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...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2023
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In: |
Law, crime & history
Year: 2023, Volume: 11, Issue: 1, Pages: 1-29 |
Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
Rights Information: | CC BY 4.0 |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Keywords: |
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. |
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ISSN: | 2045-9238 |