Critical Historical Criminology in the Antipodean: Unthinking History and Criminology in the Global South

Abstract

This paper makes a call for a critical historical criminology of the antipodean and the Global South. It makes a preliminary argument for a critical historical criminology that is against method and in favour of political alliances with critical perspectives that can enrich historico‑criminological understandings in an antipodean and Southern context. In particular, this paper explores the potential for a politico-academic alliance between critical historical criminology and postcolonial studies, Southern theory and Indigenous research. Such politico-academic alliances reveal that critical historical criminology is best understood as a negation of both criminology and history and that historical criminology does not have to be understood as a new sub-discipline and academic specialism at the intersection of history and criminology. On the contrary, this paper argues that historical criminology can be approached as a critical attempt to ‘unthink the social sciences’ and to ‘de-discipline ourselves’.

Renewing Historical Criminology: Scope, Significance, and Future Directions

“…8-9)-and hence a mode of historical inquiry fit for the practical and political purposes of criminology (Garland 2014, Pratt 1996. Expanding upon this genealogical inheritance, Roberto Catello (2019Catello ( , 2021 has argued at length that historical criminology as such should be understood somewhat similarly-as a field of inquiry that mobilizes historical materials to address questions concerning contemporary crime and justice. He sees historical criminology as a domain of practical inquiry, interrogating what ought to be done about criminal justice in the present and future.…”

“…viii-xiv). Seen as such, historical criminology is a rather neglected field of research, stifled by the historicist outlook and intent that pervades historical scholarship on crime and justice (Catello 2019(Catello , 2021. To flourish, historical criminology must liberate itself from historicism and seek out fresh insights to guide action in the here and now.…”