Criminology And Political Theory

A lucid, sophisticated and timely vindication of the importance of Marxist, feminist and other radical perspectives on the state and political economy to the analysis of crime, control and justice. It offers a valuable guide to issues of political philosophy for students and teachers of criminology, critically deconstructing the taken-for-granted categories of law and criminal justice. - Professor Robert Reiner, London School of Economics, UK This clear and concise book sets out the relationship between political theory and criminology. It critically analyzes key theories and debates within criminology and addresses the major political ideas that lie beneath them. Organized around key criminological concepts and issues, the book covers: " power and ideology " the nature of the state " social control and policing " punishment " economics and criminal activity " morality. The book has been carefully developed to support practical teaching and learning and contains chapter summaries, further reading and a comprehensive glossary, which combine to provide a full understanding of the themes.

This clear, concise text sets out the relationship between political theory and criminology. It critically analyzes key theories and debates to shed new light on criminological topics and the political ideas that lie beneath them.

Criminology and Democratic Politics brings together a range of international leading experts to consider the relationship between criminology and democratic politics. How does criminology relate to democratic politics? What has been the impact of criminology on crime and justice? How can we make sense of the uses, non-uses, and abuses of criminology? Such questions are far from new, but in recent times they have moved to the centre of debate in criminology in different parts of the world. The chapters in Criminology and Democratic Politics aim to contribute to this global debate. Chapters cover a range of themes such as punishment, knowledge, and penal politics; crime, fear, and the media; democratic politics and the uses of criminological knowledge; and the public role of criminology. An accessible and compelling read, this book will appeal to students and scholars of criminology, sociology, and politics and all those interested in how criminology relates to democratic politics in modern times.

This book provides an analysis of the two concepts of power and crime and posits that criminologists can learn more about these concepts by incorporating ideas from disciplines outside of criminology. Although arguably a 'rendezvous' discipline, Vincenzo Ruggiero argues that criminology can gain much insight from other fields such as the political sciences, ethics, social theory, critical legal studies, economic theory, and classical literature. In this book Ruggiero offers an authoritative synthesis of a range of intellectual conceptions of crime and power, drawing on the works and theories of classical, as well as contemporary thinkers, in the above fields of knowledge, arguing that criminology can ‘humbly’ renounce claims to intellectual independence and adopt notions and perspectives from other disciplines. The theories presented locate the crimes of the powerful in different disciplinary contexts and make the book essential reading for academics and students involved in the study of criminology, sociology, law, politics and philosophy.

A lucid, sophisticated and timely vindication of the importance of Marxist, feminist and other radical perspectives on the state and political economy to the analysis of crime, control and justice. It offers a valuable guide to issues of political philosophy for students and teachers of criminology, critically deconstructing the taken-for-granted categories of law and criminal justice. - Professor Robert Reiner, London School of Economics, UK This clear and concise book sets out the relationship between political theory and criminology. It critically analyzes key theories and debates within criminology and addresses the major political ideas that lie beneath them. Organized around key criminological concepts and issues, the book covers: " power and ideology " the nature of the state " social control and policing " punishment " economics and criminal activity " morality. The book has been carefully developed to support practical teaching and learning and contains chapter summaries, further reading and a comprehensive glossary, which combine to provide a full understanding of the themes.

A history of criminology as a history of science and practice.

The United States leads the world in incarceration, and the United Kingdom is persistently one of the European countries with the highest per capita rates of imprisonment. Yet despite its increasing visibility as a social issue, mass incarceration - and its inconsistency with core democratic ideals - rarely surfaces in contemporary Anglo-American political theory. Democratic Theory and Mass Incarceration seeks to overcome this puzzling disconnect by deepening the dialogue between democratic theory and punishment policy. This collection of original essays initiates a multi-disciplinary discussion among philosophers, political theorists, and criminologists regarding ways in which contemporary democratic theory might begin to think beyond mass incarceration. Rather than viewing punishment as a natural reaction to crime and imprisonment as a sensible outgrowth of this reaction, the volume argues that crime and punishment are institutions that reveal unmet demands for public oversight and democratic influence. Chapters explore theoretical paths towards de-carceration and alternatives to prison, suggest ways in which democratic theory can strengthen recent reform movements, and offer creative alternatives to mass incarceration. Democratic Theory and Mass Incarceration offers guideposts for critical thinking about incarceration, examining ways to rebuild crime control institutions and create a healthier, more just society.

This volume examines the political morality of the criminal law, exploring general principles and theories of criminalisation. Chapters provide accounts of the criminal law in the light of ambitious theories about moral and political philosophy - republicanism and contractarianism, or reflect upon on the success of important theories of criminalisation by viewing them in a novel light.