Accusation: Creating Criminals (Law and Society) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0774833750 ISBN 13: 9780774833752

Publisher: UBC Press, 2017

Synopsis

The punitive effects of accusations that lead to criminalization have received considerable attention. Less well documented is the actual role, process, and meaning of accusation per se. This collection of essays sets out the terms of a new debate about a largely overlooked but foundational dimension of criminalizing justice; namely, accusation.

Criminal accusation, however, does more than define the outer borders of criminal justice institutions. It is directly implicated in providing a steady flow of potential criminals who are fed into expanding criminal justice arenas. Despite the basic politics through which legal persons are selected to face possible criminalization, there are few analyses directed at how accusation works in theoretical, historical, criminological, social, cultural, and procedural realms. By highlighting the constitutive role of criminal accusation on individuals, the judicial system, and society as a whole, this book establishes an important new field of inquiry.

About this title

About the Author

George Pavlich holds a Canada Research Chair in Social Theory, Culture, and Law and is a professor of law and sociology at the University of Alberta. His books include Justice Fragmented: Mediating Community Disputes under Postmodern Conditions; Critique and Radical Discourses on Crime; Governing Paradoxes of Restorative Justice; and Law and Society Redefined. He is a co-editor of Sociology for the Asking; Questioning Sociology; After Sovereignty; Governance and Regulation in Social Life; and Rethinking Law, Society, and Governance: Foucault’s Bequest.

Matthew P. Unger is an assistant professor in sociology and anthropology at Concordia University. His forthcoming monograph, Sound, Symbol, Sociality, uses the philosophy of Paul Ricoeur to understand the intersection of the social, juridical, and political implications within aesthetic judgment.

Contributors: Mark Antaki, Jennifer L. Culbert, James Martel, Renisa Mawani, Keally McBride

Edition details

• Publisher: UBC Press
• Publication date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0774833750
• ISBN 13: 9780774833752
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 216
• Editor: Pavlich George, Unger Matthew P.