To mark the forthcoming publication of Writings on Australia, a volume of the Collected Works of Jeremy Bentham, 'Bentham and Australia: Convicts, Utility, and Empire' will be held at UCL on 11-12 April 2019.

The conference will explore themes such as the influence and impact of Bentham's ideas on the theory and practice of punishment in convict Australia, on advocates and opponents of transportation and colonization, and the relationship between Bentham's writings on Australia and his penal theory more generally, as well as their place in the development of his political radicalism.

Speakers at the conference include:

  • Professor Hilary Carey (Bristol)
  • Professor Margot Finn (UCL)
  • Professor Barry Godfrey (Liverpool)
  • Professor Zoe Laidlaw (Melbourne)
  • Professor Kirsten McKenzie (Sydney)
  • Professor Hamish MAxwell-Stewart (Tasmania)
  • Dr Gwenda Morgan (Newcastle)
  • Professor Deborah Oxley (Oxford)
  • Professor Philip Schofield (UCL)

We also welcome proposals on Bentham's interventions as they relate to the histories of Australia, convict transportation, and colonialism, in the form of 300-word abstracts, which should be sent to Dr Tim Causer ([email protected]) by 31 December 2018. Please also direct any other queries about the conference to the same address.