The island, the prison, and the colony: Sardinian carceral and colonial geographies

Across research on incarceration and insularity, recent trajectories have challengedconventional understandings of islands and prisons as isolated, autonomous units.Instead, they have directed attention toward their capacity to establish relations,circuits and routes. Beyond the focus on mobility and exchanges, this literaturecriticised the association between insularity, incarceration and confinementas the outcome of specific colonial epistemologies. This article builds on theseliteratures to investigate the case of Sardinia, a large Mediterranean islandthat plays a key role in the Italian carceral regime by providing a destinationfor thousands of Italian convicts. Despite being an Italian and European region,Sardinia's past and present exhibit distinct colonial qualities, which are visiblein the structure of its carceral estate. The case study exemplifies how islands canhardly be interpreted as isolated units, given that their histories and geographieshave implications that extend far beyond their coasts. In the case of Sardinia, theisland combines modern penitentiaries with dynamics reminiscent of previousperiods in the history of punishment, specifically penal colonies and convicttransportation. This case study illustrates the benefits of an interdisciplinaryapproach that is willing to question the conceptual categories adopted, particularlythose of island, prison and colony.