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25 Years of Criminology at UON: Looking Back
This year Criminology at UON is celebrating its 25th Anniversary! Exciting times! In line with the celebrations, the Criminology Team have organised a number of events as part of these celebrations. Ranging from the ‘Changing the Narrative’ VAWG event, organised by Dr @paulaabowles and the Deputy Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (PFCC), to a school’s event in June offering out miniature taster sessions to interested, local year12 students (more details T.B.C). As well all the exciting events, we have also had reflections from the Team around what it means to them and their journey with Criminology at UON. It is my journey which I would like to share with you now.
My journey begins in 2012 as a bright eyed and bushy tailed first year student moving away from home to Northampton to study Criminology. Having never done any Criminology, Psychology, Sociology, or Law before I was feeling very much out of my depth. However, little did I realise that my A-levels in Philosophy, Ethics and English Language would hold me steady. The first year was quite overwhelming: there were lots of tears and uncertainties. I remember it taking the entire summer between year 1 and year 2 to get my head around Harvard Referencing. But I survived! It was not until the end of year 2 and beginning of year 3 where I would say I began to ‘thrive’ in the discipline. As a student, one of my highlights was doing a research placement in year 2. Academically, I gained skills which prepared me for the dissertation in the final year, but it also brought me out of my shell much more. Pretty sure there were tears here as well- this has been a common feature of my journey with Criminology (as student and staff)!
In 2015 I graduated from UON with a BA in Criminology and in the September of that year began in the role as an Associate Lecturer in Criminology. This was incredibly scary but also incredibly rewarding. It was very interesting to be on ‘the other side’ of academia having so recently graduated and it took a fair amount of time to transition from student to staff (as academics we are also students so the transition is never fully complete)! I was involved on modules I had not had the privilege of studying and was able to work closely with esteemed colleagues I’d looked up to for so long and who had had a large impact in moulding the criminologist I was (and am today). In the September of 2020, after achieving my MSc in Criminology, I became a full-time lecturer and remain so five years later. The course and University has changed a lot in those 5 years, with some fabulous new modules in the BA and BA Criminology with Psychology courses, new colleagues offering a range of expertise and passion for areas within the discipline and some epic trips with a number of the student cohorts we have been blessed to have.
There have been challenges too, and lots of tears (especially from me), but the progress and evolution of Criminology at UON in the 13 years I have been a part of it have been monumental! Hopefully there will be even more positivity to come in the future. I feel incredibly grateful and blessed to have been involved with Criminology at UON for so long, and always look back on my student days with fondness. I’ve enjoyed my role as a member of staff and enjoyed being a part of the events the Team have organised and the new course which we have designed. A huge ‘Thank you’ must be written to the ‘founding father of Criminology at UON’ @manosdaskalou, without whom my, and many others, journey with Criminology at UON might be non-existent! So cheers to 25 years of Criminology at UON, the ‘founding father’, and to many more wonderful years (and hopefully less tears)!
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25th Year Reflection
I have been part of Criminology at UON as BA Criminology student, then Associate Lecturer then Lecturer in Criminology for about 13 years in total. My last reflection on my Criminology journey was in 2020 as I had just embarked on my new role as a Lecturer in Criminology. Every now and then I reflect on how lucky I am to be able to have a job role which has the potential to encourage a passion for learning, reading, writing, critical thinking as well as other life skills.
When reflecting on the 25th year Criminology anniversary I think mostly of the old Park Campus that I used to frequent and study at as a student. It had quite a nice feel to it and there was also enough surrounding nature for a famous badger to make this place part of its habitat! There were less books available online when I was an undergraduate compared to today so I have fond memories of going to the library often to have a browse and coming away with as many criminology related books that I could fit in my bag at once. Finding places where I could study for hours that were less frequented than the main library also gave me a bit of a buzz. There also used to be a Pavilion bar near to where the majority of exams would take place, one of my favorite past time memories is sipping on a beer in the Pavilion just after the end of my final third year Criminology exam season, (whilst secretly thinking of how I thought the exams went much better than expected).
When reflecting I am also reminded of how lecturers like Dr @manosdaskalou and Dr @paulaabowles can be incredibly inspirational and influential at guiding academic paths (such as my own!). The re-occurring ideas that ‘criminology is everywhere’ and that we should ‘question everything’ has boded well for helping me to make difficult decisions and in thinking about how I interacted with people when I was working within crime related industries.
