Frank Pearce was the first scholar to use the term 'crimes of the powerful.' His ground-breaking book of the same name provided insightful critiques of liberal orthodox criminology, particularly in relation to labelling theory and symbolic interactionism, while making important contributions to Marxist understandings of the complex relations between crime, law and the state in the reproduction of the capitalist social order. Historically, crimes of the powerful were largely neglected in crime and deviance studies, but there is now an important and growing body of work addressing this gap. This book brings together leading international scholars to discuss the legacy of Frank Pearce's book and his work in this area, demonstrating the invaluable contributions a critical Marxist framework brings to studies of corporate and state crimes, nationally, internationally and on a global scale.

This book is neither a hagiography, nor a review of random areas of social scientific interest. Instead, it draws together a collection of scholarly and original articles which draw upon and critically interrogate the continued significance of the approach pioneered in Crimes of the Powerful. The book traces the evolution of crimes of the powerful empirically and theoretically since 1976, shows how critical scholars have integrated new theoretical insights derived from post-structuralism, feminism and critical race studies and offers perspectives on how the crimes of the powerful - and the enormous, ongoing destruction they cause - can be addressed and resisted.

About the Author

Steven Bittle is an Associate Professor of Criminology at the University of Ottawa, Canada

Laureen Snider is an Emeritus Professor of Sociology at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada

Steve Tombs is Professor of Criminology at The Open University, UK

David Whyte is Professor of Socio-legal Studies at the School of Law and Social Justice, University of Liverpool, UK

Reviews

It is high time for a reboot of Crimes of the Powerful and this authoritative anthology accomplishes that task. The editors have rejuvenated a text at risk of becoming criminology's most prophetic yet esoteric treatise: the foundational and ground-breaking Marxist analysis of corporate crime.

- George S. Rigakos, Professor of the Political Economy of Policing, Department of Law and Legal Studies, Carleton University, Canada

Building on the pioneering research of Frank Pearce, this timely collection demonstrates convincingly that power and crime are intimately linked. Critical, rigorous, and precise, it offers fresh ways of seeing our deeply troubled world and provides intelligent remedies for our real crime problem.

- Vincent Mosco, author of Becoming Digital: Toward a Post-Internet Society

Book Information
ISBN 9780367482954
Author Steven Bittle
Format Paperback
Page Count 342
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 453g