ABSTRACT
Routledge International Handbook of Critical Gang Studies is rooted in the instability, inequality and liquidity of the post-industrial era. It understands the gang as a complex and contradictory phenomenon; a socio-historical agent that reflects, responds to and creates a certain structured environment in spaces which are always in flux. International in scope and drawing on a range of sociological, criminological and anthropological traditions, it looks beyond pathological, ahistorical and non-transformative approaches, and considers other important factors that produce the phenomenon, whether the historically entrenched racialized power structure and segregation in Chicago; the unconstrained state-abandoned development of favelas in Brazil; or the colonization, displacement and dependency of people in Central America. This handbook reflects and defines the new theoretical and empirical traditions of critical gang studies. It offers a variety of perspectives, including:
- A view of gangs that takes into consideration the global context and appearance of the "gang" in its various forms and stages of development;
- An appreciation of the gang as a socio-cultural formation;
- A race-ethnic and class analysis of the gang that problematizes domain assumptions such as the "underclass";
- Gender variations of the gang phenomenon with a particular emphasis on their intersectional properties;
- Relations between gangs and the political economy that address the dominant mode of production and exchange;
- Treatments that demonstrate the historically contingent nature of gangs and their changes across time;
- The contradictory impact of gang repressive policies, institutions and practices as part of a broader discussion on the nature of the state in specific societies; and
- Critical methodologies on gangs that involve discussions of visual and textual representations and the problematics of data collection and analysis.
Authoritative, multi-disciplinary and international, this book will be of interest to criminologists, sociologists and anthropologists alike, particularly those engaged with critical criminology/sociology, youth crime, delinquency and global social inequality. The Handbook will also be of interest to policy makers and those in the peacebuilding field.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part I|107 pages
Critical theories of the gang
chapter 1|13 pages
Utilizing Southern criminology in the global North
chapter 6|15 pages
The Catholic Church and the gangs
chapter 7|19 pages
Gangs, space and the state
part II|85 pages
Critical methodologies
chapter 10|15 pages
New standards for social practice ethics?
part III|74 pages
Policies and repressive models
chapter 15|15 pages
Gangs and the garrison state
chapter 17|14 pages
Off the books and off the blocks
part IV|233 pages
Global case studies
chapter 23|12 pages
Performing “gang-ness”
chapter 28|13 pages
The fourth corner of the triangle
chapter 29|13 pages
Gang governance in the tropics
chapter 30|14 pages
Understanding the dynamics and functions of gang violence
chapter 33|16 pages
The legalization of the Latin Kings in Ecuador
chapter 35|16 pages
Gangs in the post-Chávez Bolivarian revolution
part V|98 pages
Culture and the gang
chapter 38|19 pages
“They treat us like criminals in front of our kids”
chapter 39|19 pages
“The city got my back so the city on my back”
chapter 42|19 pages
“Gangbangers are gangbangers, hustlers are hustlers”
part VI|64 pages
Contexts and spaces
chapter 43|21 pages
Prison gangs in the Northern Triangle
part VII|41 pages
Critical appraisals of major figures in gang research