In more recent years staff and students have moved to a new campus, have worked and studied through the challenges that come with Covid-19 and contextual uncertainties. This year has had some highlights for me, such as working on a new module Imagining Crime. Whereby we used inspiration from the novel 1984 by George Orwell to task students with committing weekly ‘thought crimes’ by seeing/hearing/reading about something criminological and questioning this by using critical thinking. Listening to the development of critical thinking via the ‘thought crime’ method has been a delight. The flexible, creative and multidisciplinary nature of criminology is also quite fabulous for maintaining interest in criminology over a long period of time but also for venturing into new and less explored areas. For instance, staff and students in Imagining Crime had the pleasure of attending a guest speaker session with @saffrongarside about children’s literature and the environment this academic year – at a time when Northampton itself seemed to be struggling to cope with flooding. Of course, this did highlight the importance of seeing environmental issues as criminological issues, but also the importance of considering children’s books as criminologically cultural artifacts, was something completely new and intriguing for me. I also gained a lot from hearing what our students (who are predominantly) young people think about environmental issues outside of the mainstream media angles that I have seen.
To round up, I loved my student life whilst studying BA Criminology and I am sure many others will say ‘ditto to that’. Long may the love for Criminology at UON continue!
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Criminology in the neo-liberal milieu
I do not know whether the title is right nor whether it fits what I want to say, but it is sort of catchy, well I think so anyway even if you don’t. I could never have imagined being capable of thinking up such a title let alone using words such as ‘milieu’ before higher education. I entered higher education halfway through a policing career. I say entered; it was more of a stumble into. A career advisor had suggested I might want to do a management diploma to advance my career, but I was offered a different opportunity, a taster module at a ‘new’ university. I was fortunate, I was to renew an acquaintance with Alan Marlow previously a high-ranking officer in the police and now a senior lecturer at the university. Alan, later to become an associate professor and Professor John Pitts became my mentors and I never looked back, managing to obtain a first-class degree and later a PhD. I will be forever grateful to them for their guidance and friendship. I had found my feet in the vast criminology ocean. However, what at first was delight in my achievements was soon to be my Achilles heel.
Whilst policing likes people with knowledge and skills, some of the knowledge and skills butt up against the requirements of the role. Policing is functional, it serves the criminal justice system, such as it, and above all else it serves its political masters. Criminology however serves no master. As criminologists we are allowed to shine our spotlight on what we want, when we want. Being a police officer tends to put a bit of a dampener on that and required some difficult negotiating of choppy waters. It felt like I was free in a vast sea but restrained with a life ring stuck around my arms and torso with a line attached so as to never stray too far from the policing ideology and agenda. But when retirement came, so too came freedom.
By design or good luck, I landed myself a job at another university, the University of Northampton. I was interviewed for the job by Dr @manosdaskalou., along with Dr @paulaabowles (she wasn’t Dr then but still had a lot to say, as criminologists do), became my mentors and good friends. I had gone from one organisation to another. If I thought I knew a lot about criminology when I started, then I was wrong. I was now in the vast sea without a life ring, freedom was great but quite daunting. All the certainties I had were gone, nothing is certain. Theories are just that, theories to be proved, disproved, discarded and resurrected. As my knowledge widened and I began to explore the depths of criminology, I realised there was no discernible bottom to knowledge. There was only one certainty, I would never know enough and discussions with my colleagues in criminology kept reminding me that was the case.
Why the ‘neo-liberal milieu’ you might ask, after all this seems to be a romanticised story about a seemingly successful transition from one career to another. Well, here’s the rub of it, universities are no different to policing, both are driven, at an arm’s length, by neo liberal ideologies. The business is different but subjugation of professional ideals to managerialist ideology is the same. Budgets are the bottom line; the core business is conducted within considerable financial constraints. The front-line staff take the brunt of the work; where cuts are made and processes realigned, it is the front-line staff that soak up the overflow. Neo-Taylorism abounds, as spreadsheets to measure human endeavour spring up to aide managers both in convincing themselves, and their staff, that more work is possible in and even outside, the permitted hours. And to maintain control, there is always, the age-old trick of re-organisation. Keep staff on their toes and in their place, particularly professionals.
