‘The Earth is one but the world is not’: Criminological theory and its geopolitical divisions

Abstract

The article addresses the prevailing assumptions about geo-political context in criminological theory. It draws on a well-developed and prolonged critique within sociology, gender and postcolonial studies, of the seemingly context-free nature of western social theory and its assumptions about the universality of its knowledge production. The article’s particular concern is criminology’s engagement with the global. By examining the ‘situated identity’ of criminological theory, and its claims to universality, the article raises questions about who produces theory, who has access to the universal, and what are the potential consequences for our understanding of the global.