Penal politics and imprisonment in the English-speaking west are often presented as having become increasingly harsh and exclusionary since about 1970. Yet, curiously little attention has been given to Ireland and Scotland, two nations considered as exceptions to these pervasive punitive trends, and this presents some considerable gaps in our understanding of penal politics in this era. This thesis uses sociological and historical research to provide an in-depth comparative analysis of political culture and imprisonment regimes in Ireland and Scotland from 1970 until the 1990s. In so doing, the thesis also explores issues central to the history of punishment and comparative penology, in particular the 'punitive turn' in the late twentieth century. Using oral history interviews, archival research and documentary analysis this thesis recovers the history of penal culture in these two jurisdictions and examines how that changed and evolved over the latter part of the twentieth century. It draws upon resources from cultural sociology, governmentality studies and the sociology of punishment to develop the necessary conceptual resources to illuminate and compare penal politics and the varied practices which constitute imprisonment. Imprisonment regimes here are studied as comprising kinds of places, sets of routines and practices. Political culture, meanwhile, is understood as the working cultural symbols, passions, logic of government, political categories, and perceived social origins of crime. While providing grounded and detailed historical accounts of Ireland and Scotland these cases show how generic and global concepts, such as managerialism, rehabilitation, zero tolerance and incarceration intersect with their local social conditions and political relations. This thesis demonstrates that the heterogeneity of imprisonment regimes is a reflection of their political and social context. Therefore, the differences we see in the uses of imprisonment cross-nationally will both reflect and reconstitute their contrasting political cultures.

La présente recherche décrit et examine la problématique posée par le trafic d’organes, de tissus et de cellules d’origine humaine, ainsi que les modes de régulation envisagés au niveau mondial pour lutter contre ce trafic, appréhendés sous l’angle de l’analyse de plusieurs conventions et protocoles internationaux et de leurs recommandations. Nous avons sélectionné, analysé et comparé les discours les plus significatifs de quatre types d’organisations internationales, les associations médicales internationales, l’Organisation des Nations Unies, l’Organisation mondiale de la Santé et le Conseil de l’Europe. Nous avons cherché à connaître leur point de vue sur la commercialisation des organes humains et plus spécifiquement sur le trafic des organes humains, à travers 17 textes que ces acteurs ont produit de 1987 jusqu’en 2014. L’analyse de ces discours experts révèle que la perspective éthique domine l’ensemble des documents. Elle met en évidence les convergences des discours sur la nécessité d’adopter une double stratégie fondée à la fois sur la prévention et la criminalisation du trafic d’organes ainsi que sur l’analyse du lien existant entre la pénurie croissante d’organes et l’avènement du trafic d’organes. Les discours sur la régulation et la criminalisation ont évolué vers un degré de précision et de complexification de la notion du trafic d’organes, une notion qui reste encore peu consensuelle dans sa définition. Quant aux stratégies, il faut observer que l’évolution des discours est assez significative et inégale à ce chapitre. C’est surtout dans les discours experts produits à partir des années 2000 que nous retrouvons des propositions plus concrètes sur les stratégies. La régulation des transactions financières, notamment par les balises de pratiques médicales et celles des intermédiaires, ainsi que les prescriptions entourant le consentement forment les deux types de stratégies les plus souvent mises de l’avant par les experts, toutes organisations confondues. Au fil de l’analyse des textes sur la régulation il est possible d’entrevoir des nuances et des brèches dans le principe d’interdiction de la commercialisation des organes humains, plus précisément en ce qui concerne les types d’organes, de tissus ou de cellules. / This study describes and examines the regulation of trafficking on human organs, tissues and cells by comparing several international protocols, legislations and their recommendations. We selected, analyzed and compared the most significant discourses of four types of organizations: international medical associations, the United Nations, the World Health Organization and the Council of Europe. We aimed to understand their point of view on the commercialisation of human organs and more specifically the trafficking of human organs through 17 texts produced between 1987 and 2014. The analysis of the discourses produced by experts reveals that the ethical perspective dominates. Furthermore, our analysis highlights the convergence of these discourses on the necessity to adopt a double strategy based on both prevention and criminalization of organs trafficking as well as on the link between the increasing shortage of human organs and trafficking. The discourses advocating for regulation and criminalization have evolved, resulting in a more complex and precise conceptualisation of organ trafficking, a concept which remains non-consensual. As for strategies, we observe that the evolution of discourses is significant but uneven. It is mainly in the discourses produced by experts after 2000 that we find more concrete strategies proposed. The two types of strategies most often put forward by the experts of all organizations are the regulation of financial transactions, particularly through the regulation of practices by medical personnel and intermediaries, and the prescriptions surrounding the consent form. Finally, our analysis demonstrates how nuances and breaches to the principle prohibiting the commercialism of human organs are made possible through a discussion of specific types of organs, tissues and cells.