Southern criminology has been recognized as a leading theoretical development for attempting to overcome the perpetuation of colonial power relations reflected in the unequal flow of knowledge between the Global North and Global South. Critics, however, have pointed out that Southern criminology runs the risk of recreating epistemicide and colonial power structures by reproducing colonial epistemology and by being unable to disentangle itself from the hegemony of Western modern thought. This article introduces the approach of the “decolonial option,” which suggests that all our contemporary ways of being, interacting, knowing, perceiving, sensing, and understanding are fundamentally shaped by coloniality—long-standing patterns of power that emerged because of colonialism and that are still at play (Maldonado-Torres 2007; Quijano 1992). The “decolonial option” seeks ways of knowing and being that heal, resist, and transform these deeply harmful and embedded patterns of power. Drawing on the “decolonial option,” this article aims to provide a constructive critique of Southern criminology by facilitating a better understanding of “coloniality” and offering an epistemological shift that is necessary to move toward global and cognitive justice. The rupture and paradigm shift in criminological knowledge production offered by the “decolonial option” dismantles criminology’s Western universalist narratives and its logic of separation that lie in modernity. By doing so, it provides a different understanding of modernity that looks behind its universalizing narratives and designs (e.g., development, progress, salvation) to expose “coloniality”—modernity’s dark, destructive side. While the “decolonial option” does not entail a universalizing mission, it is an option—one of the many paths that one can select to undertake decolonial work—and this article argues that if Southern criminology were to incorporate the decolonial epistemological and conceptual framework, it could better insulate itself from certain consequences of “coloniality” that it risks embodying.

No abstract

Street worlds of love and pain, of honour and respect, of hate and frustration, of dreams and excitement, of violence and crime and of coolness and enjoyment are only some of the aspects of urban streets' lived experiences that are explored in a fascinating manner by Ilan. The author does not limit himself to the investigation of these micro-aspects of street culture but rather unfolds its complex relationship with and interconnections to the meso-level of culture and the macro-level of social structures. In the former, he demonstrates simultaneous processes of inclusion and exclusion through the commodification of transgression (tied to the notion of 'cool') by cultural industries on the one hand, and on the other, the continuous stigmatization and marginalization of the urban poor. This ends up shaping a contradictory duality in public perceptions of street culture, that of fear and fascination and allure and repulsion. Hence, the book explores and provides a better understanding of the ways in which 'street culture is intertwined with processes of social inclusion and exclusion' (p. 2).Such processes are further investigated on a macro-level, where arguably one of the most important contributions of the book lay. Street culture's complexities, dynamics and significance are situated and explored within a global framework. Specifically, globalized neoliberal politics accompanied by neoconservative policies of crime control have had a key role in the shaping and proliferation of street cultures by deepening inequalities, accelerating processes of social exclusion and simultaneously infusing consumerist values. By adopting a global perspective, the book on the one hand demonstrates similarities and differences between and within Global South and Global North contexts, while on the other hand, it calls for a 'decolonial' approach (see Mignolo, 2000) to be followed. An approach that no longer stays Western focused and hence blind to experiences and knowledge generated in different geographical contexts. This is arguably a very important step forward in the constitution of knowledge not only for criminology but also for all social sciences.Methodologically, the book demonstrates the value of ethnography in its ability to be attentive to lived experiences from which a better understanding on how social structures become produced and reproduced in everyday life can be gained. In its totality, the book presents a new way of understanding street culture. It offers Young 23(4) 373-375

This paper considers borders as ubiquitous and pervasive social relations and as sites of struggles, which are shaped through and transformed by social antagonisms and contestations. While much discussion of border struggles focuses on migrants' resistance and various forms of activism, this paper provides insights on the micro-resistance of those who, instead of overtly opposing and contesting the biopolitical power of border regimes, are integral to their operation: asylum caseworkers who filter and select bordercrossers. The paper presents data from interviews with selfidentified leftist asylum caseworkers in Greece who, through their work, seek to create cracks in the so-called 'Fortress Europe'. By exploring the somewhat unexplored occupational culture of leftist asylum caseworkers, we show how, while trying to resist bordering regimes, leftist asylum caseworkers both critique and reproduce the power relations they seek to subvert. Essentially, we provide valuable insights on the limits of resistance due to the workings of powerful technologies of governmentinformed by neoliberal managerialismthat are operational in day-to-day life of the asylum process. The paper thus provides a novel exploration of the complex and entangled relation between technologies of power and micro-resistances within border regimes in the significant context of Greece.