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Confronting Progressive Retreatism and Minimalism: The Role of a New Left Realist Approach

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Abstract

Left realists continue to offer progressive ways of studying and solving various types of crime in the streets, in the “suites,” and in intimate relationships. This article briefly describes the central themes, assumptions, and concepts of left realism and charts new directions in research, theory, and policy. Special attention is devoted to using new electronic technologies and to responding to the rabid corporatization of institutions of higher learning.

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Notes

  1. See, for example, Chambliss et al. (2010), Doig (2011), Friedrichs (2010), and Rothe and Mullins (2011).

  2. Left realists once argued left idealists are those who offer simplistic and flawed theories of working class crime, crude instrumental Marxist theories of the state, only pay attention to elite deviance, trivialized street crime, and who suggest weak strategies for progressive social change (DeKeseredy and Schwartz 1996; Schwartz and DeKeseredy 1991; Young 1979; Currie 1992).

  3. In the early 1990s, a few critical criminologists produced a small body of literature on corporate crime (DeKeseredy and Goff 1992; Pearce 1992; Pearce and Tombs 1992).

  4. One notable exception to this rule is Robert Agnew. His Toward a Unified Criminology (2011) stands apart from most orthodox theory books, as he tries to set the stage for a unified theory of crime, one that embraces the strengths of all major theories, including critical perspectives.

  5. The basic components of hegemonic masculinity are: men are supposed to avoid all things feminine; restrict their emotions severely; show toughness and aggression; exhibit self-reliance; strive for achievement and status; exhibit nonrelational attitudes toward sexuality; and actively engage in homophobia (DeKeseredy and Schwartz 2014; Levant 1994).

  6. See DeKeseredy and Schwartz (2012) for an in-depth review of left realist theories.

  7. See DeKeseredy (2011a), DeKeseredy and Dragiewicz (2012) for reviews of recent critical criminological research on a variety of topics.

  8. Colonialism is defined here as "the systematic oppression of people through a variety of assimilationist measures that are intended to eradicate the people and/or their sense of individual and cultural identity" (Restoule 2009:272).

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank David Kauzlarich and the reviewers for their thoughtful insight and guidance. Please send all correspondence to Walter DeKeseredy.

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  1. Faculty of Social Science and Humanities, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Oshawa, ON, L1N 8X5, Canada

    Walter S. DeKeseredy

  2. Department of Sociology, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA

    Martin D. Schwartz

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DeKeseredy, W.S., Schwartz, M.D. Confronting Progressive Retreatism and Minimalism: The Role of a New Left Realist Approach. Crit Crim 21, 273–286 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10612-013-9192-5

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