Courses / Module

Critical criminology is a radical field of criminological study that examines the intersections between crime and power. In this module, students will receive a general introduction to the field of critical criminology and crimes of the powerful. Students will challenge conventional understandings and definitions of crime, as well as the tenets of orthodox criminology. Students will engage critically with national, international, and interdisciplinary subject matter using a wide variety of critical criminology perspectives, including, Marxist, feminist, queer, critical race, Indigenous, southern, rural, green, cultural, postmodernist, and abolitionist criminologies. Students will also develop a critical appreciation of how structures and relations of power shape the processes of criminalization and victimization for the powerful and less powerful.

Topic Outline
• Introduction—critical criminology, crimes of the powerful/powerless.
• Marxism and neo-Marxism
• feminism
• queer criminology
• counter-colonialism, critical race theory, Indigenous criminology
• Southern criminology, crime in the Global South
• rural criminology
• green criminology
• cultural criminology and postmodernism
• abolitionism
• a critical appraisal of the field of criminology