What is the Criminological Value of Fiction? Examining Southern Postcolonial Storytelling as a Site for Post-Disciplinary Criminological Theory Construction, Analogy and Pedagogy

Why criminology and fiction? Critics argue for fundamental and systemic change in criminology’s approach to critical inquiry specifically its underlying assumptions about the study of crime, victimisation and justice. Emergent trends in criminology emphasise the discipline’s colonial heritage drawing attention to the ways in which criminology has marginalised experiences, knowledges and histories of inhabitants of the Global South.

The call to ‘decolonise’ criminology is growing but mostly in Western settler colonies such as Australia and the United States. Far less post-disciplinary theory construction is being done in the United Kingdom – despite the country’s colonial heritage.

This project seeks to explore the extent to which southern postcolonial fiction can serve as a site for post-disciplinary criminological theory construction, analogy and pedagogy.