Critical Criminology of Leisure aims to play the role of an introductory essay, of a concise guide for the theoretical study and research on a social field which emerges as the point of intersection of two established scientific subjects: leisure and crime. The concept of 'leisure' is used as a methodological tool, as privileged social time for the study of the social problems of modern societies and more specifically for the study of the issue of criminalization or the forms of action (or inactivity) of formal social control agents and the legitimization of this action by the public.

This book brings together a collection of critical essays that challenge the existing dogma of leisure as an unmitigated social good, in order to examine the commodification and marketisation of leisure across a number of key sites. Leisure and consumer culture have become symbolic of the individual freedoms of liberal society, ostensibly presenting individuals with the opportunity to display individual creativity, cultural competence and taste. This book problematizes these assertions, and considers the range of harms that emerge in a consumer society predicated upon intense individualism and symbolic competition. Approaching the field of commodified leisure through the lens of social harm, this collection of essays pushes far beyond criminology’s traditional interest in ‘deviant’ forms of leisure, to consider the normalized social, interpersonal and environmental harms that emerge at the intersection of leisure and consumer capitalism. Capturing the current vitality and interdisciplinary scope of recent work which is underpinned by the deviant leisure perspective, this collection uses case studies, original research and other forms of empirical enquiry to scrutinise activities that range from alcohol consumption and gambling, to charity tourism; CrossFit training; and cosmetic pharmaceuticals. Drawn from researchers across the UK, US, Europe and Australia, Deviant Leisure: Criminological Perspectives on Leisure and Harm represents the first systematic attempt at a criminological consideration of the global harms of the leisure industry; firmly establishing leisure as a subject of serious criminological importance.

From doping among professional athletes to crime prevention through sports, the discussion of crime in sports seems to be on the rise. This is the first book to provide a critical criminological perspective on sports and the myriad connections between sports and crime. Part of the New Horizons in Criminology series, it utilizes the interdisciplinary nature of criminology to incorporate emerging perspectives from diverse fields like the study of social harm, gender and sexuality studies, and green criminology. Written from an international perspective, Sports Criminology covers both a range of topics, from sports scandals to the possibility of crime prevention, and a range of sports disciplines. American football, boxing, soccer, and sumo are all examined, making this book an essential read for scholars of sports law and the sociology of sports alike.

This book brings together the major Australian and New Zealand theorists in Critical Criminology. The chapters represent the contribution of these authors in both their established work and their recent scholarship. It includes new approaches to theory, methodology, case studies and contemporary issues.

Exploring the key issues and future prospects facing critical criminology, this book brings together leading authorities in the field from the UK, Australasia and the USA.

What survives of the notions, principles and values of critical criminology? Faced with contexts that could not be more dramatically different to those fostering critical approaches to crime and its control, what is left of the radical theories and practical initiatives that characterized it in the 1970s? This book argues that critical criminology today can be reimagined if new concepts are elaborated, which bring academic efforts close to the practices of social movements. Building on an original collection of anti-hegemonic essays focused on specific criminological areas, including femicide, organized crime, drug use, punishment, state-corporate terrorism and financial crime, this book identifies the radical potential inherent in the choice of areas, topics and variables that critical criminologists can address today. In discussing concepts of distance, power, mercy and troublemaking, this book considers the relationship between critical criminology, social justice and activism. An accessible and compelling read, this book will appeal to all those engaged with critical criminology, sociology and cultural studies.

Early twentieth-century African American men in northern urban centers like New York faced economic isolation, segregation, a biased criminal justice system, and overt racial attacks by police and citizens. In this book, Douglas J. Flowe interrogates the meaning of crime and violence in the lives of these men, whose lawful conduct itself was often surveilled and criminalized, by focusing on what their actions and behaviors represented to them. He narrates the stories of men who sought profits in underground markets, protected themselves when law enforcement failed to do so, and exerted control over public, commercial, and domestic spaces through force in a city that denied their claims to citizenship and manhood. Flowe furthermore traces how the features of urban Jim Crow and the efforts of civic and progressive leaders to restrict their autonomy ultimately produced the circumstances under which illegality became a form of resistance. Drawing from voluminous prison and arrest records, trial transcripts, personal letters and documents, and investigative reports, Flowe opens up new ways of understanding the black struggle for freedom in the twentieth century. By uncovering the relationship between the fight for civil rights, black constructions of masculinity, and lawlessness, he offers a stirring account of how working-class black men employed extralegal methods to address racial injustice.