The beauty of being an academic, unlike a police officer, is that I can have an opinion and at least for now I’m able to voice it. But such freedoms are under constant threat in a neo-liberal setting that seems to be seeping into every walk of life. And to be frank and not very academic, it sucks!
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Will Keir Starmer’s plans to abolish NHS England, help to save the NHS?
In a land-mark event, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has unveiled plans to abolish NHS England, to bring the NHS back into government control. Starmer justifies much of this change with streamlining operations and enhancing efficiency within the NHS, that in recent years has faced a backlash following long queues and an over-stretched staff pool. Moreover, this is part of Starmer’s plan to limit the power of control from bureaucratic systems.
NHS England was established in 2013 and has taken control and responsibility of the NHS’s daily operational priorities. Primarily, NHS England is invested in allocating regional funds to local health care systems and ensuring the smooth delivery of health care across the NHS. However, concerns, particularly in Parliament have been raised in relation to the merging of NHS England and the Department’s of Health and Social care that is alleged by critics to have brought inefficient services and an increase of administrative costs.
Considering this background, the plans to abolish NHS England, for Starmer come under two core priorities. The first is enhancing democratic accountability. This is to ensure that the expenditures of the NHS are contained within government control, thus it is alleged that this will improve efficiency and suitable allocation of spending. The second is to reduce the number of redundancies. This is backed by the idea that by streamlining essential services will allow for more money to be allocated to fund new Doctors and Nurses, who of course work on the front line.
This plan by Starmer has been met with mixed reviews. As some may say that it is necessary to bring the NHS under government control, to eliminate the risks of inefficient services. However, some may also question if taking the NHS under government control may necessarily result in stability and harmony. What must remain true to the core of this change is the high-quality delivery of health care to patients of the NHS. The answer to the effectiveness of this policy will ostensibly be made visible in due course. As readers in criminology, this policy change should be of interest to all of us… This policy will shape much of our public access to healthcare, thus contributing to ideas on health inequalities. From a social harm perspective, this policy is of interest, as we witness how modes of power and control play a huge role in instrumentally shaping people’s lives.
I am interested to hear any views on this proposal- feel free to email me and we can discuss more!
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A Love Letter to Criminology at UON
In 2002, I realised I was bored, I was a full-time wife and parent with a long-standing part-time job in a supermarket. I first started the job at 15, left at 18 to take up a job at the Magistrates’ court and rejoined the supermarket shortly after my daughter was born. My world was comfortable, stable and dependable. I loved my family but it was definitely lacking challenge. My daughter was becoming increasingly more independent, I was increasing my hours and moving into retail management and I asked myself, is this it? Once my daughter had flown the nest, could I see myself working in a supermarket for the rest of my life? None of this is to knock those those that work in retail, it is probably the best training for criminology and indeed life, that anyone could ask for! I got to meet so many people, from all backgrounds, ethnicities, ages, religions and classes. It taught me that human beings are bloody awkward, including myself. But was it enough for me and if it wasn’t, what did I want?
At school, the careers adviser suggested I could work in Woolworths, or if I tried really hard at my studies and went to college, I might be able to work for the Midland Bank (neither organisation exists today, so probably good I didn’t take the advice!). In the 1980s, nobody was advocating the benefits of university education, at least not to working-class children like me. The Equal Pay Act might have been passed in 1970 but even today we’re a long way from equality in the workplace for women. In the 1980s there was still the unwritten expectation (particularly for working class children from low socio economic backgrounds) that women would get married, have children and perhaps have a part-time job but not really a career….I was a textbook example! I had no idea about universities, knew nobody that had been and assumed they were for other people, people very different from me.
That changed in 2002, I had read something in a newspaper about a Criminology course and I was fascinated. I did not know you could study something like that and I had so many questions that I wanted to answer. As regular readers of the blog will know I’m a long-standing fan of Agatha Christie whose fiction regularly touches upon criminological ideas. Having been born and raised in North London, I was very familiar with HMP Holloway’s buildings, both old and new, which raised lots of questions for a curious child, around who lived there, how did they get in and out and what did they do to the women held inside. Reading suffragette narratives had presented some very graphic images which further fed the imagination. Let’s just say I had been thinking about criminology, without even knowing such a discipline existed.
Once I was aware of the discipline, I needed to find a way to get over my prejudices around who university was for and find a way of getting in! To cut a long story short, I went to an Open Day and was told, go and get yourself an access course. At the time, it felt very blunt and reinforced my view that universities weren’t for the likes of me! Looking back it was excellent advice, without the access course, I would never have coped, let alone thrived, after years out of education.
