Fractured Lives, Splintered Knowledge: Making Criminological Sense of the January, 2015 Terrorist Attacks in Paris

Walklate, S ORCID: 0000-0002-1628-9713 and Mythen, G ORCID: 0000-0002-6528-9031 (2016) Fractured Lives, Splintered Knowledge: Making Criminological Sense of the January, 2015 Terrorist Attacks in Paris. Critical Criminology, 24 (3). pp. 333-346.

Text walklate mythen 2016.pdf - Unspecified Download (430kB)

Abstract

Cottee (Br J Criminol 54(6):981–1001, 2014) makes the case that criminology has much to contribute to an understanding of theistic violence. However the ‘hubris of positivism’ (Young in The criminological imagination, Polity, Cambridge, 2011) curtails the criminological imagination and this is particularly evident in the debates that permeate contemporary understandings of religious extremism and radicalisation. Using the terrorist attacks in France 2015 as a touchstone, this paper explores the current state of criminological engagement with these issues. First a synopsis of orthodox current criminological talk about religious extremism and violent crime is considered. Next a critical analysis of the events in Paris based around what is ‘known’ about them is offered in the light of this knowledge. Finally, drawing on the work of Young (2011) the implications of this analysis for criminology are considered resulting in a refinement of the biases identified by Cottee (2014).

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	violent crime, armed robbery, violent extremism, fracture life, Muslim minority
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	15 Apr 2016 09:17
Last Modified:	16 Dec 2022 02:42
DOI:	10.1007/s10612-016-9324-9
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3000575