Superman, Batman, Daredevil, and Wonder Woman are iconic cultural figures that embody values of order, fairness, justice, and retribution. Comic Book Crime digs deep into these and other celebrated characters, providing a comprehensive understanding of crime and justice in contemporary American comic books. This is a world where justice is delivered, where heroes save ordinary citizens from certain doom, where evil is easily identified and thwarted by powers far greater than mere mortals could possess. Nickie Phillips and Staci Strobl explore these representations and show that comic books, as a historically important American cultural medium, participate in both reflecting and shaping an American ideological identity that is often focused on ideas of the apocalypse, utopia, retribution, and nationalism. Through an analysis of approximately 200 comic books sold from 2002 to 2010, as well as several years of immersion in comic book fan culture, Phillips and Strobl reveal the kinds of themes and plots popular comics feature in a post-9/11 context. They discuss heroes’ calculations of “deathworthiness,” or who should be killed in meting out justice, and how these judgments have as much to do with the hero’s character as they do with the actions of the villains. This fascinating volume also analyzes how class, race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation are used to construct difference for both the heroes and the villains in ways that are both conservative and progressive. Engaging, sharp, and insightful, Comic Book Crime is a fresh take on the very meaning of truth, justice, and the American way.
Women Policing across the Globe provides a cross-cultural comparison of the integration of women in policing across the globe, paying special attention to the unique contributions that women make to the field, along with the shared challenges and resistance they face. Individual chapters within the book provide students with a snapshot of the status of women in modern police agencies in the countries of the United States, Kuwait, China, the United Kingdom, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, and Taiwan. However, shared issues and successes of women police in many more countries worldwide are discussed throughout the entire book. This book allows students to explore the different origins of entry, specialized roles, their experiences of resistance, and effects of historical events that have shaped the experiences of modern women police from across the world. The authors discuss the new gains women are making, despite the obstacles they face, and ways they are transforming how policing is done every day. And, finally, this book closes with collective issues and successes faced by women police worldwide.
Superman, Batman, Daredevil, and Wonder Woman are iconic cultural figures that embody values of order, fairness, justice, and retribution. Comic Book Crime digs deep into these and other celebrated characters, providing a comprehensive understanding of crime and justice in contemporary American comic books. This is a world where justice is delivered, where heroes save ordinary citizens from certain doom, where evil is easily identified and thwarted by powers far greater than mere mortals could possess. Nickie Phillips and Staci Strobl explore these representations and show that comic books, as a historically important American cultural medium, participate in both reflecting and shaping an American ideological identity that is often focused on ideas of the apocalypse, utopia, retribution, and nationalism. Through an analysis of approximately 200 comic books sold from 2002 to 2010, as well as several years of immersion in comic book fan culture, Phillips and Strobl reveal the kinds of themes and plots popular comics feature in a post-9/11 context. They discuss heroes’ calculations of “deathworthiness,” or who should be killed in meting out justice, and how these judgments have as much to do with the hero’s character as they do with the actions of the villains. This fascinating volume also analyzes how class, race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation are used to construct difference for both the heroes and the villains in ways that are both conservative and progressive. Engaging, sharp, and insightful, Comic Book Crime is a fresh take on the very meaning of truth, justice, and the American way.
Sectarian Order in Bahrain connects the rise of colonial criminal justice in Bahrain and sectarianism, making detailed use of an archival cache of colonial criminal court cases in the British Library, and offering a critical analysis. Using primary and secondary historical documents, including ethnographic and anthropological accounts, the book links major themes in critical and cultural criminology, southern criminology, historical sociology, post-colonialism, and Gulf studies which have not been adequately examined together. It drills down on an important group of surviving criminal court case files, and shows how they can describe the problem of and inform solutions to sectarian discrimination in Bahrain. There are two major shifts in notions of the social order and order maintenance that characterize the 20th century, highlighting a sectarianism modus operandi within the colonial criminal justice system. The shifts are the criminalization of inter-tribal competition and honor-based modes of behavior in order to prevent intra-Sunni contestation and to unite Sunnis under Al-Khalifah and colonial authority; and the invention of indigenous Shi’a and Persian Bahrainis as a criminal class as an extension of the sectarianism long practiced by the Al Khalifah (and other Sunni tribes). Together these two shifts birth a modern criminal justice system that institutionalizes Sunni chauvinism and Shi’a discrimination, problems evident in the Bahraini criminal justice system today.
This dissertation explores ethnographic, archival and survey findings related to the Women's Police Directorate, a separate unit for policewomen in Bahrain, which handles cases involving women and children as victims, witness and offenders. Historically, the segregation of female police has characterized the early development of women in policing in western countries. Most studies of policewomen assume a linear, developmental model in which segregation is a stepping stone on the path to gender integration. However, this assumption has never been tested with Arab or Muslim police forces and thus has not been explored in cultural contexts in which Muslim and Arab constructions of gender may come into play. This research hypothesized that although Bahraini policewomen can be viewed as pioneers, even feminists, in their participation in a traditionally male occupation, their self-perception may not be as radical, nor do they necessarily frame their choice of profession in sociopolitical terms. Although they may have the same career aspirations as their western counterparts, they may prefer to work in a parallel environment to men, out of respect for tradition, and thus limit the likelihood of gender integration. Data were derived from ethnographic observation of Bahrain's police stations and other divisions where policewomen work, a survey of Bahraini policewomen and archival information. The results suggest that full gender integration of the police in Bahrain is unlikely when considering only policewomen's perceptions, gleaned during unstructured interviews, of their own careers and the future of their profession. However, these ethnographic findings contrast with the publicly-stated goals of the ruling al-Khalifah family of empowering women in all careers. In addition, some high-ranking male and female police officers and Sunni political leaders seek greater participation of women in public life and seemingly contradict policewomen's self-perception. As such, this dissertation utilizes a post-colonial theoretical lens in order to come to terms with the conflicting findings, and suggests that western police academic paradigms are insufficient to locate and explain the trends in the intersection of gender and policing in non-western cultural contexts. The findings suggest a two-track policy in which some policewomen remain segregated and other move toward integration in order to satisfy the internal and external demands placed on the Bahraini police.
Thank you for visiting our website. Would you like to provide feedback on how we could improve your experience?
This site does not use any third party cookies with one exception — it uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic.Learn More.