Introduction
Historical Patterns of Crime in England
Crime Trends in the Neo-Liberal Age
Philosophy, Social Theory and Criminology: The Underlying Liberal
Narrative
20th Century Criminological Theory: From Aetiology to
Controlology
Living with the Undead: The Failure of Liberal-Left Theory
The Return of the Dialectic
The Transcendental Materialist Subject
On the Stimulation and Pacification of Populations
Conclusion
Steve Hall is Professor of Criminology at the Social Futures Institute, Teesside University.
A remarkable intellectual achievement, bringing to bear a grasp of
contemporary social theory that is superbly sophisticated and
up-to-date. It illuminates current trends and patterns in crime and
criminal justice, as well as analysing how we got here
historically. The book amounts to a highly original and stimulating
theoretical perspective combining structural political economy,
cultural appreciation, and a psychoanalytically informed analysis
of subjectivity. It is bound to have a huge impact on the field
Robert Reiner
Professor of Criminology, London School of Economics and Political
Science An original, accessible and timely exposition of the
current state of criminological theory; together with an
inspirational programme for criminology′s re-moralisation and
regeneration it provides a cutting-edge critique of contemporary
(and global) political and economic crimes and harms
Pat Carlen
Visiting Professor, Kent University In Theorising Crime and
Deviance, the most important voice in contemporary theoretical
criminology speaks. Hall abstracts himself from the usual
parameters of acceptable criminological knowledge and offers the
discipline a progressive route away from its current intellectual
impasse. Borrowing from history, philosophy, psychoanalysis,
politics and economics, and with characteristic brilliance, Hall
has succeeded in producing a beautifully written, accessible and
yet theoretically rigorous piece of writing that should be read by
everyone interested in crime, law and social order. The book should
be read with an open mind and as a genuine response to the
suffocating inability of criminology to free itself from the
century old slanging-match between its liberal and conservative
wings. Rather than reproducing yet another one of those anodyne
theoretical textbooks that tacitly endorses liberalism and
parliamentary capitalism, texts that refuse to stray too far from
60′s left-liberalism, Hall has produced something of real value
that will force readers to rethink the problem of crime and social
order at this crucial stage in the discipline′s history. Without
question, Theorising Crime and Deviance is sure to be a landmark
text in leftist criminological thought
Simon Winlow
University of York In Theorizing Crime and Deviance, one of the
most creative minds in contemporary criminology boldly tackles big
questions that the discipline has lately been unable or unwilling
to confront. Steve Hall′s compelling and original book should help
to restart a crucial discussion about the connections between crime
and an increasingly volatile and predatory global social order.
Above all, it is a persuasive case for bringing capitalism back
into our understanding of why people are so willing to do harm to
one another
Elliott Currie
Professor of Criminology, Law and Society, University of
California, Irvine Forget public criminology! What criminology
needs today is a return to theory. Steve Hall′s dissection of what
he terms the ′pseudo pacification process′ is an excellent place to
begin. Written as an uncompromising challenge to mainstream
criminology and its assumptions, Hall rocks the foundations of the
discipline by revealing the ′heart of darkness′ at the very centre
of the ′civilising process′; and probes its unsettling implications
for criminological thought and thinking
Professor Simon Hallsworth
London Metropolitan University Anything that takes away from the
terminally off key karaoke of so much that passes for theory in
criminology is to be welcomed, and this is a fine effort to connect
the study of crime and control to an innovative set of theoretical
possibilities. A rip-roaring read that slaughters some sacred cows
while throwing the odd baby out with the bath water
Richard Hobbs
University of Essex This book is a remarkable achievement and is
just what is needed to reinvigorate a critical perspective in
criminology adequate to the present crisis
John Lea
Visiting Professor of Criminology, University of Brighton Hall
sucessfully demonstrates liberalism′s difficulty with the problem
of order under tensions and conditions of individualism and
freedom... This erudite and original book synthesizes a dazzling
array of thought and evidence to interrogate criminological
theory′s dominant conservative and liberal perspectives. This
remarkable, controversial and, ultimately in my view, successful
book will no doubt give rise to alternate intellectual judgments
about its efficacy. This reviewer is left with a sense of
criminological theory′s tiredness of intellectual ambition and
scope, while Hall′s book leaves a sense of rejuvenation and
excitement.
Colin Webster
British Journal of Criminology
"Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above."
*Choice*
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