"How to live alongside each other has always been one of the concerns of social scientists and philosophers. This book cleverly invites us to turn the 'other' from an enemy into a neighbour: a noble achievement." Vincenzo Ruggiero, Middlesex University
Throughout history there has always been an ‘other’, often based on culture, race, gender or class, that has been demonised by the majority. This attribution of negative features onto others affects everyone, but Whitehead challenges the idea that this is an inevitable fact of life.
While looking at the historical criminalisation of the ‘other’ and the subsequent modernising transformations in criminal justice and penal policy, such as ‘Big Society’, Whitehead also questions if this is the most effective way to dismantle the conditions of existence responsible for ‘othering’.
This important book not only looks for the origin of the ‘other’ but also offers insights for a resolution that benefits society as a whole rather than just the powerful few.
Prologue;
Framing the Other: stepping into the stream of history;
Criminalising the Other: a criminal justice excursus;
Contesting the Other: sinking ethical shafts;
Transcending the Other: moral economy and universal ethics;
Concluding comment.
• Has an immediate topicality in the light of the EU referendum in the UK, the election of Donald Trump in the US and the rise of right wing populist parties elsewhere in Europe
• From a well-respected and established PP author
• Offers insights and solutions to the problem of ‘othering’ and how we can overcome it as a society
• ‘The other’ is of central concern to a diverse range of complementary disciplines
This will be the first book to examine history and the criminal justice system in order to locate the origin of the ‘other’ and offer insights for a resolution that benefits society as a whole rather than just the powerful few.