Dragan Milovanovic - Race, Gender, and Class in Criminology

ROUTLEDGE LIBRARY EDITIONS: WOMEN AND CRIME

Volume 4

RACE, GENDER, AND CLASS IN CRIMINOLOGY

The Intersections

Edited by
Martin D. Schwartz and
Dragan Milovanovic

First published in 1996 by Garland Publishing Inc.

This edition first published in 2016
by Routledge
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1999, 1996 Martin D. Schwartz and Dragan Milovanovic

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ISBN: 978-1-138-18723-8 (Set)
ISBN: 978-1-315-64317-5 (Set) (ebk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-12524-7 (Volume 4) (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-64763-0 (Volume 4) (ebk)

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RACE, GENDER, AND CLASS IN CRIMINOLOGY

THE INTERSECTIONS

EDITED BY
MARTIN D. SCHWARTZ
AND DRAGAN MILOVANOVIC

First paperback edition published in 1999 by
Garland Publishing Inc.
A Member of the Taylor & Francis Group
19 Union Square West
New York, NY 10003

Copyright 1999, 1996 by Martin D. Schwartz and Dragan Milovanovic

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Race, gender, and class in criminology: the intersections / edited by Martin D.
Schwartz and Dragan Milovanovic.
p. cm. (Garland reference library of social science; vol. 1072.
Current issues in criminal justice; vol. 19)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
IBSN 0-8153-3726-4 (alk. paper)
1. Criminology. 2. Social classes. 3. Social
structure. 4. Sex Role. 5. Race. I. Schwartz,
Martin D. II. Milovanovic, Dragan, 1948- . III. Series:
Garland reference library of social science; v. 1072. IV. Series:
Garland reference library of social science. Current issues in
criminal justice; v. 9.
HV6025.R34 1996
364.2'4dc20

96-17322
CIP

Printed on acid-free, 250-year-life paper
Manufactured in the United States of America.

It is commonplace for class to be a variable in mainstream criminology, and it is certainly not unusual for race to be examined. There have been times during the 20th century when gender has been investigated, although most of this work is recent, and done at the instigation of feminist criminologists. Generally, however, mainstream criminology has been the study of working class men and boys. Although radical criminologists have decried this fact, concrete study has been slow to follow.

Within the critical criminology literature, class, race and gender have each been given extensive attention. What has been conspicuously absent has been the investigation of their various intersectionsthe set of configurations that are more than the sum of the parts. As the authors in this book know well, it is difficult enough to simply discuss class, race and gender on a particular topic. It is much more difficult to locate the points of intersection, to discover how these intersections create manifestations of oppression. Such a method of inquiry poses challenging questions on how to discover the appearances and effects of such intersections, and how to produce strategies of social change designed to eradicate them.

The strategy of just mentioning each of these areas has even been named. Collins (1993) argues that "additive analyses" are often based on two fallacious premises: first, dichotomous thinking (i.e., black/white, man/woman, fact/opinion, and so on) which maintains opposition terms; and second, the assumption of a necessary ranked ordering (hierarchies) of the two stated premises. Both overlook the interlocking nature of these two assumed premises.

One fashionable recent attempt to overcome these problems has been through "standpoint epistemology," the early forms of which were heavily criticized by African American feminists as unilaterally offering a white female perspective. As a result, much contemporary critical analysis acknowledges a plurality of perspectives, of possible standpoints that can develop, each competing with others for ascendancy (see, for example, Grant, 1993; Kerruish, 1991). Today, the literature is replete with discussion, polemic, and synthesis of the various viewpoints on this matter. Yet, too often what has been overlooked in this literature, again, is the intersection (of race, class, and gender) question. If these three aspects are interlocking, then the challenge is to not only discover their configurations and repressive effects, but also to conceive ways of transcending these historical structures. Thus, the various chapters included in this anthology directly or indirectly address the question of existing structures of domination and the possibility of their eradication.