ABSTRACT
In a context of expanding carceral nation states, significant government investments are made to erect new jails and prisons. On occasion, older sites of confinement and infliction of pain are decommissioned. Many debates ensue about the preservation of such sites. Little existing literature has examined how decommissioned jails and prisons are re-purposed through a process we refer to as “carceral retasking.” Based on a five-year qualitative study, this chapter traces new purposes assigned to these sites across Ontario, Canada. We specifically explore the role played by local historical societies in the transformation of carceral sites into heritage museums, and what these findings mean for debates about memorialization of the local.
