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The Creation of Patriarchy (Women and History, Volume #1)
by Gerda LernerA major new work by a leading historian and pioneer in Women's Studies, The Creation of Patriarchy is a radical reconceptualization of the history of Western civilization that makes gender central to its analysis. The author argues that male dominance over women is the product of historical development and is not "natural" or biological and hence unchangeable. Therefore patriarchy as a system of organizing society can be ended by historical process. Lerner focuses on the contradiction between women's central role in creating society and their marginality in the meaning-giving process of interpretation and explanation. This fascinating paradox leads her to an exploration of nearly 2,600 years of human history and into the cultures of the ancient Near East, notably the Mesopotamian and ancient Hebrew societies, from whence the major gender metaphors of Western civilization are largely derived. Using historical, literary, archeological, and artistic evidence, Lerner traces the development of the leading ideas, symbols and metaphors by which partiarchal gender relations were incorporated into Western civilization. The book abounds with brilliant--and controversial--insights. Lerner propounds a startling new theory of class, showing the different ways in which class is structured for and experienced by men and women. She locates the origins of slavery in the earlier practice of "exchanging women" in marriage among tribes and shows that women of conquered tribes were the first slaves. In addition, the book contends that the exclusion of women from the role of mediator with the Divine--the dethroning of the fertility goddess and priestesses and the conceptualizing of men and women as essentially different creatures in Greek philosophy--represented the decisive turning points in the way gender is symbolized in Western civilization.
The Creation of Woman: A Psychoanalytic Enquiry into the Myth of Eve
by Theodor ReikTheodor Rеіk attempts to unravel the mystery of the Eve myth he bet gins with the two conflicting versions of the creation of woman in Genesis. In one passage, Genesis states that “God created man in his own image...male and female created he them,” and in a subsequent passage that God made Adam first and then created Eve out of Adam’s rib. Various interpretations offered by the rabbis, the poets, theologians, and Biblical scholars are examined, and the author shows how the statement that Eve was fashioned from Adam’s rib is still unexplained despite the efforts of higher criticism, anthropology, and the comparative science of religion.Dr. Reik offers a unique approach to the problem of the creation of woman, forming his own original and exciting assumptions. Using the findings of archaeology and anthropology as well as psychoanalysis, he explores the dark world of ritual, the tribal mysteries of primitive societies in which boys at puberty were supposed to die and be resurrected before they were permitted to marry Analytic comparison of the Eve myth with primitive ritual leads to the reconstruction of the primal form of the Biblical story and to the suggestion that it was not concerned with the birth of Eve but with the rebirth of the ancestral Adam. The author also suggests the possibility if a mother goddess in a still earlier phase: of the Hebrew religion.The late Theodor Reik is the author of Listening with the Third Еar, The Secret Self, Myth and Guilt, and Mystery on the Mountain.
The Creative Capital of Cities: Interactive Knowledge Creation and the Urbanization Economies of Innovation (IJURR Studies in Urban and Social Change Book Series #79)
by Stefan KrätkeThis book challenges the new urban growth concepts of the creative class and creative industries from a critical urban theory perspective. Critiques Richard Florida's popular books about cities and the creative class Presents an alternative approach based on analyses of empirical research data concerning the German urban system and the case study regions, Hanover and Berlin Underscores that the culture industry takes a leading role in conforming with neoliberal conceptions of labor markets
The Creative Class Goes Global (Regions and Cities)
by Richard Florida Bjørn T. Asheim Charlotta Mellander Meric GertlerCharlotta Mellander Meric GertlerThe whole landscape of research in urban studies was revolutionized by the publication of Richard Florida’s The Rise of the Creative Class in 2002, and his subsequent book entitled The Flight of the Creative Class has helped to maintain a decade-long explosion of interest in the field. While these two books examine the creative class in the context of the United States, research has emerged which investigates the creative class worldwide. This book brings together detailed studies of the creative class in cities across the globe, examining the impact of the creative class on growth and development. The countries covered include the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Australia, China, Japan and Canada, in addition to the United States. Taken together, the contributions deepen our understanding of the creative class and the various factors that affect regional development, highlighting the similarities and differences between the creative class and economic development across countries. This book will be of great interest to scholars of economic geography, regional economics, urban sociology and cultural policy, as well as policy makers involved in urban development.