In 2004 I started reading BA Criminology, with reading being the operant word. I had been an avid reader since early childhood (the subject of an earlier blog) and suddenly I was presented with a license to read whatever and whenever I wanted and as much as I could devour! For the first time in my life, people could no longer insist that I was wasting time with my head always in a book, I had “official” permission to read and read, I did! I got the chance to read, discuss, write and present throughout the degree. I wrote essays and reports, presented posters and talked about my criminological passions. I got the chance to undertake research, both empirical and theoretical, and lawks did I revel in all this opportunity. Of course, by looking back and reflecting, I forget all the stresses and strains, the anxieties around meeting so many new people, the terror of standing up in front of people, of submitting my first assessment, of waiting for grades….but these all pale into insignificance at the end and three years goes so very quickly….
In the summer of 2007, I had a lovely shiny degree in Criminology from the University of Northampton, but what next? By this point, I had the studying bug, and despite my anticipation that university would provide all the answers, I had a whole new set of questions! These were perhaps more nuanced and sophisticated than before but still driving me to seek answers. As I said earlier, human beings are awkward and at this point I decided, despite my earlier passion, I didn’t want to be put in a box labelled “Criminology“. I felt that I had finally cracked my fear of universities and decided to embark on a MA History of Medicine at Oxford Brookes. I wanted to know why Criminology textbooks and courses still included the racist, sexist, disablist (and plenty more) “theories” of Cesare Lombroso, a man whose ideas of the “born criminal” had been discredited soon after they were published.
But again the old fears returned….what did I know about history or medicine? What if the Criminology degree at Northampton hadn’t been very good, what if they just passed everyone, what if I was kidding myself? Everything at Brookes felt very different to Northampton, everyone on the course had studied BA History there. Their research interests were firmly centred on the past and on medicine, nursing, doctoring, hospitals and clinics and there was me, with my ideas around 20th century eugenics, a quasi-scientific attempt to rationalise prejudice and injustice. Along with studying the discipline, I learnt a lot about how different institutions work, I compared both universities on a regular basis. What did I like about each, what did I dislike. i thought about how academics operate and started to think about how I would be in that profession.
I successfully completed the MA and began to think maybe Northampton hadn’t given me good grades out of our pity or some other misplaced emotion, but that I had actually earnt them. I was very fortunate, I had maintained connection with Criminology at UON, and had the opportunity to tip my toe in the water of academia. I was appointed as an Associate Lecturer (for those not familiar with the title, it is somebody who is hourly paid and contribute as little or as much as the department requires) and had my first foray into university teaching. To put it bluntly, I was scared shitless! But, I loved every second in the classroom, I began to find my feet, slowly but surely, and university which had been so daunting began to seep into my very being.
Fast forward to 2025, I have been involved with UON for almost 22 years, first as a student, then as an academic, achieving my PhD in the process It is worth saying that the transition is not easy, but then nothing worth having ever is. I have gained so much from my studies, my relationship with two universities and the experiences I have had along the way. It is fair to say that I have shed many tears when studying, but also had some of my very highest highs, learning is painful, just watch a small child learning to read or write.
Hopefully, over the past decades I have repaid some of the debt I owe to the academics that have taught me, coached me, mentored me and supported me (special mention must go to @manosdaskalou who has been part of my journey since day 1). My life looks very different to 2002 and it is thanks to so many people, so many opportunities, the two universities that have provided me with a home from home and all of the students I have had the privilege to engage with.
I am so delighted to have been part of Criminology at UON’s 25 years of learning and teaching. To my colleagues, old and new, students, graduates and everyone I have met along the way, I raise my glass. Together we have built something very special, a community of people committed to exploring criminological ideas and making the world an equitable place.
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Book blurbs: a necessity or frill?
