Critiques of Presentism in Criminology: Challenges and Paradoxes

Catello, Roberto (2023) Critiques of Presentism in Criminology: Challenges and Paradoxes. Law, Crime & History, 11 (1). pp. 1-29. ISSN 2045-9238

[thumbnail of Critiques of Presentism in Criminology - Challenges and Paradoxes.docx] Text
Critiques of Presentism in Criminology - Challenges and Paradoxes.docx - Accepted Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.

Download (105kB)

Abstract

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.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information and Comments: © The Author(s) 2023. This is the author's version of an article that was accepted for publication in Law, Crime and History. The final version is available from: https://lawcrimehistory.pubpub.org/pub/0v8bbjya/release/1
Keywords: historical criminology; historical study of crime; historicism; history of criminology; presentism
Faculty / Department: Faculty of Business, Law and Criminology > School of Law and Criminology
Depositing User: Roberto Catello
Date Deposited: 27 Apr 2023 11:20
Last Modified: 15 Dec 2023 09:31
URI: https://hira.hope.ac.uk/id/eprint/3905

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item