ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the third part of this book. The third part of the book reflects a period when what had become the 'traditional' assumptions and rules of 'criminology' were, if not 'in retreat', at least not 'in fashion'. In ascendance was, first, a 'sociology of deviance', which itself subsequently felt the harsh edge of critique – not from the 'old' criminology but from several versions of 'new criminologies'. Causality was questioned and taken-for-granted assumptions about what actually constitutes 'crime' or 'deviance' were challenged. Radical analysis rapidly turned to examination of the material underpinnings of capitalism – the exploitation of the working class and the marginalized – and to the crimes of the powerful. The significance of economic power, media manipulation and forces of conflict and control became central to a 'new criminology'.
