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Critical criminology and zemiology are two distinct, but parallel, fields of study that focus on social harm—acts or omissions which are clearly ‘harmful’ but do not violate criminal law. In this module, students are introduced to the concept of social harm, and ontological challenges of conventional criminology and definitions of ‘crime’. Students will engage critically with national, international, and interdisciplinary subject matter using a wide variety of critical criminology perspectives, including, Marxist, feminist, queer, counter-colonial, Indigenous, southern, rural, green, cultural, and abolitionist criminologies. Students will learn how those in positions of power shape the processes of criminalization and victimization through the conceptual lens of the crimes and harms of the powerful, and from within and outside the field of criminology. Crucially, this module will address the fundamental question of why certain ‘harmful’ acts remain legal and continue to escape criminalization.
Module Outline • Introduction—critical criminology, zemiology, social harm, crimes of the powerful/powerless. • Marxism and neo-Marxist criminology • Feminist criminology • queer criminology • counter-colonial and Indigenous criminology • Southern criminology, crime in the Global South • rural criminology • green criminology • cultural criminology • abolitionist criminology • a critical appraisal of the field of criminology
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