Routledge International Handbook of Critical Gang Studies
Routledge International Handbook of Critical Gang Studies is rooted in the instability inequality and liquidity of the post-industrial era. It understands the gang as a complex and contradictory phenomenon; a socio-historical agent that reflects responds to and creates a certain structured environment in spaces which are always in flux. International in scope and drawing on a range of sociological criminological and anthropological traditions it looks beyond pathological ahistorical and non-transformative approaches and considers other important factors that produce the phenomenon whether the historically entrenched racialized power structure and segregation in Chicago; the unconstrained state-abandoned development of favelas in Brazil; or the colonization displacement and dependency of people in Central America. This handbook reflects and defines the new theoretical and empirical traditions of critical gang studies. It offers a variety of perspectives including: A view of gangs that takes into consideration the global context and appearance of the gang in its various forms and stages of development; An appreciation of the gang as a socio-cultural formation; A race-ethnic and class analysis of the gang that problematizes domain assumptions such as the underclass; Gender variations of the gang phenomenon with a particular emphasis on their intersectional properties; Relations between gangs and the political economy that address the dominant mode of production and exchange; Treatments that demonstrate the historically contingent nature of gangs and their changes across time; The contradictory impact of gang repressive policies institutions and practices as part of a broader discussion on the nature of the state in specific societies; and Critical methodologies on gangs that involve discussions of visual and textual representations and the problematics of data collection and analysis. Authoritative multi-disciplinary and international this book will be of interest to criminologists sociologists and anthropologists alike particularly those engaged with critical criminology/sociology youth crime delinquency and global social inequality. The Handbook will also be of interest to policy makers and those in the peacebuilding field.