Crime, Criminality and Injustice: An Interdisciplinary Collection of Revelations

Description

This volume seeks to bring to light the lived experiences of those who are at the lowest intersections of injustice - Indigenous peoples, ethnic minorities, refugees, disabled people, the youth, women, children and the poor. It is the fruit of a series of presentations that were delivered for the (In)justice International Workshops 2021 by a variety of commentators, ranging from eminent academics, students at all levels of study, practitioners within the fields of social work and 'live experience' alongside victims, esteemed barristers and social justice activists. These were presented to an audience of 524 attendees representing 28 countries and they formed the basis upon which broader, more holistic discussions of the lived experiences and traumas of people from different Indigenous origins, ethnicities, disabilities and the 'so-called' problematic youth (of all types) could take place. Gender, social exclusion, institutional discrimination, the intersectional nature of these crimes and effects, (social) media influence and public perception were also prominent aspects of the presentations and ensuing deliberations. Like this volume intends to do, the workshops uniquely combined the strengths and insights of social policy, sociology, politics and criminology whilst demonstrating a historical/cultural awareness of the issues at hand. Presentations from this workshop that appear in this book facilitate a combination of theoretical knowledge with a deep awareness of pertinent interpretations of the past or present to promote a greater understanding of why political policies and directions have been embarked upon. In so doing, they - when taken in a multidisciplinary context - help to explain and describe some of the most devastating social outcomes relating to many of the political undertakings portrayed in each chapter. This volume contributes to the growing literature on global (in)justice and (in)equality, seeking in its own unique way to highlight that we are on a dangerous path when we ignore the plight of those who are the weakest, most oppressed and disenfranchised; and that we risk even more when we are complicit in the intransigent and profound injustices they experience. As Blunt (2020) powerfully argued, while for those who this volume is dedicated will possibly not be its readers, it is those readers in positions of power and affluence who need to be reminded and held responsible for their actions and the subsequent consequences.

Simon Prideaux is Director and Co-founder of (In)Justice International. He has written, co-authored and edited four books entitled Crimes of States and Powerful Elites (2021), State Crime and Immorality: The Corrupting Influence of the Powerful (2016), Understanding Disability Policy (2012), and Not So New Labour: A Sociological Critique of New Labour's Policy and Practice (2005). Mustapha Sheikh is Associate Professor of Islamic Thought and Muslim Societies and head of Arabic, Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies in the School of Languages, Cultures and Societies at the University of Leeds. Mustapha's areas of expertise include Ottoman history, Islamic law and legal theory, Muslim intellectual history and Islamic finance. He has recently been appointed the position of Visiting Professor to the University of the Punjab, Pakistan. Adam Formby is Senior Lecturer at the University of Lincoln with an interest in the sociology and social policy of youth and works in several areas which include widening participation, education-to-work transitions, work and 'precarity', youth policy, youth justice and youth subcultures (i.e. memorialisation of video games). When undertaking such interests, Adam also engages with a wide array of social research methodologies such as interviews, focus groups, auto-ethnographic methods, policy analysis, realist evaluation and quantitative methods.

"This is an important contribution to current debates around inequality and injustice. By bringing the theme of injustice to the centre of the book the text brings to the fore a theme often left by the sidelines in contemporary debates around crime and inequality. The editors have curated a wide range of international authors on a broad range of topics demonstrating the centrality of their core theme" -Professor Paul Bagguley, University of Leeds, UK.