Social Democratic Criminology

Robert Reiner is one of Britain's most esteemed criminologists. In Social Democratic Criminology, he offers a detailed analysis of the progress made during the social democratic era and the great harms associated with the neoliberal era. Reiner's goals are to persuade a new generation of criminologists of the benefits of social democracy and construct a plan for how we might revive it. Accessible, erudite and always insightful, Reiner's book is sure to become a classic.

Simon Winlow, Professor of Criminology, Northumbria University, UK.

The definitive account of what the author calls the ‘strange death of social democratic criminology’ and its implications for justice and liberty, this book ranges from the roots of social democracy to prospects for a ‘green new deal’. It is challenging, rigorous – and in the current political context – much needed.

Nigel South, Professor of Sociology, University of Essex.

With trademark clarity and moral urgency, Reiner describes the intersecting existential threats facing us and makes the case for reviving social democratic criminology, encompassing both political economy and ethical critique. This important book offers a hopeful vision of criminology’s future. A compelling read for confusing and disquieting times.

Elizabeth Turner, Lecturer in Sociology and Criminology, University of Liverpool.

This book speaks directly to the current moment: the neoliberal era is in crisis, the alternative has yet to be born. Social democracy - adapted and reinvented - can form the base for a broader social and justice movement.

Mary Corcoran, Keele University, UK.

Robert Reiner is one of Britain's most esteemed criminologists. In Social Democratic Criminology, he offers a detailed analysis of the progress made during the social democratic era and the great harms associated with the neoliberal era. Reiner's goals are to persuade a new generation of criminologists of the benefits of social democracy and construct a plan for how we might revive it. Accessible, erudite and always insightful, Reiner's book is sure to become a classic.

Simon Winlow, Professor of Criminology, Northumbria University, UK.

The definitive account of what the author calls the ‘strange death of social democratic criminology’ and its implications for justice and liberty, this book ranges from the roots of social democracy to prospects for a ‘green new deal’. It is challenging, rigorous – and in the current political context – much needed.

Nigel South, Professor of Sociology, University of Essex, UK

With trademark clarity and moral urgency, Reiner describes the intersecting existential threats facing us and makes the case for reviving social democratic criminology, encompassing both political economy and ethical critique. This important book offers a hopeful vision of criminology’s future. A compelling read for confusing and disquieting times.

Elizabeth Turner, Lecturer in Sociology and Criminology, University of Liverpool, UK

This book speaks directly to the current moment: the neoliberal era is in crisis, the alternative has yet to be born. Social democracy - adapted and reinvented - can form the base for a broader social and justice movement.

Mary Corcoran, Keele University, UK.

To say that Robert Reiner is one of the most admired scholars in criminology is to state the more than obvious… What we gain from this book is both a much clearer understanding of a major tradition—one that continues to inform the thinking of many scholars and practitioners around the world, however implicitly—and a sharp sense of the need to rethink and revitalize that current of thought. It is a bold and poignant statement by an extraordinary scholar.

Richard Sparks, University of Edinburgh, UK, Theoretical Criminology

The title and content are courageous, as they evoke philosophies and socio-political arrangements that have long been banned from public debate. Reiner’s Social Democracy claims not only the legacy of Rosa Luxemburg but also the political right to expose the dysfunctions of contemporary democratic systems. Think of the incessant centralization of power, the expansion of plutocracies and the failure to build an emancipated, egalitarian and sustainable future. Think of how contemporary democracies keep denying their own principles in order to allegedly defend themselves; how, in brief, their resources for self-correction are extremely poor. It seems to me that Social Democracy, in the way Reiner proposes it, contains a set of values that may stop current democracies from de-democratizing.

Vincenzo Ruggiero, Middlesex University, UK, The British Journal of Criminology