The Creative Edge: Emerging Individualism in Japan
by Kuniko MiyanagaForeign interpretations of Japan hinge, in large measure, on the notion of a simple homogeneous culture in which individuality is subsumed in collective enterprise. Such interpretations posit a society organized with incredible efficiency for economic superperformance, a society to be, at once, feared and emulated. In this volume, Kumiko Miyanaga argues that the simplistic view of monolithic collectivity is misleading, and that Japan is undergoing a period of social transformation in which traditional attitudes toward collectivism and individualism are shifting in favor of the latter.Miyanaga finds that individualism is flourishing most significantly in the area of entrepreneurship, thus invigorating an already vital Japan. The author begins with a carefully nuanced analysis of the traditional and contemporary relationship between individual and collective attitudes. Historically, individualism has been a quiet, peripheral subculture, a refuge for society's dropouts, expressing itself chiefly in religion and art, and influencing little in the way of social change.With the acceleration of economic and technological growth since the 1960s, some individualists on the periphery of the Japanese economy have gained a position strong enough to enable them to interact with the mainstream without losing their independence. In such areas as the fashion industry, in high technology, and in venture-capital firms, individualists who would never "make it" with Hitachi or Toyota suddenly find themselves with very lucrative economic opportunities.Miyanaga contends that there is now a mutual influence between the peripheral and mainstream sectors. As enterprises on the outskirts of the economy grow larger and more successful, they feel the pull of the old ideology, and, conversely, mainstream organizations have discovered that they need the "creative edge" that comes from the periphery. Just as the small Japanese entrepreneur dreams, at least occasionally, of being a Toyota, large corporations have come to realize the importance of individualism. This book offers an original and distinctive contribution to a very important debate over the future of the Japanese economy. It is a work of great fascination for social scientists, economists, and those seeking a social perspective on Japanese culture.
The Creative Gesture: Contexts, Processes, Actors of Creativity (Palgrave Studies in Creativity and Culture)
by Pier Paolo BelliniThis open access book offers a concise overview of the theories constructed within the various human sciences around the theme of creativity as a symbolic capacity to link things together: it manifests itself when the individual endowed with a certain type of intelligence encounters cultural and social conditions that enable them to develop that capacity to the maximum, rather than inhibiting it or diverting it to other fields where it is doomed to failure. Even the most intimate of human expressiveness is considered as a result of an active social relationality. Social dimensions of creativity (evaluation, primary socialization, motivation, leadership) and “creative processes” (creative attitude, creative gesture, divergent thinking, problem-solving capacity, interdisciplinary approach, randomness, algorithmic creativity) are also analysed.The book concludes by evaluating the course taken in the light of the relational theory of society: the development of creativity cannot beconceived outside of self-other relations.This book is the result of a translation done with the help of artificial intelligence. The text has subsequently been revised further by a professional copy editor in order to refine the work stylistically.
The Creative Nudge: Simple Steps to Help You Think Differently
by Kevin Chesters Mick MahoneyCreative thinking is something everyone can do. It's a way of looking at the world afresh, doing new things in new ways, taking risks. With The Creative Nudge, use 'nudge theory' to unleash your innate originality. A new behavioural science that reveals how small actions can have big impacts on our thinking, nudge theory powers this book. Using simple behaviour changes, retrain your brain and live a more creative and rewarding life.
The Creative Nudge: Simple Steps to Help You Think Differently
by Kevin Chesters Mick MahoneyCreative thinking is something everyone can do. It's a way of looking at the world afresh, doing new things in new ways, taking risks. With The Creative Nudge, use 'nudge theory' to unleash your innate originality. A new behavioural science that reveals how small actions can have big impacts on our thinking, nudge theory powers this book. Using simple behaviour changes, retrain your brain and live a more creative and rewarding life.
The Creative Power: Transforming Ourselves, Our Organizations, and Our World
by William E. SmithOver the last two decades a major focus of organization theory has been on understanding the dynamic relationships between individuals, organizations and their environments. This interest in dynamics, illustrated by systems, chaos, and complexity theory, is recorded in the works of Ackoff, Senge, and Stacey. This focus offers a new viewpoint on holism for practising leaders and theorists today. Building on this interest, Smith’s original text presents a new philosophical lens for helping leaders see the advantages of a more holistic approach to improving organizations. Specifically he: introduces the AIC (appreciation, influence, control) philosophy, model, and process of purpose-power relationships as a next step in the evolution of organization and systems theory traces its roots and evolution in organization theory and indicates its actual and potential contribution to that field translates the model into a transformative, strategic organizing process that can be used to organize at any level, in a way that will ensure the achievement of higher levels of purpose, at less cost and in less time than traditional organizational approaches. Developed and tested via his work for organizations including the World Bank, this revolutionary book will change the way organizations and individuals work.
