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Left Realist Criminology

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The Palgrave Handbook of Australian and New Zealand Criminology, Crime and Justice

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Abstract

This chapter outlines the emergence of left realism in the UK in the 1980s which came about as a response to the success of the Thatcher government in exploiting law and order politically. Left realism’s key components include a “taking crime seriously” orientation, based on local crime victim surveys, and the “square of crime”. Left realism constituted a political reorientation rather than a new paradigm. Little Australian criminology parades under a left realist banner, and while there are conservative, positivist, scientistic, and quantitative tendencies in Australian criminology, a politically self-conscious neo-conservative or right-wing criminology is largely absent. Left realism in Australia is situated as a minority stream in a broader Australian critical criminology, distinguished by its politically engaged character and its vibrant, pluralist, and reflexive nature.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Emeritus Professor, Law, UNSW, New South Wales, Australia

    David Brown

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  1. David Brown
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Correspondence to David Brown .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand

    Antje Deckert

  2. University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

    Rick Sarre

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Brown, D. (2017). Left Realist Criminology. In: Deckert, A., Sarre, R. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Australian and New Zealand Criminology, Crime and Justice. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55747-2_38

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55747-2_38

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-55746-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-55747-2

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