ABSTRACT

This chapter presents the possibilities for the development of queer criminologies, that is, criminological perspectives making use of queer 'theories' to propose new approaches for research subject matters specific to criminology, and also new ways of thinking about criminologies themselves. It discusses the queer as a concept, a theory and a social movement, and describes a case made for placing a queer criminological approach within the scope of critical alternative criminologies. Queer approaches are critical exercises that seek to expose the limits, contingencies and instabilities of existing norms, thereby gambling on the multiplication of differences that can subvert all-encompassing, hegemonic or totalitarian discourses. Despite resisting regimes of normality, queer politics recognise the need for an 'epistemology of the wretched, based on intersectional studies'. Queer criminology must take the field forward beyond the framework of sexual deviance and consider sexual orientation and gender identity and expression as non-deviant differences in conjunction with other differences, such as race, ethnicity, class and religion.