-led by Dr Belton and Dr Sanjurjo, in partnership with Dr John Bardes, 1/05/25 → Ongoing, internally funded.

4. 'Using AI to Track Systemic Racism in Historical Carceral Systems', ESRC Impact Acceleration Account (IAA), co-led by Dr Sanjurjo, Dr Moshfeghi, and Dr Belton in partnership with Beverley Thompson-Brown OBE, 01/11/25 → Ongoing, funded by an ESRC Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) Award, £14,769.96.

5. 'Historical Prison Systems in The Atlantic World and Their Impact on the Construction of Contemporary Penitentiary Models', I-LINK Programme of the CSIC and the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities Scheme, led by Prof Consuelo Naranjo. Project Dates TBC, Outcome of the Funding Application TBC.

01-Jan-2025

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