The Creative Underclass: Youth, Race, and the Gentrifying City
by Tyler DenmeadAs an undergraduate at Brown University, Tyler Denmead founded New Urban Arts, a nationally recognized arts and humanities program primarily for young people of color in Providence, Rhode Island. Along with its positive impact, New Urban Arts, under his leadership, became entangled in Providence's urban renewal efforts that harmed the very youth it served. As in many deindustrialized cities, Providence's leaders viewed arts, culture, and creativity as a means to drive property development and attract young, educated, and affluent white people, such as Denmead, to economically and culturally kick-start the city. In The Creative Underclass, Denmead critically examines how New Urban Arts and similar organizations can become enmeshed in circumstances where young people, including himself, become visible once the city can leverage their creativity to benefit economic revitalization and gentrification. He points to the creative cultural practices that young people of color from low-income communities use to resist their subjectification as members of an underclass, which, along with redistributive economic policies, can be deployed as an effective means with which to both oppose gentrification and better serve the youth who have become emblematic of urban creativity.
The Creative Wealth of Nations: Can The Arts Advance Development?
by Amartya Sen Patrick KabandaDevelopment seen from a more holistic perspective looks beyond the expansion of material means and considers the enrichment of people's lives. The arts are an indispensable asset in taking a comprehensive approach toward the improvement of lives. Incorporating aspects of international trade, education, sustainability, gender, mental health and social inclusion, The Creative Wealth of Nations demonstrates the diverse impact of applying the arts in development to promote meaningful economic and social progress. <P><P>Patrick Kabanda explores a counterintuitive and largely invisible creative economy: whilst many artists struggle to make ends meet, the arts can also be a promising engine for economic growth. If nations can fully engage their creative wealth manifested in the arts, they are likely to reap major monetary and nonmonetary benefits from their cultural sector. Drawing from his own experience of the support music provided growing up amidst political and economic turmoil in Uganda, Kabanda shows us the benefits of an arts-inclusive approach to development in Africa, and beyond.<P> Proposes a new development paradigm that engages the arts in development, appealing to those interested in utilising not only monetary, but also non-monetary contributions to human progress.<P> Provides real-life global empirical examples to illustrate the author's argument for including the arts in development.<P> Features a foreword from Nobel Laureate and world-renowned philosopher and development economist Amartya Sen.
The Credential Society: An Historical Sociology of Education and Stratification (Legacy Editions)
by Randall CollinsThe Credential Society is a classic on the role of higher education in American society and an essential text for understanding the reproduction of inequality. Controversial at the time, Randall Collins’s claim that the expansion of American education has not increased social mobility, but rather created a cycle of credential inflation, has proven remarkably prescient.Collins shows how credential inflation stymies mass education’s promises of upward mobility. An unacknowledged spiral of the rising production of credentials and job requirements was brought about by the expansion of high school and then undergraduate education, with consequences including grade inflation, rising educational costs, and misleading job promises dangled by for-profit schools. Collins examines medicine, law, and engineering to show the ways in which credentialing closed these high-status professions to new arrivals. In an era marked by the devaluation of high school diplomas, outcry about the value of expensive undergraduate degrees, and the proliferation of new professional degrees like the MBA, The Credential Society has more than stood the test of time. In a new preface, Collins discusses recent developments, debunks claims that credentialization is driven by technological change, and points to alternative pathways for the future of education.