I have always been, and imagine I will always be, a lover of books. Until the summer of last year, it has always been physical books. The feel, the smell, the shock when you drop it as you’re drifting off to sleep, the dampness of pages when you’ve picked it up too quickly after getting out of a pool or the sea on holiday and that beautiful crinkle crisp after the page dries. Physical books are beautiful (even the ugly ones). And this holds for academic sources, non-fiction books and novels! One of the joys of selecting a book (new or often second-hand charity gems), is reading the blurb. It might give you a brief introduction to characters you are following, or if an academic source it might provide you with a brief list of topics the book navigates. The blurb might also contain some quotations and reviews expressing the ‘excellence’ or ‘gripping’ nature of the book. And whilst this is generally a positive feature, since reading e-books (where I do not read the blurb or even access the blurb), I have started to wonder if the blurb is actually a hinderance to the potential reader…
Now, this entry is not to debate the great debate of the 21st century: e-book versus book. But rather the format of an e-book not having a blurb per se versus the blurb on the back of a book. I am fortunate enough to have a Kindle: one of my most prized possessions. It’s beautiful, it can be read in all environments (warmth setting and light setting is incredible), it’s lightweight and fits in almost all of my bags and many of my pockets #notsponsored, but I have never read a blurb of a book on the Kindle, and I can’t work out if I’m missing out or if this is actually an improvement of the ‘book selection’ process.
Some positives of not accessing the blurb on the e-readers is it has opened up my reading list astronomically. I have read and loved books I am certain I would never have picked up or purchased had I read what they were about. Some have been heavy, taxing reads but so worth it in the end, others have been bizarre and wonderful but not something I would have ever recommended to myself. Had these been physical books, having read the blurb, these would have been left by me on the shelf and therefore I would have lost out on the joy, wonder and sadness that these books had to offer.
There are of course issues with not reading the blurbs and these issues reinforce the importance of the feature as a necessity and not just a frill. I have also read a number of books I quite simply wish I hadn’t. And had I read the blurb I would have known not to start these monstrosities (once I’ve started, unfortunately my brain makes me finish – commitment [even to books] is important to my brain). I have also read some incredible books but at the wrong time: again had I read the blurb I would have known that this book is not a sensible choice given my headspace.
The issue is most likely me, rather than whether blurbs are actually necessary or just frill. And I’d imagine it’s better to have them and not use them, them not have them and miss them. But if they aren’t being used, they have no purpose and become redundant. Is this a wider symptom of the rise of the e-book or just a side-effect that no one else is concerned about but me? I do not know. But I find it strange how heavily I rely on blurbs with physical books and how void they are with e-books. Are e-books the beginning of the end for blurbs or am I over think this? Penny for your thoughts?
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Concrete Jungle
The 6th February 2025 marked what would have been the 80th birthday of Bob Marley. Despite his passing at the age of 36, his iconic legacy remains through various means; from his music being played and passed down from generation to generation, to the work of his wife, children and grandchildren that work to keep his message and music alive.
I myself was introduced to the music of Bob Marley at a young age by my father. My father played bass guitar in a band and music in our household was very important and a way in which we bonded. My father also had the pleasure to watch Bob Marley play live in the 1970s.
Whilst Bob Marley and Bob Marley and the Wailers have a massive catalogue in which I have many favourites, I wanted to share a personal favourite that may be slightly less known.
I’ve been getting first year students to choose songs and then getting them to try to apply criminological theories that link to the song. I think this would be a good way of getting them thinking and applying their knowledge.
Concrete Jungle by Bob Marley and the Wailers
I love this song for many reasons which I will mention briefly.
Firstly, the lyrics are emotive and powerful. The introductory lyrics state:
No sun will shine in my day today.
The high yellow moon won’t come out to play.
Darkness has covered my light
and has changed my day into night!
These initial lyrics highlight the plight of many individuals living in Kingston, Jamaica at the time. It alludes to the lack of resources, opportunities and hope.
The song continues in this vein
Must be somewhere (sweet life) to be found (out there somewhere for me)
Instead of a concrete jungle
Where the living is harder
Oh man, you’ve got to do your best, yeah (concrete jungle)
No chains around my feet but I’m not free.
I know I am bound here in captivity.
And I’ve never known happiness.
The lyrics are deep and meaningful and Bob Marley sings them with such unrivalled conviction, pain and emotion.
Another poignant lyric in the song is:
I’ve got to pick myself from off the ground, yeah
In this yah concrete jungle
These lyrics highlight two things to me, the bitter feeling of knowing no one is there to help but themselves and second, the sheer resilience of individuals in such situations that pick themselves up from the disadvantage, poverty, and discrimination they face.
Whilst Bob Marley’s voice is unmatched, a moment must be spared to discuss the background vocals, the bass guitar and the guitar solos. Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer’s background vocals are just as important and the higher key provides a great contrast.
