The criminal is political : real existing liberalism and the construction of the criminal
The familiar irony of âreal existing socialism' is that it never was. Socialist ideals were used to legitimise regimes that fell far short of realising those ideals â indeed, that violently repressed anyone who tried to realise them. This thesis investigates how the derogatory and depoliticizing concept of the criminal has historically allowed, and continues to allow, liberal ideals to operate in a worryingly similar manner. Across the political spectrum, âcriminal' is used as a slur. That which is criminal is assumed to be bad, and what is more, to be bad in a way that is not politically interesting. I show how this serves to prevent deep dissent from the status quo, and particularly from the existing, unjust order of property, from registering as dissent at all. Feminists have long argued that the exclusion of what is deemed âpersonal' from the sphere of the political is itself a (conservative) political move. I propose that the construction of âthe criminal' as a category opposed to the political constitutes a similar barrier to emancipatory social transformation. I suggest, further, that under conditions of âreal existing liberalism', some kinds of conflict with the law have the potential not
Duff, Koshka
B Philosophy (General) ; HV6001 Criminology ; JA0071 Theory. Relation to other subjects
The criminal is political : real existing liberalism and the construction of the criminal. The familiar irony of âreal existing socialism' is that it never was. Socialist ideals were used to legitimise regimes that fell far short of realising those ideals â indeed, that violently repressed anyone who tried to realise them. This thesis investigates how the derogatory and depoliticizing concept of the criminal has historically allowed, and continues to allow, liberal ideals to operate in a worryingly similar manner. Across the political spectrum, âcriminal' is used as a slur. That which is criminal is assumed to be bad, and what is more, to be bad in a way that is not politically interesting. I show how this serves to prevent deep dissent from the status quo, and particularly from the existing, unjust order of property, from registering as dissent at all. Feminists have long argued that the exclusion of what is deemed âpersonal' from the sphere of the political is itself a (conservative) political move. I propose that the construction of âthe criminal' as a category opposed to the political constitutes a similar barrier to emancipatory social transformation. I suggest, further, that under conditions of âreal existing liberalism', some kinds of conflict with the law have the potential not
criminal political real exist liberalism construction criminal familiar irony real exist socialism never socialist ideal use legitimise regime fell far short realise ideal indeed anyone tried realise them investigates derogatory concept criminal historically allow continue allow liberal ideal operate similar manner across political_spectrum criminal use criminal assume bad bad way politically interesting show serve prevent deep dissent status_quo particularly exist unjust order property register dissent all long argue exclusion deem personal sphere political conservative political move propose construction criminal category oppose political constitutes similar barrier emancipatory social_transformation suggest condition real exist liberalism kinds conflict law potential