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

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).     

Barriers to prosperity: the harmful impact of entry regulations on income inequality

Public Choice - Entry regulations, including fees, permits and licenses, can make it prohibitively difficult for low-income individuals to establish footholds in many industries, even at the...     

Self-Control in the Modern Provocation Defence

Most recent discussion of the provocation defence has focusedon the objective test, and little attention has been paid tothe subjective test. However, the subjective test provides asubstantial constraint: the killing must result from a provocationthat undermines the defendant's self-control. The idea of lossof self-control has been developed in both the philosophicaland psychological literatures. Understanding the subjectivetest in the light of the conception developed there makes fora far more coherent interpretation of the provocation defence.It also makes clear just how radical various proposals for reformof the defence would be.