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date: 17 February 2025

Carceral Tourismlocked

Carceral Tourismlocked

  • Megan Cullen TewellMegan Cullen TewellThe Heritage Alliance

Summary

Carceral tourism refers to visitation—for a range of purposes, including leisure, recreation, entertainment, and education—to places associated with crime and punishment, particularly confinement. It represents an intersection of public history and dark tourism, and it involves the public’s accessing former or current sites of imprisonment, such as jails, prisons, penitentiaries, and detention centers that provide interpretations of carceral themes and histories. Visitors engage this form of tourism at physical locations in-person or remotely via digital interpretation, but they tend to prefer specific sites and structures. Generally consisting of guided or self-guided site tours, as well as exhibits and special programs, carceral tourism can also encompass historic reuse or repurposing, as well as the commodification of carceral themes, including site rentals and merchandizing. The significance of carceral tourism lies in how these sites construct and impart meanings of punishment, particularly incarceration, for everyday audiences.

Subjects

  • Cultural History

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