ABSTRACT
This article attempts to argue that the notion of ‘war as value’ has enjoyed unmerited longevity, and that a sociological-criminological analysis of war may today lead to its unconditional criminalization. Before presenting the criminalization argument, however, a brief analysis of how mainstream criminology has failed to address war and of the recent development of a new criminology of war is provided. Functionalism, labelling, conflict theory, abolitionism, ideas around corporate and state crime, as well as social disadvantage, in the form of international relative deprivation, are discussed with a view to determining whether within criminology itself pacifist resources can be found.
