Policing, Popular Culture and Political Economy: Towards a Social Democratic Criminology

478 Pages·2011·59.555 MB·English

by  Robert Reiner

POLICING, POPULAR CULTURE AND POLITICAL ECONOMY
PIONEERS IN CONTEMPORARY CRIMINOLOGY
Series Editor: David Nelken
The titles in this series bring together the best published and unpublished work by the leading
authorities in contemporary criminological theory. By drawing together articles from a wide
range of journals, conference proceedings and books, each title makes readily available the
authors' most important writings on specific themes. Each volume in this series includes a
lengthy introduction, written by the editor and a significant piece of scholarship in its own
right, which outlines the context of the work and comments on its significance and potential.
The collected essays complement each other to give a retrospective view of the authors'
achievements and a picture of the development of criminology as a whole.
Titles in the series
A Criminological Imagination
Pat Carlen
Working Out of Crime
David Downes
Building Modern Criminology: Forays and Skirmishes
David F Greenberg
Crime, Institutional Knowledge and Power
Kevin D. Haggerty, Aaron Doyle and Janet Chan
Policing, Popular Culture and Political Economy
Robert Reiner
Victims, Policy-making and Criminological Theory
Paul Rock
Essays on Transnational Crime and Policing
James Sheptycki
Thinking about Punishment
Michael Tonry
Policing, Popular Culture and
Political Economy
Towards a Social Democratic Criminology
ROBERT REINER
London School of Economics, UK
PIONEERS IN CONTEMPORARY CRIMINOLOGY SERIES
First published 2011 by Ashgate Publishing
Published 2016 by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint a/the Taylor & Francis Group, an if/forma business
Copyright © 2011 Robert Reiner
Robert Reiner has asserted his moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act,
1988, to be identified as the author ofthis work,
All rights reserved, No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any
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Notice:
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used
only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
ISBN 9781409426363 (hbk)
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Reiner, Robert, 1946-
Policing, popular culture and political economy: towards a
social democratic criminology. - (Pioneers in contemporary
criminology)
I. Police. 2. Law enforcement. 3. Crime-Government
policy. 4. Police in popular culture. 5. Criminal law.
I. Title II. Series
363.2-dc22
Library of Congress Control Num ber: 2011921395
Contents
Acknowledgements vii
Introduction ix
Part I Policing
The Police, Class and Politics
Marxism Today, March, 1978, pp. 69-80. 3
2 The Police in the Class Structure
British Journal of Law and Society, 5, 1978, pp. 166-84. 15
3 Fuzzy Thoughts: The Police and Law-and-Order Politics
Sociological Review, 28, 1980, pp. 377--413. 35
4 In the Office of Chief Constable
Current Legal Problems, 41,1988, pp. 135-68. 73
5 Policing A Postmodern Society
Modern Law Review, 55,1992, pp. 761-81. 107
6 From PC Dixon to Dixon PLC: Policing and Police Powers since 1954
with T. Newburn, Criminal Law Review, 2004, pp. 601-18. 129
7 Neophilia or Back to Basics? Policing Research and the Seductions of Crime Control
Policing and Society, 17,2007, pp. 89-101. 147
8 New Theories of Policing: A Social Democratic Critique
in T. Newburn, D. Downes and D. Hobbs (eds) The Eternal Recurrence of
Crime and Control: Essaysfor Paul Rock, Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2010, pp. 141-82. 161
Part II Popular Culture and Crime
9 The New Blue Films
New Society, 43, 1978, pp. 706-708. 205
vi POLICING, POPULAR CULTURE AND POLITICAL ECONOMY
10 True Lies: Changing [mages of Crime in British Postwar Cinema
with Jessica Allen and Sonia Livingstone, European Journal o/Communication,
13, [998, pp. 53-75. 21 [
11 Media, Crime, Law and Order
Scottish Journal 0/ Criminal Justice Studies, 12, 2006, pp. 5-21. 235
Part III Politica[ Economy of Crime and Control
12 The State and British Criminology
British Journal o/Criminology, 28,1988, pp. [38-58. 255
13 Crime and Control in Britain
Sociology, 34, 2000, pp. 71-94. 277
14 Beyond Risk: A Lament for Social Democratic Criminology
in T. Newburn and P. Rock (eds), The Politics o/Crime Control:
Essays in Honour 0/ David Downes, Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2006, pp. 7--49. 30[
15 Law and Order-A 20:20 Vision
Current Legal Problems, 59,2006, pp. [29-60. 345
16 Neo-liberalism, Crime and Criminal Justice
Renewal, 14,2006, pp. [0-22. 377
17 The Law and Order Trap
Soundings: A Journal 0/ Politics and Culture, 40,2008, pp. [23-34. 39 [
18 Citizenship, Crime, Criminalization: Marshalling a Social Democratic Perspective
New Criminal Law Review, 13,2010, pp. 24[-61. 403
List 0/ Publications 425
Name Index 435
Acknowledgements
The chapters in this volume are taken from the sources listed below. The editor and publishers
wish to thank the authors, original publishers or other copyright holders for permission to use
their material as follows:
Chapter 1: 'The Police, Class and Politics', Marxism Today, 1978, pp. 69-80.
Chapter 2: 'The Police in the Class Structure', British Journal ofL aw and Society, 5, 1978,
pp.166-84.
Chapter 3: 'Fuzzy Thoughts: The Police and Law-and-Order Politics', Sociological Review,
28, 1980, pp. 377--413. Copyright © 1980 Robert Reiner.
Chapter 4: 'In the Office of Chief Constable', Current Legal Problems, 41, 1988, pp. 135-
68.
Chapter 5: 'Policing a Postmodern Society', Modern Law Review, 55, 1992, pp. 761-8l.
