A tale of two capitalisms: preliminary spatial and historical comparisons of homicide rates in Western Europe and the USA

Hall, Steve and McLean, Craig (2009) A tale of two capitalisms: preliminary spatial and historical comparisons of homicide rates in Western Europe and the USA. Theoretical Criminology, 13 (3). pp. 313-339. ISSN 1362-4806

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1362480609336496

Abstract

This article examines comparative homicide rates in the United States and Western Europe in an era of increasingly globalized neoliberal economics. The main finding of this preliminary analysis is that historical and spatial correlations between distinct forms of political economy and homicide rates are consistent enough to suggest that social democratic regimes are more successful at fostering the socio-cultural conditions necessary for reduced homicide rates. Thus Western Europe and all continents and nations should approach the importation of American neo-liberal economic policies with extreme caution. The article concludes by suggesting that the indirect but crucial causal connection between political economy and homicide rates, prematurely pushed into the background of criminological thought during the ‘cultural turn’, should be returned to the foreground.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Europe, homicide, neo-liberalism, political economy, social democracy, USA
Subjects: L300 Sociology
L400 Social Policy
Department: Faculties > Arts, Design and Social Sciences > Social Sciences
Depositing User: EPrint Services
Date Deposited: 11 Jun 2010 11:01
Last Modified: 17 Dec 2023 12:00
URI: https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/2585

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