Last modified: 03 Sep 2025 15:16
This course examines crime and criminal justice from historical, sociological, and postcolonial perspectives. By locating crime and criminal justice within the context of Empire, the course engages with marginalised debates and evidence regarding crimes of empire, criminalisation and racialisation, and criminal justice as imperial control. Students will acquire a critical understanding that challenges conventional framings of crime and criminal justice as concerning lawbreaking individuals.
| Study Type | Undergraduate | Level | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Term | Second Term | Credit Points | 30 credits (15 ECTS credits) |
| Campus | Aberdeen | Sustained Study | No |
| Co-ordinators |
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One or more of these courses have a limited number of places. Priority access will be given to students for whom this course is compulsory. Please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions for more details on this process.
Since the eighteenth century, criminality has been conceived in terms of lawbreaking activities by deviant individuals who pose a threat to social order in industrial capitalist societies. Crime and Empire explores ways to ‘re-narrativise […] the story’ (Hall, 1996) of crime, criminals, criminal law, and criminal justice in imperial contexts (esp. the British Empire) from the sixteenth century to the twenty-first. We will draw upon critical theories and concepts from sociology, postcolonial theory, and critical criminology to scrutinise historical and contemporary cases and structures of imperial violence and domination. By tracing the history of criminal justice systems to their imperial origins this course explores crucial context that is consistently ignored in mainstream criminology. Through this critical historical approach, we will challenge dominant views of criminal justice, crime and harm in the postcolonial world and explore the implications for some of the major issues we face today such as state crime, the climate emergency, racial injustice(s), and the criminalisation of democratic participation.
The module will be taught in weekly 2-hour seminars. Students will have opportunities to contribute topics and activities to the curriculum and to inform how they will be formatively assessed.
Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 80 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 40 | Feedback Weeks | 45 | |
| Feedback |
Students will produce a 2,500-word essay on a topic of their choosing
Feedback on the essay will be provided via GradeBook with a three-week turnaround. |
Word Count | 2500 | |
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Analyse | Students will be able to conceptualise the relationship(s) between imperialism and criminal justice systems, particularly within the British Empire. |
| Conceptual | Apply | Students will be able to apply post- and decolonial critiques of crime, criminal justice, and criminalisation in novel contexts. |
| Factual | Understand | Students will develop an understanding of contemporary criminological and criminal justice issues in the context of imperial history. |
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 20 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 32 | Feedback Weeks | 35 | |
| Feedback |
Duration: 30 Minutes |
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Analyse | Students will be able to conceptualise the relationship(s) between imperialism and criminal justice systems, particularly within the British Empire. |
| Factual | Understand | Students will develop an understanding of contemporary criminological and criminal justice issues in the context of imperial history. |
There are no assessments for this course.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 100 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
Students will produce a 2,500-word essay on a topic of their choosing Feedback on the exam will be provided via GradeBook with a three-week turnaround. |
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
|
|
||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Analyse | Students will be able to conceptualise the relationship(s) between imperialism and criminal justice systems, particularly within the British Empire. |
| Factual | Understand | Students will develop an understanding of contemporary criminological and criminal justice issues in the context of imperial history. |
| Conceptual | Apply | Students will be able to apply post- and decolonial critiques of crime, criminal justice, and criminalisation in novel contexts. |
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