The death penalty has long been used as a tool of power, punishment and spectacle. This course explores executions across history, from rulers and rebels to ordinary criminals, examining how justice, authority and morality have been contested. We consider political motivations, public reactions and changing attitudes toward capital punishment, inviting thoughtful discussion about law, ethics and human rights in historical and contemporary contexts.
- Barry Jones, The Penalty is Death, State Power, Law and Justice, Scribe, 2022
- Ishan Martin, Death Penalty, Capital Punishment, Merryl Productions, 2020
- Chris Day, A History of treason, The Bloody History of Britain Through its Most Notorious Traitors, 1352-1946, National Archives, Bonnier, 2023.
- Death penalties linked to royals in the dock including Jane Grey, Louis XVI, Ann Boleyn, Marie Antoinette, Charles I
- Death penalties inked to war and victory, including the Nuremberg Trials, Marshal Ney of France, Lord Haw Haw and Edith Cavell
- Campaigns against the death penalty in the 20th C including the very controversial cases of Ruth Ellis UK and Julius and Ethel Rosenberg USA
- Abolition of the death penalty in Queensland 1922, Australia 1967-1973, Uk 1967, West Germany 1949, France 1981 and Argentina 2009. Countries where it is retained include China, USA, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Singapore.
By the end of this course, students should be able to:
- Appreciate the complexity of campaigning against the death penalty in various social and political contexts both past and present
- Discuss some historical and contemporary examples of the politics surrounding significant trials and death penalties associated with those trials
