Critical Race Theory for Historical Criminologist : Historicizing Intersections of Gender, Privilege, and Oppression

Miller, Esmorie (2024) Critical Race Theory for Historical Criminologist : Historicizing Intersections of Gender, Privilege, and Oppression. In: British Society of Criminology Annual Conference 2024, 2024-07-10 - 2024-07-12, University of Strathclyde.

Abstract

Recent moral panics about the role of Critical Race Theory (CRT) in schools have filtered beyond the American political scene to the British context. Indeed, British member of parliament Kemi Badenoch’s recent declaration that CRT is political and should be treated as such is one way to understand, (a), CRT’s relevance to the British context, and (b), how this relevance can be adduced in terms of the intersections with historical criminology. This chapter explains the importance and utility of critical race theory as a framework for doing historical criminology. We outline what critical race theory is, criminological examples of applying critical race theory, and its relationship with intersectionality. Critical race theory was developed by American legal scholars, including Derrick Bell and Kimberle Crenshaw. From this American criminologists have originated Intersectional and Black Criminologies to incorporate the analysis of race and racism. However, race is not only an American phenomenon and racism is not only an American problem. Focusing on the UK, the chapter argues that critical race theory has application for historical criminology beyond the United States and presents illustrative examples from the authors’ historical criminological research. It examines the significance of gender and the need for intersectionality in historical criminological research about (and with?) racialised women in the UK.