Additionally, the bass guitar in this song is an important constant throughout the song, there in the background but still a key element. The guitar solo also adds an extra element to the song and arguably moves this song beyond the genre of reggae to the realm of rock and perhaps a new audience. It’s no wonder rock bands at the time were influenced by reggae music and vice versa. A good example being The Clash’s version of ‘Police and Thieves’, originally sung by Junior Murvin.
So if you have time, listen to the song, maybe a few tunes as each time you may hear and appreciate different elements of the song. I particularly encourage you to watch the performance of Concrete Jungle on The Old Grey Whistle Test, which can be found on YouTube. The live performance shows the emotion in a new way!
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Family life in Tenerife versus the UK
I have recently been on a family holiday with our toddler to Tenerife. We began the journey by getting to an airport in the UK. Whilst there the security checks were done for families alongside everyone else. Toddlers were required to get out of their prams, to have their shoes taken off and could not hold onto their toys. The security seemed relatively tight as my hands were swabbed, my toddler was searched with a security stick and the small volume of water that he was allowed was also swabbed.
Whilst arriving and departing via the airport in Tenerife the security allocated a separate quieter section of space for families, this seemed far more relaxed, staff were smiling and dared to say ‘hola’ and ‘hello’. There were no additional checks and a toddler cup of water was allowed. Some staff were also making a deliberate attempt to identify the names of babies, toddlers and children from boarding passes or passports to be able to greet them by their names with waves and smiles.
Whilst on holiday I could be forgiven for thinking that we were royalty whilst pushing a pram and toddler around the streets. As pedestrians always had the right of way, whenever there is a road to cross, the cars must stop due to zebra-like crossings marking on the ground. There are also plenty of playgrounds and toilets and plenty of opportunity for play outdoors in sea and sand.
Whilst at home in Birmingham (UK) there are far less zebra crossings and on quite a few occasions cars have failed to stop at zebra crossings whilst I have been waiting with a pram and toddler. Baby and toddler swimming pools also seem to be difficult to access due to locations and restrictions on pool opening time frames. There are parks but I have never seen a park within a shopping centre like I did in Tenerife. Despite the UK becoming quite cold in the winter, the ability to access free indoor play during winter time also seems to be a privilege, rather than a given. Whilst there are some fabulous playgroups and library sessions for babies and toddlers, sometimes establishments promoting themselves as ‘family friendly’ places do not always feel friendly to toddlers at all. This is especially the case if toddlers are required to adhere to adult informal rules, such as not touching things or making loud noise. As some how toddlers trying to explore their world are labelled by some as ‘terrible’ at ‘two’ (see below poem by Holly McNish).
Whilst I have no idea about the education system in Tenerife, these experiences did leave me reflecting on the provision of mainstream education for babies, toddlers and children in the UK. In comparison to countries such as Finland, some mainstream UK education settings are often critiqued for limiting play, time spent in the outdoors, creativity and freedom to think (Dorling and Koljonen, 2020). The popularity of European influenced Montessori nurseries and Forest Schools in the UK seem to indicate that some parents do want something different for children. Whilst on mention of difference, UK mainstream educational approaches to difference seem to be about an assimilation type of inclusivity and diversity, rather than celebrating and learning from the variety of UK cultures. For instance, it seems “marvelous” that if attending mainstream schools in the UK some Romany gypsies are required to fit the restrictive and disciplinarian like school mould, i.e., of shutting up and sitting down (see Good English by Tawona Sithole) or sitting straight and not talking (see Julia Donaldson’s children’s book: The Snail and the Whale). Yet there is little (if any) acknowledgment of how some Romany have an educating culture of fostering independence, voice, freedom and creativity through plenty of outdoor play, roaming around and human interaction is a huge positive. Dorling and Koljonen (2020) state that investment in children and family support is incredibly beneficial for society, as well as families. The reflection above left me thinking that more or something different could be done.
Reference:
Dorling, D and Koljonen, A. (2020) Finntopia : What We Can Learn from the World’s Happiest Country. Newcastle upon Tyne: Agenda Publishing.