The Creed of the Conquering Chief, As Expounded by the Inspired Orator
by Albert Lewis Pelton"The Creed of the Conquering Chief, As Expounded by the Inspired Orator" by Albert Lewis Pelton is a powerful and motivational work that distills the principles of leadership and personal success into an inspiring creed. Pelton, a visionary thinker and accomplished author, delivers a compelling guide for those who aspire to achieve greatness and lead with confidence and conviction.In this seminal work, Pelton explores the characteristics and mindset of the "Conquering Chief," a metaphor for the ideal leader who triumphs over challenges and inspires others to reach their highest potential. Through a series of eloquent discourses, the "Inspired Orator" lays out a clear and actionable philosophy for success, rooted in timeless truths and practical wisdom.Pelton's writing is both poetic and pragmatic, making complex ideas accessible and relatable. He emphasizes the importance of self-belief, resilience, and vision in the pursuit of excellence. The book is structured around key themes such as the power of positive thinking, the necessity of decisive action, and the value of integrity and perseverance.Each chapter offers profound insights and practical advice, illustrated with vivid anecdotes and historical examples that highlight the universal applicability of the principles espoused. Pelton encourages readers to embrace their inner strength, cultivate a winning mindset, and lead with purpose and passion."The Creed of the Conquering Chief" is more than just a manual for personal development; it is a clarion call to rise above mediocrity and strive for greatness. Pelton's inspirational prose and timeless teachings resonate deeply, providing readers with the tools and motivation to transform their lives and the lives of those they lead.This book is an essential read for aspiring leaders, entrepreneurs, and anyone committed to personal and professional growth. Albert Lewis Pelton's "The Creed of the Conquering Chief" remains a beacon of inspiration, guiding readers on their journey to becoming triumphant leaders and masters of their own destiny.
The Crescent Obscured: The United States and the Muslim World 1776-1815
by Robert J. AllisonFrom the beginning of the colonial period to the recent conflicts in the Middle East, encounters with the Muslim world have helped Americans define national identity and purpose. Focusing on America's encounter with the Barbary states of North Africa from 1776 to 1815, Robert Allison traces the perceptions and mis-perceptions of Islam in the American mind as the new nation constructed its ideology and system of government. "A powerful ending that explains how the experience with the Barbary states compelled many Americans to look inward . . . with increasing doubts about the institution of slavery. " —David W. Lesch, Middle East Journal "Allison's incisive and informative account of the fledgling republic's encounter with the Muslim world is a revelation with a special pertinence to today's international scene. " —Richard W. Bulliet, Journal of Interdisciplinary History "This book should be widely read. . . . Allison's study provides a context for understanding more recent developments, such as America's tendency to demonize figures like Iran's Khumaini, Libya's Qaddafi, and Iraq's Saddam. " —Richard M. Eaton, Eighteenth Century Studies
The Crime Conundrum: Essays On Criminal Justice
by Lawrence M. Friedman George FisherThere may be areas of human life in which people have profited from understanding history, but criminal justice is definitely not one of them. In this field, each generation seems to undo the last generation's reforms. Each generation resurrects old failures and trots them out as new. A previous generation hailed indeterminate sentencing as a great
The Crime Data Handbook
by Mark Mills Rosemary Barberet Nicholas Lord Jude Towers Alex Sutherland Craig Bennell Lisa Tompson Jack Cunliffe Henk Elffers Kirsty Bennett Stuart Thomas Anthony Morgan Scott Keay Alexandru Cernat Ian Brunton-Smith Tim Verlaan Sam Langton Sophie Curtis-Ham Sarah Czarnomski Jesús C. Aguerri Fernando Miró-Llinares Tomas Diviak Tori Semple Bryce Jenkins Angelo Moretti Jose Pina-Sanchez Thiago R. Oliveira Leticia Couto Marta Murrià Sangenís Cristina Sobrino Garcés Timothy I. Cubitt Nico Trajtenberg Olga Sanchez de Ribera de Castro Carly Lighttowlers Lucy Bryant Olivia Horsefield Francisco J. Castro-Toledo Ana B. Gómez-Bellvís Sara Correia-Hopkins José María López Riba Raquel Bartolomé Gutiérrez Esther Fernández-MolinaCrime research has grown substantially over the past decade, with a rise in evidence-informed approaches to criminal justice, statistics-driven decision-making and predictive analytics. The fuel that has driven this growth is data – and one of its most pressing challenges is the lack of research on the use and interpretation of data sources. This accessible, engaging book closes that gap for researchers, practitioners and students. International researchers and crime analysts discuss the strengths, perils and opportunities of the data sources and tools now available and their best use in informing sound public policy and criminal justice practice.
