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Marxist Criminology

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice

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Synonyms

Critical criminology; Radical criminology

Overview

Despite the fact that Marx did not address crime in a systematic way, criminologists have used Marxist theory to analyze laws, crime, and the criminal justice system. Over the past 40 years, Marxist criminology has become a core component of what has been broadly referred to as critical criminology. Many critical criminologists have contributed to the development of Marxist criminology, and its position within the field of critical criminology is well established. At the same time, the insights provided by Marxist criminological theory have received little interest among mainstream criminologists, despite the fact that some share with Marxist criminologists a macrolevel or structural approach to studying crime. While recent developments in Marxist criminological theory have slowed, Marxist criminologists are still able to provide a viable framework to understand law, crime, and state responses to crime.

Marx and Crime

The...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Carthage College, Kenosha, WI, USA

    Rick A. Matthews

  2. George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA

    William J. Chambliss

Authors
  1. Rick A. Matthews
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  2. William J. Chambliss
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rick A. Matthews .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR), Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Gerben Bruinsma

  2. VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Gerben Bruinsma

  3. Department of Criminology, Law and Society, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA

    David Weisburd

  4. Faculty of Law, The Hebrew University, Mt. Scopus, Jerusalem, Israel

    David Weisburd

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Matthews, R.A., Chambliss, W.J. (2014). Marxist Criminology. In: Bruinsma, G., Weisburd, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5690-2_310

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5690-2_310

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-5689-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-5690-2

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