Crime as an assemblage

Crockett Thomas, P. (2020) Crime as an assemblage. Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Criminology, 12, pp. 68-79.

Abstract

This article seeks to make an original contribution to criminology and the sociology of crime and punishment by elaborating the ‘assemblage’, a concept which originates in the collaborative poststructuralist philosophy of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari and discussing its ontological implications for researching crime. I will first introduce the concept and its application. I then discuss the relationship between the assemblage and Michel Foucault’s concept of the dispositif. I demonstrate how the assemblage could be used to analyse crime events and discuss questions of change and scale within the assemblage. I conclude by outlining some implications for how adopting this concept would change the way we practice and research crime and punishment.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Thomas, Dr Phil
• Authors: Crockett Thomas, P.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Sociology Anthropology and Applied Social Sciences
• Journal Name: Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Criminology
• Publisher: Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Criminology
• ISSN: 2166-8094
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2020 Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Criminology
• First Published: First published in Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Criminology 12:68-79
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced with the permission of the publisher