104 pages · 2023
Arab Criminology
By Nabil Ouassini · Anwar Ouassini
- Published
- March 3, 2023
- Imprint
- Routledge
- Edition
- 1st Edition
- ISBN
- 9781003169789
Overview
About this book
The objective of Arab Criminology is to establish a criminological subfield called ‘Arab Criminology.’
The ever-evolving field of criminology has advanced in the past decade, yet many impediments remain. Unlike criminology in Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe, and Oceania, which is based merely on geopolitical constructs, the Arab world has unique commonalities that do not exist in the other established subfields of criminology. The Arab world has largely remained in criminology’s periphery despite the region’s considerable importance to current international affairs. In response, this book explores two main questions: Why should we and how do we establish a subfield in Arab criminology? The authors examine the state of criminology in the Arab world, define its parameters, and present four components that bond and distinguish Arab criminology from other criminological area studies. They then identify the requirements for establishing Arab criminology and detail how local, regional, and international researchers can collaborate, develop, and expand the subfield. Arab criminology will challenge some of the recurrent Orientalist and Islamophobic tropes in Northern criminology and progress the discipline of criminology to reflect a more diverse focus that embraces regions from the Global South.
Presenting compelling arguments and examples that support the establishment of this subfield, Arab Criminology will be of great interest to scholars of criminology, criminal justice, legal studies, and Middle Eastern/North African studies, particularly those working on Southern criminology, comparative criminology, international criminal justice systems, and Arab studies.
Subjects
Area Studies, Humanities, Law, Politics & International Relations, Social Sciences
Inside the book
Table of contents
Select a chapter to read its abstract.
Chapter 1Why Arab Criminology?
Pages: 18
The introductory chapter will address the question, Why Arab Criminology? The chapter will ascertain the factors that contribute to the primacy of Northern criminology and the exclusion of the Arab world in criminological research, evaluate the current state of Arab criminology, and survey the recurrent Orientalist and Islamophobic tropes in the discipline. The chapter will then define the boundaries of Arab identity to conceptualize Arab criminology. Finally, the chapter will outline the rest of the book by introducing the four components that distinguish Arab criminology from other regional criminologies.
Chapter 2The Islamic Legal Tradition
Pages: 14
This chapter argues that one focal feature of Arab criminology is the prominent role of Islamic law in shaping the legal and political confines of what constitutes crime, justice, and punishment. Mainstream criminological approaches have little to no background or understanding of Islamic jurisprudence. Along with explaining the complexities of Islamic law and the post-colonial mixture of legal traditions in the Arab world, the chapter contends why an Arab criminology subfield would be more suitable to appreciate the intricate impact of Islam on law, crime, and criminal justice. Finally, the chapter will discuss the relationship between Islamic law and the administration of justice so the reader can acknowledge the significant role of religion in the study of Arab criminology.
Chapter 3Historical, Political, and Cultural Commonalities
Pages: 16
This chapter details and substantiates the claim that Arab nations’ historical, political, and cultural commonalities provide the sub-discipline with the foundation for critically understanding crime and criminal justice in the region. We situate the development of the region’s criminal justice systems in historical pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial political and cultural frameworks. The chapter will reveal the enduring impact Arab collective history has on contemporary political and cultural institutions while manifesting how these interrelated commonalities of the Arab world can provide the field of criminology with new paradigmatic views of these spaces.
Chapter 4Arab Criminology at the Intersection of Race and Gender
Pages: 19
This chapter will address the importance of race and gender as sociodemographic variables in the development of Arab criminology. It will build on the existing contributions from Northern and Southern criminology to discuss how race, gender, and crime from within the Arab world can contribute to the ongoing development and growth of Arab criminology. In doing so, the chapter will discuss the minimal research that has been produced in these topics and then discuss the importance of localizing the study of race, gender, and crime from within the Arab world to produce new theoretical and applied possibilities.
Chapter 5Transnational Crime in the Arab World
Pages: 13
This chapter examines transnational crimes in the Arab world, highlighting the specters of terrorism, drug trafficking, and human smuggling/trafficking as areas of high priority for research. After assessing these transnational crimes, each section analyzes the strategies displayed by Arab governments, presenting valuable lessons and policies for the international community. Furthermore, the chapter explores the collaborative efforts between Arab nations and international organizations in addressing transnational crime with an emphasis on the conventions passed by the Arab League and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s Regional Program for the Arab States to strengthen criminal justice systems. Finally, the chapter identifies the potential research prospects for the subdiscipline of Arab criminology.
Chapter 6Moving Forward
Pages: 13
The final chapter outlines the future of Arab criminology. The chapter identifies the requirements for establishing Arab criminology and details the manner in which local, regional, and international researchers can collaborate, develop, and expand the subfield. The authors detail the numerous challenges and opportunities in Arab criminology. To move forward Arab criminology requires an empirical-based research agenda that builds on the conceptual frameworks of mainstream criminologies that will conceive new orientations for the Arab world. Finally, the chapter urges academics in the subdiscipline to organize future conferences and peer-reviewed journals on criminology in the Arab world that would provide a medium for the exchange of information and advance/expand the study of criminology, criminal justice, and the region’s legal system.