Public comic book reading and discussion as part of the interdisciplinary workshop ‘Criminal Justice and Gender: Perspectives in German-speaking Criminology since the 1970s’

What does it mean to use criminalisation as a political tool? Who is particularly affected by criminal law and prison sentences? *Down by Law* (PM Press) shows how people in criminalised communities act, resist and build solidarity. The volume brings together short graphic novels on topics such as abortion, drug use, sea rescue, hate speech and prison. Cultural anthropologist Friederike Faust (University of Göttingen) and artist Valerie Assmann have worked together on the subject of women in prison. Together with Beate Binder (Humboldt University of Berlin), they present the story ‘Weinen Sie ruhig’ (‘Go Ahead and Cry’). Everyday life in a German women’s prison.

Valerie Assmann lives and works as a graphic designer in Berlin. She studied in Berlin, Stockholm and Jerusalem. In her work, she frequently addresses feminist themes and aims to draw attention to existing inequalities through sensitive visual forms.

Beate Binder was Professor of European Ethnology and Gender Studies at Humboldt University of Berlin until September 2025. Her research, conducted from a cultural anthropological perspective, focuses on law, politics, gender and sexuality. She also experiments with ways of presenting ethnographic knowledge beyond traditional academic formats.

Friederike Faust is a junior professor at the Institute for Cultural Anthropology/European Ethnology at the Georg-August University of Göttingen. Previously, she was part of the European research project ‘CrimScapes: Navigating Citizenship through European Landscapes of Criminalisation’, within the framework of which the comic *Down by Law* was created. Her ethnographic research focuses on gender, punishment and citizenship.

Moderator: Professor Dr Annelie Ramsbrock