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Britain’s new relationship with America…Some thoughts
Within the coming weeks, Keir Starmer is due to meet Donald Trump and in doing so has offered an interesting view into the complexities of managing diplomacy in the modern age. Whilst the UK and US work collaboratively through bi-lateral trade agreements, and national security collaborations, the change in power structures within the UK and USA marks significant ideological difference that can arguably present a myriad of implications for both countries and for those countries who are implicated by these relations between Britain and America. In this blog, I will outline some of the factors that ought to be considered as we fast-approach this new age of international relations.
It can be understood that Starmer meeting Trump, despite some ideological difference is rooted in a pragmatic diplomacy approach and for what some might say is for the greater good. In an age of continual risk and uncertainty, allyship across nations has seldom been more necessary nor consolidated. On addressing issues including climate change, national security, trade agreements within a post-Brexit adversity, the relationship between America and Britain I sense is being foregrounded by Starmer’s Labour Government.
Moreover, I consider that Starmer should tread carefully and not appear globally as though he is too strongly aligned with Trump’s policies, especially on foreign policy. This mistake was once made by Tony Blair, following the New Beginnings movement after 9/11. It is essential that whilst we maintain good relations with America, this does not come at a cost to our own sovereignty and influence on global issues. I see here an opportunity for Starmer to re-build Britain’s place on the global stage. Despite this as what some strategists might call a ‘bigger picture’, it goes without saying that Starmer may face backlash from his peers based on his willingness to enter a liaison with Trump’s Government. For many inside and outside of the Labour Party, the politics of Trump are considered dangerous, regressive, and ideologically dumbfounded. I happen to agree with much of these sentiments, and I think there is a risk for Starmer… that will later develop into a dilemma. This dilemma will be between appeasing the party majority and those who hold traditional Labour values in place of moving further into the clutches of the far right, emboldened by neoliberalism. It is no secret however that the Labour party has entered a dangerous liaison with neoliberalism and has alienated many traditional Labour voters and has offered no real political alternative.
Considering this, I sense an apprehension is in the air regarding Starmer’s relationship building with America and Donald Trump, that some might argue might be more counter-productive than good. Starmer must demonstrate political pragmatism and arguably the impact of this government and the governments to come will weigh on these relations… Albeit time will tell in determining how these future relations are mapped out.
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25 years of Criminology
When the world was bracing for a technological winter thanks to the “millennium bug” the University of Northampton was setting up a degree in Criminology. Twenty-five years later and we are reflecting on a quarter of a century. Since then, there have been changes in the discipline, socio-economic changes and wider changes in education and academia.
The world at the beginning of the 21st century in the Western hemisphere was a hopeful one. There were financial targets that indicated a raising level of income at the time and a general feeling of a new golden age. This, of course, was just before a new international chapter with the “war on terror”. Whilst the US and its allies declared the “war on terror” decreeing the “axis of evil”, in Criminology we offered the module “Transnational Crime” talking about the challenges of international justice and victor’s law.
Early in the 21st century it became apparent that individual rights would take centre stage. The political establishment in the UK was leaving behind discussions on class and class struggles and instead focusing on the way people self-identify. This ideological process meant that more Western hemisphere countries started to introduce legal and social mechanisms of equality. In 2004 the UK voted for civil partnerships and in Criminology we were discussing group rights and the criminalisation of otherness in “Outsiders”.
During that time there was a burgeoning of academic and disciplinary reflection on the way people relate to different identities. This started out as a wider debate on uniqueness and social identities. Criminology’s first cousin Sociology has long focused on matters of race and gender in social discourse and of course, Criminology has long explored these social constructions in relation to crime, victimisation and social precipitation. As a way of exploring race and gender and age we offered modules such as “Crime: Perspectives of Race and Gender” and “Youth, Crime and the Media”. Since then we have embraced Kimberlé Crenshaw’s concept of intersectionality and embarked on a long journey for Criminology to adopt the term and explore crime trends through an increasingly intersectional lens. Increasingly our modules have included an intersectional perspective, allowing students to consider identities more widely.
The world’s confidence fell apart when in 2008 in the US and the UK financial institutions like banks and other financial companies started collapsing. The boom years were replaced by the bust of the international markets, bringing upheaval, instability and a lot of uncertainty. Austerity became an issue that concerned the world of Criminology. In previous times of financial uncertainty crime spiked and there was an expectation that this will be the same once again. Colleagues like Stephen Box in the past explored the correlation of unemployment to crime. A view that has been contested since. Despite the statistical information about declining crime trends, colleagues like Justin Kotzé question the validity of such decline. Such debates demonstrate the importance of research methods, data and critical analysis as keys to formulating and contextualising a discipline like Criminology. The development of “Applied Criminological Research” and “Doing Research in Criminology” became modular vehicles for those studying Criminology to make the most of it.
