Editorial Reflections and

challenges For those in the United Kingdom hoping for a change in political direction the outcome of the May 2015 election will no doubt have come as a bitter dis-appointment with the prospect of a further five years of austerity-based policies, framed by neo-liberal ideology, disproportionately impacting on the poorest and those most in need in society. During the past five years, as part of the project to create a new settlement between the state and its citizens, the protection of capital has been aggressively promoted at the expense of workers ’ rights, equality legis-lation and the proliferation of ‘zero-hour ’ contracts. Allied to this has been what Newman and Clarke term ‘the economisation of the social realm ’ (Newman and Clarke, 2013: 3). Thereby; ‘turning citizens into consumers, enmeshing civic and not-for-profit organisations in a web of contractual relationships, and establishing economic calculations as the ultimate measure of value ’ (Newman and Clarke, 2013: 3). In criminal justice terms this has meant ‘ever-increasing prison popula-tions, increased criminalization and the blurring of the boundaries between pena