Crimes of the Powerful: A Reader

Crimes of the powerful - the crimes committed by state institutions and private business organizations or corporations – are often overlooked by Criminology, or are treated at best as a mildly interesting diversion from the real business of crime and criminal justice. Indeed, academic Criminology in the main tends to reinforce the idea that the real problems of society can be located in the lower strata of society and is yet to come to terms with overwhelming evidence that crimes of the institutionally powerful kill, rip off and steal from more people than crimes committed by individuals.

This exciting Reader introduces debates on crimes of the powerful with a selection of 45 extracts from key authors. Each section of the book is introduced with an original essay to contextualize the readings and explain their importance for rethinking the relationship between crime and power.

The book is organised into the following sections:

• State, Violence and Crime
• Partners in Crime
• Capitalism and Crimes of the Powerful
• Law and the Corporation
• Explanations
• Definitions
• The Problem of Criminalization

If we are to fully understand the crimes of the powerful, it is crucial to recognise that the process of criminalisation is profoundly influenced by state institutions and corporations – and more importantly, by the relationship between them. The readings in this book show how their ability to both make and break the law remains a key source of power for those institutions.

Crimes of the Powerful explores how law and 'crime' provide a framework for configuring and reproducing social relations of power, in doing so, provides criminology, sociology, politics and international relations students with new insights into a subject of growing importance.