The Crime Without a Name: Ethnocide and the Erasure of Culture in America
by Barrett Holmes PitnerIn this incisive blend of personal narrative and philosophical inquiry, journalist and activist Barrett Holmes Pitner seeks a new way to talk about racism in America.Can new language reshape our understanding of the past and expand the possibilities of the future? The Crime Without a Name follows Pitner&’s journey to identify and remedy the linguistic void in how we discuss race and culture in the United States. Ethnocide, first coined in 1944 by Jewish exile Raphael Lemkin (who also coined the term "genocide"), describes the systemic erasure of a people&’s ancestral culture. For Black Americans, who have endured this atrocity for generations, this erasure dates back to the transatlantic slave trade and reached new resonance in a post-Trump world. Just as the concept of genocide radically reshaped our perception of human rights in the twentieth century, reframing discussions about race and culture in terms of ethnocide can change the way we understand our diverse and rapidly evolving racial and political climate in a time of increased visibility around police brutality and systemic racism. The Crime Without a Name traces the historical origins of ethnocide in the United States, examines the personal, lived consequences of existing within an ongoing erasure, and offers ways for readers to combat and overcome our country&’s ethnocidal foundation.
The Crimes of Elagabalus: The Life and Legacy of Rome's Decadent Boy Emperor
by Martijn IcksThe four short years of Elagabalusâs rule have generated nearly two millennia of sustained attention, from salacious rumor to scholarly analysis to novels that cast him as a gay hero avant la lettre. Here, Martijn Icks succeeds in distinguishing the reality of the emperorâs brief life from the myth that clouds itâand in tracing the meaning of the myth itself to the present day. In 219 ce, when the fourteen-year-old Syrian arrived in Rome to assume the throne, he brought with him a conical black stone, which he declared was the earthly form of the sun god El-Gabal, who gave Elagabalus his name and lifelong office as high priest. Shoving Jupiter aside, the new emperor did the unthinkable, installing El-Gabal at the head of the Roman pantheon and marrying a vestal virgin. Whether for these offenses, his neglect of the empire, or weariness from watching the emperor dance at the elaborate daily sacrifices, the imperial guards murdered Elagabalus and put El-Gabal in a packing crate. Sifting through later accounts of the emperorâs outrageous behavior, Icks finds the invented Elagabalus as compelling as the historical figure. In literature, art, and music from the fifteenth century on, Elagabalus appears in many guises, from evil tyrant to anarchist rebel, from mystical androgyne to modern gay teenager, from decadent sensualist to pop star. These many reincarnations reveal as much about the ages that produced them, Icks shows, as they do about the bad-boy emperor himself.
The Crimes of the Economy: A Criminological Analysis of Economic Thought (Organizational Crime)
by Vincenzo RuggieroEconomists have often paid visits to the field of criminology, examining the rational logic of offending. When economists examine criminal activity, they imply that offenders should be treated like any other social actor making rational choices. In The Crimes of the Economy, Vincenzo Ruggiero turns the tables by examining a variety of economic schools of thought from a criminological perspective. Each one of these schools, he argues, justifies or even encourages harm produced by economic initiative. He investigates – among others – John Locke’s notion of private property, Mercantilism, the Physiocrats and Malthus, and the arguments of Adam Smith, Marshall, Keynes and neoliberalism. In each of these, the author identifies the potential justification of different forms of ‘crimes of the economy’ and victimisation. This book re-examines the history of economic thought, assessing it as the history of a discipline which, while attempting to gain scientific status, in reality seeks to make the social harm caused by economics acceptable. The book will be interesting and relevant to students and scholars of social theory, criminology, economics, philosophy and politics.
The Criminal Area: A Study in Social Ecology (International Library of Sociology #Vol. 202)
by Terence Morris Professor Terence MorrisFirst published in 1998. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
The Criminal Body: Lombroso and the Anatomy of Deviance
by David HornThis fascinating book traces the evolution of the "criminal body" by focusing on the work of Cesare Lombroso, an Italian physician and anthropologist, who is widely held to be the father of modern criminology. Building on Lombroso's concept of the "born criminal" and the idea that bodies could be used as evidence in criminal investigations, The Criminal Body offers an intriguing window into the origins of today's criminological science.
