Reasonable hopes: Social theory, critique and reconstruction in contemporary criminology

We argue that one abiding weakness of many attempts by criminologists to come to gripswith distinctive and often alarming aspects of contemporary realities is a limitedunderstanding of politics, and in particular of political theory, The increasing institutionalization of criminology as a ‘discipline’ often serves to exacerbate this tendency.We refer to themes in the work of Tony Bottoms as exemplifying benefits of seeking out a wider range of conceptual resources, including those provided by normative theoretical work.The work of Bottoms and colleagues on problems of legitimacy is a case in point that illuminates central aspects of criminal justice and their relations to problems of contemporary democracies. We go on to argue that the pragmatist tradition in democratic theory has much to offer students of crime and justice, especially with regard to the complex relations between expert knowledge and programmatic social change. We discuss these claims in light of Dewey’s conception of ‘inquiry’ and Unger’s arguments for ‘empowered democracy’.