Critiques of Presentism in Criminology: challenges and Paradoxes

This article analyses recent critiques of presentism in criminology. Accusations of presentism in criminology are mainly of two kinds: those critiquing an insufficient interest in the study of criminology’s past and those critiquing an inadequate interest in the historical study of crime-related phe...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Catello, Roberto (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2023
In: Law, crime & history
Year: 2023, Volume: 11, Issue: 1, Pages: 1-29
Online Access: Volltext (kostenfrei)
Rights Information:CC BY 4.0
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Summary:This article analyses recent critiques of presentism in criminology. Accusations of presentism in criminology are mainly of two kinds: those critiquing an insufficient interest in the study of criminology’s past and those critiquing an inadequate interest in the historical study of crime-related phenomena. The article identifies four general manifestations of presentism in contemporary criminology: presentism in criminology refers to i) a form of historical short-sightedness and a kind of harmful forgetfulness, ii) a way of burying the past, iii) a mode of being perpetually stuck in an eternal present, and iv) a failure to learn from the past. The article also discusses a variety of technical (i.e., historiographic) manifestations of criminological presentism that reveal some of the challenges and paradoxes inherent in the use of historical research in criminology.
ISSN:2045-9238