Displacing Northern Dominant Criminological Discourse: The Importation of Southern Criminology into Criminological Literature and Its Implications

Abstract

Through a carefully selected set of criminological case studies from both the Global North and the Global South, this article takes on a critical approach on how hegemonic Northern criminological theories have fallen short in their attempts at formulating universally-applicable causative theses. It demonstrates how the field of criminology can be sharpened and brought to compelling new heights through the importation of the alternative Southern criminology, which reifies the need to consider individual, localised contexts on top of global influences in criminological inquiries. Vastly different historical contexts seen in the Global South mean that while the region may produce criminal justice outcomes similar to the Global North, how it derives at such outcomes may diverge greatly from the North. Likewise, countries appearing to share notable commonalities in the South may not produce similar criminological outcomes as one another, unlike what one would usually expect from the North. This cautions against undertaking comparative research based on resemblances and similarities across nations alone, and highlights the need to reconsider the stating points of comparative research and any attempted universalisation of theories. Lastly, criminological trends seen in the North are also responses to what is being brought in from the South in this age of advanced globalisation. Understanding criminological trends already extant in the South allows for a sharpened analysis of modern day Northern law enforcement and why Northern states have responded in certain manners. In its challenging of Northern hegemony and its providence of alternative de-colonial causal theses, as well as its refreshing coverage of what Northern criminology may have overlooked, Southern criminology should be enthusiastically welcomed and incorporated into the field as a means to further refine criminology as a discipline.