Carrington, Kerry; Walters, Reece --- "Chief Editors' Introduction" [2013] IntJlCrimJustSocDem 23; (2013) 2(3) International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy 1

• Chief Editors’ Introduction: Vol 2(3)

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Chief Editors’ Introduction: Vol 2(3)

Professor Kerry Carrington, Professor Reece Walters

Queensland University of Technology

This is the second edition of the journal to publish keynote speeches and papers presented at the hugely successful Crime, Justice and Social Democracy: 2nd International Conference, hosted by the Crime and Justice Research Centre, QUT Brisbane, 8-11 July 2013. Indeed, seven of the eight papers in this edition arose from that conference. All these papers have been peer reviewed before publication, mostly by members of the International Editorial Board, numbering 45 distinguished scholars from 14 countries and five continents.

Tony Jefferson used his conference keynote address and the pursuant article in this issue to discuss the case study of Darren who was interviewed, to explore how best to approach the topic of hate-motivated violence. Jefferson explores ‘what can be learnt from psychoanalysis about the relations among sexuality, masculinity, hatred and violence’ and uses these ideas to focus on understanding the origins and nature of Darren’s hatred.

Walter DeKeseredy’s keynote address and the article in this issue which has derived from it takes critical aim at the politics of law and order in Canada and its impacts on manifold Canadians but rather than being solely despairing, the author also offers ‘ways of turning the tide’.

David Brown’s paper Mapping the Conditions of Penal Hope also takes an essentially positive stance by offering an optimistic vision for a reflexive criminology that enhances ‘the capacity of criminology and criminologists to contribute to penal reductionism’.

Waqas Tufail and Scott Poynting’s piece compares the vulnerability of Muslim minorities in the UK and Australia to criminalisation due to ‘heightened popular and state Islamophobia in relation to: perceived “ethnic gangs”; alleged deviant, predatory masculinity including so-called “ethnic gang rape”; and paranoia about Islamist “radicalisation” and its supposed bolstering of terrorism’.

Hilde Tubex’s article makes the case for the revitalisation of comparative criminology in a globalised world. She tests global explanatory models and intra-national differences in nations such as Canada, the Netherlands and Australia.

The article by Joseph Donnermeyer, John Scott and Elaine Barclay brings together a vast array of research on rural criminological issues. It makes the argument that research on agricultural crime, rural ‘others’ and violence in rural contexts can inform and, in turn, be informed by critical thinking in criminology and eco-justice more generally.

Drawing on original research conducted into English Coronial death investigations, Gordon Tait and Belinda Carpenter tease out the ‘question about the role we expect Coroners to play within social governance, and within an effective, contemporary democracy. That is, are Coroners the principal officer in the public administration of death, or are they, first and foremost, a crucial part of the grieving process, one that provides important therapeutic interventions into the mental and emotional health of the community?’

The only paper not to have been presented at that conference is Darren Palmer and Ian Warren’s analysis of the Kim Dotcom case. They use this case to critically analyse ‘the growth of “extraterritorial” police powers that operate “across borders” as part of several broader transformations of global policing in the digital age’.

A greater dimension has been added to the review essays in this issue. Three eminent criminologists – David Brown, Russell Hogg and Mark Finnane – have commented on John Pratt and Anna Eriksson’s recently published book Contracts in Punishment: An Explanation of Anglophone Ecess and Nordic Exceptionalism (2013) and the authors have, in turn, responded. In the second set of review essays, dual commentary has been offered by Elizabeth Rowe and Reece Walters and also by Michael Grewcock on Leanne Webber and Sharon Pickering ‘s (2011) Globalization and Borders: Death at the Global Frontier. We hope you find this approach stimulating.

Since its inception there have been 12,000 abstract views and 7,800 downloads of articles published from around the world. Again we thank our reviewers, mostly drawn from the journal’s distinguished International Editorial Board, our authors and the burgeoning global readership.