Representation and reality In Chapter Two , I delineated criminological criticism as a method for critical criminology. I applied this method to three examples of allegory – a film, a television series, and a novel – in Chapters Three , Four , and Five in order to disclose their respective insights into the harms of sexism, racism, and elitism. In Chapter Three , I argued that Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) frames resistance to hegemonic masculinity, gender cooperation, and the possibility of feminist statehood as a demand for radical feminist
There is increasing pressure on the humanities to justify their value and on criminology to undertake interdisciplinary research. In this book, Rafe McGregor establishes a new interdisciplinary methodology, ‘criminological criticism’, harnessing the synergy between literary studies and critical criminology to produce genuine interventions in social reality.
McGregor practices criminological criticism on George Miller’s ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’, Prime Video’s ‘Carnival Row’ and J.K. Rowling’s ‘The Cuckoo’s Calling’, demonstrating how these popular allegories provide insights into the harms of sexism, racism and class prejudice.
This book proposes a model for collaboration between literary studies and critical criminology that is beneficial to the humanities, the social sciences and society.
Critical criminological theories and perspectives are typically major components of Criminology degree courses. An Introduction to Critical Criminology is the first accessible text on these topics for students of criminology, sociology and social policy. Written by an experienced lecturer who specialises in the topic, it offers an in-depth but accessible introduction to foundational and contemporary theories and perspectives in critical criminology. In doing so, it introduces students to theories and perspectives that challenge mainstream criminological theories about the causes of crime, and the operation of the criminal justice system.
With the inclusion of boxed examples, key points and sample essay questions An Introduction to Critical Criminology is ideal for students of Criminology because it explores in detail a vast array of critical criminological theories and perspectives.
11 ONE What is critical criminology? Introduction Critical criminology has no standard definition. DeKeseredy and Dragiewicz (2012: 1) point out that ‘The definition of critical criminology is subject to much debate and there is no widely accepted precise formulation’. Perhaps this is because it comprises several variants. It is a fluid and vast field of study. It encompasses perspectives that sometimes emphasise divergent themes, use diverse methodologies and espouse different ideologies. Its origin has also been the subject of much contention. As noted in
277 THIRTEEN Future directions in critical criminology Advanced Western societies, such as the US and the UK, have undergone several changes since the 1970s, when critical criminology became popular in the field of criminology. As mentioned earlier, some theorists argue that a shift has occurred towards what is variously conceptualised as postmodernity, high modernity or late modernity. Proponents of this view insist that the shift has been accompanied by social, economic and cultural conditions that have given rise to new forms of crime and crime control
Part Two Critiquing foundational critical criminology: challenges from Left and Right
Introduction Latin American critical criminology theorists of criminal law or philosophers of law are rare among the main criminological works most influenced by the social sciences, especially given the privileging of critical criminology in the Anglo-Saxon world, although in the non-Anglo-Saxon context it is not an exception. However, the focus of this work is to determine why it developed in Argentina and how it influences the development of a Latin American critical criminology. The reasons are based not only on the conditions that made it possible, but
Introduction In the historiography of Brazilian critical criminology, it is possible to identify numerous movements and perspectives that have their origins in the late 1960s. But, in this varied trajectory, the importance of the corpus of two authors is indisputable: Roberto Lyra Filho and Juarez Cirino dos Santos. According to Vera Malaguti Batista ( 2012 : 117), Latin American critical criminology served as a utopian dam against the violence of the military cycles, and Roberto Lyra Filho and Juarez Cirino dos Santos produced ‘the truest and deepest reading
