Feminist Theory and Contemporary Criminology: From Margin to Center?

• In Event: Theoretical Criminology Panel: Is Criminology Still Male-Dominated?

Abstract

Corresponding to and following the rise of different brands of feminism and feminist theorizing, the field of US criminology has incorporated consciousness of gender, race and class discriminations in various – and, in many respects – successful ways. Still, feminist ideas and theories tend to be considered as ‘add ons’ or as separate areas – signaling interest in ‘gender and crime’ as a sub-topic rather than as a central axis of theoretical understanding. This paper considers whether and to what extent feminist theories, and feminists who espouse them, have remained at the margins or moved toward the center of the discipline. Have the most well-known and dominant figures in contemporary criminology been women as well as men and, even more importantly, have they looked to gender to understand crime and its causes as well as criminal justice responses thereafter? The paper purposely provides a broad overview so as to assess change (or lack thereof) while arguing strongly for why gender (and its multi-dimensional relation to other social biases) matters greatly for understanding crime and its discontents.

Author

• Lynn Chancer, Hunter College, CUNY