Lush Life: Constructing Organized Crime in the UK opens 'the box
marked do not open, too difficult to deal with', in the words of one
Assistant Chief Constable, to explore the contested notion of British
organized crime. The first book to trace the history and policing of
British organized crime, it addresses how the interlocking processes
of de-industrialisation, globalisation and neo-liberalism have
normalised activity that was previously the exclusive domain of
professional criminals. With both historical and sociological
analyses, informed by the author's long term connection to an
ethnographic site called 'Dogtown', a composite of several overlapping
neighbourhoods in East London, this book critically addresses clich?s
such as criminal underworlds and the notion of the criminal firm. It
considers the precursors to British organized crime, as well as the
careers of famous crime families such as the Krays, alongside the
emergence of specialised law enforcement institutions to deal with
this newly discovered threat. It also focuses on the various ways in
which violence functions within organised crime, the role of rumour in
formulating order within crime networks, the social construction of
organised crime, the development of the cosmopolitan criminal and the
all-inclusive nature of the contemporary criminal community of
practice. Permeating throughout is a discussion of the flexible nature
of the criminal market, the constructed nature of the notion of
organised crime, and the normalisation of criminality. Underpinned by
rich, context-specific examples, case studies, stories, and other
qualitative evidence based on ethnographic research and interviews,
Lush Life follows on from the author's work on normal crime (Doing the
Business), and professional crime (Bad Business).
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780191645273
Publisert
2020
Utgiver
Vendor
OUP Oxford
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter