The objective of this project is to take distance with respect to a technical or philosophical approach of restorative justice in
order to explore 'sociologically' the process of construction and development of the realm of restorative justice as well as its
strategical effects. In this framework, the study of the various forces leading to the development of restorative programs will be
carried out. Firstly, it will emphasize the nature of the change envisioned by these programs for the penal realm. Secondly, it
will stress the social dimension of these programs in showing how various discourses and practices of restorative justice emerge,
change and are eventually progressively stabilized in specific penal, political and social context. The comparative perspective of
the project aims to investigate the concrete emergence and development of this new philosophy in particular political, social and
penal contexts (in Belgium and Denmark). It should thus allow better understanding how and why discourses and practices of
restorative justice gain importance our contemporary societies in general (Garland & Young, 1983 ; Garland,1990).