Globalising Risk? Distinguishing Styles of 'Neo-Liberal' Criminal Justice in Australia and the USA

Abstract:     
The thesis of the 'risk society' has become enormously influential as an explanation of the spread of risk as a way of governing diverse institutions and areas of life. While some criminologists have used it to analyse changes in criminal justice, this chapter argues that such a framework tells us very little about how, why and with what implications the mobilisation of risk in different jurisdictions varies significantly. Likewise, while neo-liberal politics is widely regarded as shaping risk in criminal justice, neo-liberalism has become itself a highly diverse politics. It is articulated with social democrats, neo-conservatives and others - producing very different criminal justice polices. Analysis of how risk is applied to criminal justice needs to take into account the specificities of local situations with regard both to risk and to neo-liberalism as 'master' explanations in contemporary criminology.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 29

Keywords: risk, security, criminal justice, policing, globalization, neo-liberalism

JEL Classification: K10, K14, K30, K33

Accepted Paper Series