neoliberalism

Against Prediction: Profiling, Policing, and Punishing in an Actuarial Age (2007) is one of the key works by Bernard E. Harcourt and a foundational analysis of contemporary actuarial justice. Harcourt critiques the growing reliance on statistical risk assessment in criminal justice—particularly through police profiling, predictive policing, and risk-based sentencing. The book is a sharp critique

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The Exclusive Society: Social Exclusion, Crime and Difference in Late Modernity (1999) is a foundational work of late modern criminology by British sociologist and criminologist Jock Young. In this influential book, Young links rising crime rates and moral panics to processes of social exclusion, insecurity, and inequality in advanced capitalist societies. Challenging both leftist optimism

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Crime Control as Industry: Towards GULAGS, Western Style? is one of the most influential works in critical criminology. Published in 1993 by Norwegian criminologist Nils Christie, the book delivers a stark critique of modern penal systems, particularly the alarming growth of incarceration in Western democracies. Christie likens the penal apparatus to a profit-oriented industry and

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The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness is a groundbreaking work by civil rights lawyer and legal scholar Michelle Alexander. Published in 2010, the book argues that the U.S. prison system operates as a contemporary system of racial caste, replacing earlier forms of racial control such as slavery and segregation. With

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Behind the Gates is an ethnographic key work in the field of critical security and urban studies. In this book, American anthropologist Setha M. Low examines the social, political, and cultural dynamics of so-called gated communities—residential areas with restricted access. Based on extensive fieldwork in the New York metropolitan area, Low analyzes how fear of

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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

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