Constitutive Criminology at Work ― Applications to Crime and Justice

An anthology of 12 original essays applying postmodernist-informed constitutive criminology to issues of crime and justice. Taking the position that analysis and control of crime cannot be separated from the wider structural and cultural contexts in which it is produced, the first part presents an introduction outlining the origins of constitutive theory in postmodernism and clarifying the theory's framework. Contributions to the second part address how human agency and resistance constitute the meaning of crime and legality while simultaneously forming identity. The formation of societal responses through policing and penal systems as well as how human agency resists is covered in the third part. The authors demonstrate the tenuous nature of justice in the last section, and point to possibilities for social and political transformation. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Stuart Henry is Professor and Chair of the Department of Sociology at Valparaiso University. He is also the author and editor of several books, including Essential Criminology (with Mark M. Lanier); and The Criminology Theory Reader (with Werner Einstadter).

Dragan Milovanovic is Professor of Criminal Justice at Northeastern Illinois University. He is the author and editor of several books, including, with Stuart Henry, Constitutive Criminology: Beyond Postmodernism. His other recent books are Postmodern Criminology; Chaos, Criminology and Social Justice: The New Orderly (Dis)Order; and Postmodern Criminology.