Sociology & Criminology for a Changing World
The Politics of the Police (first published in 1985, fourth edition in 2010) is arguably the most influential work by British criminologist Robert Reiner. As the standard English-language reference on policing, the book offers a comprehensive analysis of the British police system—its historical development, political governance, and social function. Reiner’s work exemplifies a critical approach
The Police Power: Patriarchy and the Foundations of American Government (2005) is a foundational work by German-American legal scholar Markus D. Dubber. Following the tradition of critical legal philosophy, Dubber uncovers the genealogical and ideological roots of the state monopoly on violence—particularly executive power that operates not through criminal law, but through mechanisms of social
The Illusion of Free Markets (2011) is a seminal work in critical legal studies and penal policy. Legal scholar and political theorist Bernard E. Harcourt reveals how the notion of the “free market” is ideologically constructed—and how closely this neoliberal order is intertwined with a repressive penal system. Harcourt exposes the idea of a minimally
Visions of Social Control: Crime, Punishment and Classification (1985) by Stanley Cohen provides a profound analysis of the transformations in social control in the late 20th century. While his earlier work, Folk Devils and Moral Panics (1972), focused on media discourses and moral reactions to deviance, Visions of Social Control turns to institutional, political, and