Sociology & Criminology for a Changing World
Governing Through Crime: How the War on Crime Transformed American Democracy and Created a Culture of Fear (2007) is an influential work by American legal sociologist Jonathan Simon. Simon demonstrates how the fight against crime has become a comprehensive governmental paradigm in the United States since the 1970s—with far-reaching consequences for democratic institutions, social relations,
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
The Politics of Abolition (1974) by Thomas Mathiesen is one of the most influential works in penal abolitionism and critical criminology. In a radical departure from traditional theories of punishment, Mathiesen advocates not for alternative forms of punishment, but for the abolition of the prison system altogether—calling into question the legitimacy of the entire penal
The Felon (1970) by American sociologist John Irwin is one of the most influential analyses of the lived realities of formerly incarcerated individuals. As a former inmate turned sociologist, Irwin combines personal experience with academic analysis. His central aim: to reconstruct the social processes through which ex-prisoners remain stigmatized as “criminals” and become socially marginalized
Punishing the Poor by French-American sociologist Loïc Wacquant offers a sharp analysis of the relationship between poverty, criminal justice, and the neoliberal state. The central thesis: in times of neoliberal redistribution and social insecurity, the penal apparatus takes the place of the welfare state—not to solve social problems, but to manage the consequences of growing
The Culture of Control: Crime and Social Order in Contemporary Society (2001) is one of the central works of contemporary critical criminology. The British sociologist David Garland analyzes the fundamental transformation of Western penal and security policies since the 1970s. His central thesis: we live in a “culture of control” characterized by insecurity, punitiveness (from