CRIMINOLOGY SEMINAR SERIES 2017
Beyond Bonger: Criminology and the critical legacy
of ‘militarism’
Dr. Ross McGarry, University of Liverpool, England
Within this paper, I will seek to illustrate ‘militarism’ as one of the longest standing, yet frequently
overlooked, critical facets of criminology’s past, present and future concerns. Starting with an historical
view drawn from William Bonger’s (1916) Criminality and Economic Conditions, it will be argued that
while the original conceptualisation of militarism within criminology offers a continued cautionary
note regarding the potential threat of (largely) male service personnel returning from war, it has
considerably more to offer. It will be observed that by formulating an interdisciplinary understanding
of this concept, critical and analytical attention can be drawn to the entrenchment of military values
within civic life, public memory, political discourse and criminal justice policy. In addition to it being
mobilised to ‘redistribute security’ (qua Zedner, 2000) as normative - rather exceptional – responses to
geopolitical issues. In doing so, this paper will chart the growing importance of militarism as a critical
concept for criminologists; the application of which ‘requires rethinking the borders of our own
discipline’ (McCulloch, 2004: 323) by making us question the potential consequences of having
military institutions, values and landscapes in close proximity to civic and political life. This paper
forms part of a monograph I am currently working on entitled ‘Criminology and the Military’,
forthcoming for Routledge’s New Directions in Critical Criminology series.
Ross McGarry is senior lecturer in criminology within the Department of Sociology,
Social Policy and Criminology at the University of Liverpool, UK. He has written
widely in international journals and edited collections on criminology, victimology
and critical military studies. He is currently working on the forthcoming monograph
‘Criminology and the Military’, for Routledge’s New Directions in Critical
Criminology series. He is the co-editor (with Sandra Walklate) of ‘Criminology and
War: Transgressing the Borders’ (Routledge, 2015) and ‘The Palgrave Handbook of
Criminology and War’ (2016). He is also the co-author (with Sandra Walklate) of
‘Victims: Trauma, Testimony and Justice’ (Routledge, 2015) and ‘A Criminology of
War’, which is currently under production for the New Horizons series by Policy
Press.
Thursday 6 July, 11 am –12.30 pm, Room N502
Menzies Building, Monash University Clayton
RSVP to: [email protected]