Sociology & Criminology for a Changing World
Nils Christie was a Norwegian criminologist and sociologist, internationally recognized for his critical perspectives on punishment and prisons. As Professor of Criminology at the University of Oslo, he became one of the most influential voices in abolitionist criminology. Christie argued for radically reducing the use of imprisonment and emphasized the importance of conflict resolution outside
Michelle Alexander is an American civil rights lawyer, legal scholar, and author best known for her work on racial injustice in the U.S. criminal justice system. She has served as director of the Racial Justice Project at the ACLU of Northern California and has taught at several universities, including Ohio State University and Union Theological
Angela Y. Davis is an American political activist, scholar, and author whose work has profoundly influenced critical criminology, prison abolitionism, and Black feminist thought. She first gained international attention in the early 1970s as a member of the Communist Party USA and an associate of the Black Panther Party. Davis has taught at several universities,
Thomas Mathiesen (1933–2021) was a Norwegian sociologist and one of the most influential figures in the field of critical criminology and penal abolitionism. Deeply engaged in the critique of modern penal systems, Mathiesen developed a unique theoretical framework that questioned the legitimacy and function of prisons in democratic societies. His seminal work The Politics of
Richard Quinney (b. 1934) is an American criminologist, sociologist, and philosopher whose work has profoundly shaped the development of critical criminology. He became widely known through his thesis of the social reality of crime (1970), in which he argued that crime is not an objective phenomenon but socially constructed through processes of labeling, political interests, and