How International Should International Criminology Be?

Abstract

This essay starts by outlining a definition for international criminology. To do so, akin, alternative criminologies are examined to carve a distinct, working concept of international criminology. Following, the global geopolitics of knowledge is analyzed, with specific illustrations of how the dynamics of criminological knowledge concentration, influence and visibility operate. Acknowledging an established intellectual hegemony of the North/center in criminological knowledge production, some of its features are presented in the third part of the article, thus unveiling the challenges international criminologists are faced with. Based on this examination, some rough proposals are introduced in the final section, as a prospect to fashion a truly international criminology. The main argument of this article is that both the discipline and the journal of International Criminology emerge as an alternative to supersede the present geopolitics of knowledge.

The Theoretical Contributions of Asian Criminology in Reconstructing Criminology

“…Criminology and other social sciences in general present a concentration of knowledge production, with some central countries having a privileged position to develop knowledge of theories, discourses and methods. These countries also have an influence on knowledge-production, exporting information to non-English speaking countries in the periphery/ global South/ East, and this unidirectional expansion of knowledge continues to this day (Connell 2014;França 2021). Today, decolonisation has become an influential movement in criminology.…”

Editorial Introduction: From Foundation to Consolidation

“…Finally, promoting a global epistemology means confronting uncomfortable practices within academic research, including parochialism, colonialism, and exclusion (Ayres França, 2021;Franko, 2021;Hagan, 2021;Nivette, 2021;Xenakis, 2021). Being "a truly diverse and inclusive publication" means that we have to expand our geographic representation.…”