Troubling Publics: A Feminist Analysis of Public Criminology
Abstract
One perspective that has been largely absent from recent “public criminology†debates is that of feminist criminologists. This paper seeks to shed light on these contributions. Feminist scholarship has a strong “public†component. Some go as far as to argue that a commitment to praxis is one of the few things that unites various feminisms. In this paper I outline the various contributions that feminist criminologists, sociologists and socio-legal scholars have made that can be placed under the public criminology banner. I also outline a number of practical criticisms feminists have made about the practice of public scholarship. This paper adds to these criticisms though a theoretical interrogation of the concept of the public. This analysis reveals a number of problematic assumptions contained in and consequences of using the concept of public criminology. I argue a feminist analysis of the concept reveals its inadequacy for critical scholarship.
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