Anti-Racist Criminology
Research, Teaching, and Public Engagement
Max Osborn author Janani Umamaheswar author Valli Rajah author
Format:Paperback
Publisher:New York University Press
Publishing:8th Dec '26
£22.99
This title is due to be published on 8th December, and will be despatched as soon as possible.
A long overdue reckoning
With one critical eye on criminology's problematic past and a second hopeful eye on a better future, Anti-Racist Criminology offers a clear vision for how criminologists can transform their work while resisting the racist logics that have informed harmful policies and practices in the criminal legal system.
Drawing a historical line from the eugenicist ideas of Cesare Lombroso and other foundational theorists to contemporary crime control measures such as "stop and frisk," the authors demonstrate how criminological ideas, statistics, and modeling have long shaped—and distorted—public understanding of crime and punishment, with lasting consequences for communities of color.
The authors go on to offer a "how-to" for academics interested in anti-racist work by answering three central questions: why it's important for criminologists to embrace anti-racism, what anti-racist principles criminologists should incorporate into their work, and who should take on this work and in what contexts. Ultimately, Anti-Racist Criminology empowers readers to reimagine how they design research projects, teach, and interact with communities as they participate in a broader movement for social justice and equity.
"This is a must-read text for anyone interested in understanding the role race plays in criminology. The authors make a compelling case for why the discipline of criminology should unapologetically move race from the margins to the core of its criminological understandings -in research, teaching, and public discourse." – Katheryn Russell-Brown, author of The Color of Crime: Racial Hoaxes, White Fear, Black Protectionism, Police Harassment and Other Macroaggressions
"Anti-Racist Criminology should be required reading in every introductory criminology course and on the bookshelf of every criminologist committed to advancing anti-racism through research, teaching, and public engagement. Rich with real-world examples of scholars putting anti-racist principles into practice, this outstanding volume is more than an academic contribution; it is a call to action and accountability. Timely, inspiring, and practical, it is a book I will revisit frequently and recommend widely to students, colleagues, and practitioners alike." – Vera Lopez, author of Complicated Lives: Girls, Parents, Drugs, and Juvenile Justice
"This text offers a timely and necessary intellectual provocation, and should be considered essential contemporary reading for scholars and students of criminology and criminal justice in the United States. Connecting our historical and epistemic inheritances to the current state of the field, Rajah, Umamaheswar, and Osborn challenge us to think carefully about how our academic community might reinvigorate its commitments to racial justice in an era of explicitly racist policies and racialized social control." – Kenneth Sebastian León, author of Corrupt Capital: Alcohol, Nightlife, and Crimes of the Powerful
ISBN: 9781479837854
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
248 pages