During the recession, the reduction of social services and social support, including financial aid to economically vulnerable groups began “to bite”! Criminological discourse started conceptualising the lack of social support as a mechanism for understanding institutional and structural violence. In Criminology modules we started exploring this and other forms of violence. Increasingly we turned our focus to understanding institutional violence and our students began to explore very different forms of criminality which previously they may not have considered. Violence as a mechanism of oppression became part of our curriculum adding to the way Criminology explores social conditions as a driver for criminality and victimisation.
While the world was watching the unfolding of the “Arab Spring” in 2011, people started questioning the way we see and read and interpret news stories. Round about that time in Criminology we wanted to break the “myths on crime” and explore the way we tell crime stories. This is when we introduced “True Crimes and Other Fictions”, as a way of allowing students and staff to explore current affairs through a criminological lens.
Obviously, the way that the uprising in the Arab world took charge made the entire planet participants, whether active or passive, with everyone experiencing a global “bystander effect”. From the comfort of our homes, we observed regimes coming to an end, communities being torn apart and waves of refugees fleeing. These issues made our team to reflect further on the need to address these social conditions. Increasingly, modules became aware of the social commentary which provides up-to-date examples as mechanism for exploring Criminology.
In 2019 announcements began to filter, originally from China, about a new virus that forced people to stay home. A few months later and the entire planet went into lockdown. As the world went into isolation the Criminology team was making plans of virtual delivery and trying to find ways to allow students to conduct research online. The pandemic rendered visible the substantial inequalities present in our everyday lives, in a way that had not been seen before. It also made staff and students reflect upon their own vulnerabilities and the need to create online communities. The dissertation and placement modules also forced us to think about research outside the classroom and more importantly outside the box!
More recently, wars in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia have brought to the forefront many long posed questions about peace and the state of international community. The divides between different geopolitical camps brought back memories of conflicts from the 20th century. Noting that the language used is so old, but continues to evoke familiar divisions of the past, bringing them into the future. In Criminology we continue to explore the skills required to re-imagine the world and to consider how the discipline is going to shape our understanding about crime.
It is interesting to reflect that 25 years ago the world was terrified about technology. A quarter of a century later, the world, whilst embracing the internet, is worriedly debating the emergence of AI, the ethics of using information and the difference between knowledge and communication exchanges. Social media have shifted the focus on traditional news outlets, and increasingly “fake news” is becoming a concern. Criminology as a discipline, has also changed and matured. More focus on intersectional criminological perspectives, race, gender, sexuality mean that cultural differences and social transitions are still significant perspectives in the discipline. Criminology is also exploring new challenges and social concerns that are currently emerging around people’s movements, the future of institutions and the nature of society in a global world.
Whatever the direction taken, Criminology still shines a light on complex social issues and helps to promote very important discussions that are really needed. I can be simply celebratory and raise a glass in celebration of the 25 years and in anticipation of the next 25, but I am going to be more creative and say…
To our students, you are part of a discipline that has a lot to say about the world; to our alumni you are an integral part of the history of this journey. To those who will be joining us in the future, be prepared to explore some interesting content and go on an academic journey that will challenge your perceptions and perspectives. Radical Criminology as a concept emerged post-civil rights movements at the second part of the 20th century. People in the Western hemisphere were embracing social movements trying to challenge the established views and change the world. This is when Criminology went through its adolescence and entered adulthood, setting a tone that is both clear and distinct in the Social Sciences. The embrace of being a critical friend to these institutions sitting on crime and justice, law and order has increasingly become fractious with established institutions of oppression (think of appeals to defund the police and prison abolition, both staples within criminological discourse. The rigour of the discipline has not ceased since, and these radical thoughts have led the way to new forms of critical Criminology which still permeate the disciplinary appeal. In recent discourse we have been talking about radicalisation (which despite what the media may have you believe, can often be a positive impetus for change), so here’s to 25 more years of radical criminological thinking! As a discipline, Criminology is becoming incredibly important in setting the ethical and professional boundaries of the future. And don’t forget in Criminology everyone is welcome!
Thoughts from the criminology team 