The Criminal Brain
by Nicole RafterWhat is the relationship between criminality and biology? Nineteenth-century phrenologists insisted that criminality was innate, a trait inherent in the offender's brain matter. While they were eventually repudiated as pseudo-scientists and self-deluded charlatans, today the pendulum has swung back. Both criminologists and biologists have begun to speak of a tantalizing but disturbing possibility: that criminality may be inherited as a set of genetic deficits that place one at risk for theft, violence, and sexual deviance. If that is so, we may soon confront proposals for genetically modifying "at risk" fetuses or doctoring up criminals so their brains operate like those of law-abiding citizens. In The Criminal Brain, well-known criminologist Nicole Rafter traces the sometimes violent history of these criminological theories and provides an introduction to current biological theories of crime, or biocriminology, with predictions of how these theories are likely to develop in the future.What do these new theories assert? Are they as dangerous as their forerunners, which the Nazis and other eugenicists used to sterilize, incarcerate, and even execute thousands of supposed "born" criminals? How can we prepare for a future in which leaders may propose crime-control programs based on biology? Enhanced with fascinating illustrations and written in lively prose, The Criminal Brain examines these issues in light of the history of ideas about the criminal brain. By tracing the birth and growth of enduring ideas in criminology, as well as by recognizing historical patterns in the interplay of politics and science, she offers ways to evaluate new theories of the criminal brain that may radically reshape ideas about the causes of criminal behavior.
The Criminal Brain, Second Edition: Understanding Biological Theories of Crime
by Nicole Rafter Chad Posick Michael RocqueA lively, up-to-date overview of the newest research in biosocial criminology What is the relationship between criminality and biology? Nineteenth-century phrenologists insisted that criminality was innate, inherent in the offender’s brain matter. While they were eventually repudiated as pseudo-scientists, today the pendulum has swung back. Both criminologists and biologists have begun to speak of a tantalizing but disturbing possibility: that criminality may be inherited as a set of genetic deficits that place one at risk to commit theft, violence, or acts of sexual deviance. But what do these new theories really assert? Are they as dangerous as their forerunners, which the Nazis and other eugenicists used to sterilize, incarcerate, and even execute thousands of supposed “born” criminals? How can we prepare for a future in which leaders may propose crime-control programs based on biology? In this second edition of The Criminal Brain, Nicole Rafter, Chad Posick, and Michael Rocque describe early biological theories of crime and provide a lively, up-to-date overview of the newest research in biosocial criminology. New chapters introduce the theories of the latter part of the 20th century; apply and critically assess current biosocial and evolutionary theories, the developments in neuro-imaging, and recent progressions in fields such as epigenetics; and finally, provide a vision for the future of criminology and crime policy from a biosocial perspective. The book is a careful, critical examination of each research approach and conclusion. Both compiling and analyzing the body of scholarship devoted to understanding the criminal brain, this volume serves as a condensed, accessible, and contemporary exploration of biological theories of crime and their everyday relevance.
The Criminal Crowd and Other Writings on Mass Society (Lorenzo Da Ponte Italian Library)
by Tom Huhn Nicoletta Pireddu Scipio SigheleThe Criminal Crowd and Other Writings on Mass Society is the first English collection of writings by Italian jurist, sociologist, cultural and literary critic Scipio Sighele. Sighele is largely responsible for providing post-unification Italy with a new outlook on issues ranging from the blurring line between individual and collective accountability, the role of urbanization in the development of criminality, and the emancipation of women. This work draws a multifaceted portrait of a provocative thinker and public intellectual caught between tradition and modernity during the European fin de siècle. Containing a comprehensive introduction by the editor, The Criminal Crowd and Other Writings on Mass Society includes Sighele’s seminal work, The Criminal Crowd, as well as his formative studies on group behaviour. Nicoletta Pireddu contextualizes Sighele’s contribution to the so-called ‘age-of crowds,’ from the fierce polemic with his French rivals Gustave LeBon and Gabriel Tarde to the scientific, literary, and cultural developments of his conceptualization of mass behaviours as a legitimate object of psychological investigation into a new century.
The Criminal Spectre in Law, Literature and Aesthetics: Incriminating Subjects (Routledge Advances in Sociology #2)
by Peter J. HutchingsThis book analyses the legal and aesthetic discourses that combine to shape the image of the criminal, and that image's contemporary endurance. The author traces the roots of contemporary ideas about criminality back to legal, philosophical and aesthetic concepts originating in the nineteenth century. Building on the ideas of Foucault and Walter Benjamin, Hutchings argues that the criminal, as constructed in places such as popular crime stories or the law of insanity, became an obsession which haunted nineteenth century thought.