Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- Chapter 1 Questions, contours and methods -- Introduction -- Structure and content -- Chapter 2 Contours of criminological knowledge: haunted by a spirit of pragmatism? -- Early criminological developments -- International reconstruction and developments in criminological research following World War II -- United Nations, criminological discourse and government(ality) -- The rise of critical genres -- Chapter 3 Criminology, government and public policy -- Criminology in government -- The Home Office, England and Wales -- National Institute of Justice, Washington D.C. -- Australian Institute of Criminology, Canberra -- Criminology in public policy -- Chapter 4 The politics and control of criminological knowledge -- What are the politics of criminological research? -- (Re)defining research -- Government and commercial contracts: the legalization of interference -- Ethical and legal issues -- Securing support and sponsorship -- Gathering and accessing data -- Publishing results -- Concluding comment -- Chapter 5 Silencing the critics: the 'War on Terror' and the suppression of dissent -- The War on Terror -- 'Acts of sedition': opposing the War on Terror -- Government intolerance and the suppression of free speech -- The authoritarian ascendancy -- Resistance and detaching hegemonic truth -- Chapter 6 New modes of governance and the commercialization of criminological knowledge -- Governmentality and criminological research -- University autonomy and criminological research -- Critique and post-disciplinary criminologies -- Concluding comment -- Chapter 7 Reflections and new horizons -- Looking back and moving forward -- Intellectual independence and collective concern -- The value of critique -- Final thought -- Appendices -- List of interviewees.

List of other persons contacted -- Research methodology -- References -- Index.

In this important and original book, Reece Walters examines the politics of criminology and the ways in which criminological knowledge is generated. It includes an overview of the politics and practice of conducting criminological research (drawing upon material from Britain, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the USA), and the ways that regulatory and governing authorities set research agendas, manipulate the processes and production of knowledge and silence or suppress critical voices through various techniques of neutralisation. The book argues for 'knowledges of resistance' - a position that promotes critique, challenges concepts of power and social order, wrestles with notions of truth and adheres to intellectual autonomy and independence. It provides invaluable insights into the relationship between the criminological researcher, public officials and corporate representatives. Drawing upon a wide range of interviews with academics and administrators from government and business, the book provides rare insights into the ways that knowledge about crime and criminal justice is produced and consumed, revealing why certain topics of criminological enquiry are rarely funded and why others receive ongoing political and governmental support. The book will be essential reading for anybody interested in the development of criminological theory and research, and the context and influences that shape it.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2018. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.