Counter-Colonial Criminology A Critique of Imperialist Reason

This book will revolutionize the study of criminology throughout the world and promote the discipline especially in the Third World. ... A groundbreaking book ... [offering ] dazzling brilliance in the development of criminological theory. Ihekwoaba D. Onwudiwe, Associate Professor, Dept. of Criminal Justice, University of Maryland Eastern Shore"It adopts an insightful theoretical approach to the study of criminology. I find the interdisciplinary approach appealing". Jerry Dibua, Morgan State UniversityThis book is about how the history of colonialism has shaped the definition of crime and justice systems not only in former colonies but also in colonialist countries. Biko Agozino argues that criminology in the West was originally tested in the colonies and then brought back to mother countries -- in this way, he claims, the colonial experience has been instrumental in shaping modern criminology in colonial powers. He looks at how radical critiques of mainstream criminology by critical feminist and postmodernist thinkers contribute to an understanding of the relationship between colonial experience and criminology. But he also shows that even critical feminist and postmodernist assessments of conventional criminology do not go far enough as they remain virtually silent on colonial issues. Biko Agozino considers African and other postcolonial literature and contributions to counter colonial criminology, their originality, relevance and limitations. Finally he advocates a "committed objectivity" approach to race-class-gender criminology investigations in order to come to terms with imperialistic and neo-colonialist criminology.

Biko Agozino is associate professor of criminology at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of Black Women and the Criminal Justice System published by Ashgate, 1997, and editor of Theoretical and Methodological Issues in Migration Research, Ashgate 2000.