Chapter 6: 'From PC Dixon to Dixon PLC: Policing and Police Powers since 1954', with
T. Newburn, Criminal Law Review, 2004, pp. 601-18 [129--46]. Copyright © 2004 Taylor
and Francis.
Chapter 7: 'Neophilia or Back to Basics? Policing Research and the Seductions of Crime
Control', Policing and Society, 17,2007, pp. 89-101. Copyright © 2007 Taylor and Francis.
Chapter 8: 'New Theories of Policing: A Social Democratic Critique', in T. Newburn, D.
Downes and D. Hobbs (eds), The Eternal Recurrence ofC rime and Control: Essaysfor Paul
Rock, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010, pp. 141-82.
Chapter 9: 'The New Blue Films', New Society, 43, 1978, pp. 706-708 [204-208].
Chapter 10: 'True Lies: Changing Images of Crime in British Postwar Cinema', with JessicaAllen
and Sonia Livingstone, European Journal of Communication, 13, 1998, pp. 53-75. Copyright ©
1998 Sage Publications.
Chapter 11: 'Media, Crime, Law and Order', Scottish Journal of Criminal Justice Studies,
12, 2006, pp. 5-21.
Vlll POLICING, POPULAR CULTURE AND POLITICAL ECONOMY
Chapter 12: 'The State and British Criminology', British Journal o{Criminology, 28, 1988,
pp. 138-58.
Chapter 13: 'Crime and Control in Britain', Sociology, 34, 2000, pp. 71-94. Copyright ©
2006 BSA Publications Limited.
Chapter 14: 'Beyond Risk: A Lament for Social Democratic Criminology', in T. Newburn
and P. Rock (eds), The Politics of Crime Control: Essays in Honour of David Downes,
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006, pp. 7--49.
Chapter 15: 'Law and Order-A 20:20 Vision', Current Legal Problems, 59, 2006,
pp.129-60.
Chapter 16: 'Neo-liberalism, Crime and Criminal Justice', Renewal, 14,2006, pp. 10-22.
Chapter 17: 'The Law and Order Trap', Soundings: A Journal of Politics and Culture, 40,
2008, pp. 123-34.
Chapter 18: 'Citizenship, Crime, Criminalization: Marshalling a Social Democratic
Perspective', New Criminal Law Review, 13,2010, pp. 241-6l. Copyright © 2010 by the
Regents of the University of California.
Every effort has been made to trace all the copyright holders, but if any have been inadvertently
overlooked the publishers will be pleased to make the necessary arrangement at the first
opportunity.
Introduction
Some 30 years ago I heard an inspiring paper by our series editor, David Nelken, at a
conference on Critical Legal Studies. He remarked that all scholars sought to reach two goals:
to be true and to be good. In the contemporary culture of post- or late (perhaps post-post or
late-late?) modernity either aspiration sounds anachronistic if not sclerotic. And combining
the two is, of course, a perennial problem of the philosophy of science.
I believe that Max Weber's tackling of these issues remains the most credible and
stimulating - shot through, as it is, with unresolved, and probably unresolvable, tensions.
Weber maintains that scientists, including social scientists, have a responsibility (itself, of
course, a moral judgement) to seek objectivity and value-freedom in their research, although
this is never fully attainable - the influence of values seeps through or bursts out inevitably,
and objectivity is an ideal that can be approached asymptotically at best. More obviously,
the choice about what to study is necessarily a value judgement about what is important and
interesting. And at the other end of the spectrum, people of action, only concerned with the
achievement of practical objectives, need information about the likely consequences of what
they plan that is based on an impartial assessment and not one that is tailored to what they
want to hear. If the Light Brigade is to charge into a valley, it is better for its commanders to
be correctly informed that they will face cannons than to be comfortingly told that the valley
is clear. So both politics and science (including criminology) are vocations that must appease
the tensely competing, voracious gods of passion and professionalism: 'ought' and' is' .
The practical implication of this is that the researcher's values should be openly and
clearly declared, so that their influence can be taken into account. But the perennial vice of
social scientists is to hide behind a stance of sticking stubbornly to the facts. This is most
obvious with the positivistic, largely quantitative, research that dominates criminology (at
least numerically), especially in the USA, but it also characterizes what presents itself as the
opposite pole - appreciative studies of deviance. Despite Becker's seminal call, more than
40 years ago, for sociologists of deviance to declare whose side they were on (Becker, 1967),
much labelling theory (and its current rebirth as cultural criminology) purports to offer a
tell-it-like-it-is interpretation of deviant life-worlds, coolly suspending any moral j udgement.
I believe that a failure to come to terms with the moral issues that inevitably underpin its
work is a major Achilles heel of criminology and indeed social science more broadly. It is
also a serious lacuna for the politicallefi, with which I (but not all and perhaps not even most
criminologists) broadly identify. But, as Weber (and Freud) anticipated, the repressed returns
inescapably, often in uncontrollably malignant ways. Values can only be tackled in the open.
This Introduction aims to layout the development of my criminological career, and place
in context the essays which this volume brings together. Following the injunctions above,
I will begin with a brief statement of what I now see as the purposes and predicaments
that have generated my work. The Owl of Minerva flies at dusk: I cannot claim that this