Kristian Nagel Delica

Pillars in the works of Loïc Wacquant: Against a fragmented reception

The critical and polemic receptions of the work of Loïc Wacquant has been extensive, but to a large extent focused on specific works and colored by professional specialty, that is, in a word: fragmented. In counteracting that fragmented response, the article sheds light on the undercurrents in Wacquant’s works by stressing four prominent and consistent features: his heritage from (and updating of) Bourdieu; his emphasis on and constant practice of theory (implicit as well as explicit); the distinct ethos with which he addresses political sociology (in the dual form of a sociology analyzing the effects of the political productions of populations categories and a so-called ‘civic sociology’); and finally, the persistent and ubiquitous critique of everything in existence – a thematic indicator permeating each and every one of his works. Thus the article proposes a unifying reading of Wacquant as an interpretation advocating revitalization of a critical social science.

The social library in three contexts: Programmes and perspectives

Across different national contexts public libraries have dealt, in diverse yet comparable ways, with the multiple challenges stemming from globalization, migration, marginalization and technological developments. This article argues, by way of dissecting three cases of library planning programmes which focused on centring libraries in their neighbourhoods, that we in recent decades witness the contours of a social library. Discussing experiences from initiatives in the UK, Canada and Denmark we, notwithstanding significant national differences, highlight common features – that libraries bring together already existing, but hitherto isolated institutional knowledge and competencies. We conclude by proposing a tentative typology of ‘the social library’.

Kritiske perspektiver på nyere dansk retspolitik - skridt på vej mod en straffestat?

Loic Wacquants teori om udviklingen af en nyliberal straffestat udgor en invitation til empiriske undersogelser. I denne artikel diskuteres Wacquants teori om, at vi i den vestlige verden har oplevet et gradvist skifte fra et keynesiansk velfaerdsregime (welfare) over et schumpetersk arbejdsregime (workfare), til at vi nu ser et nyliberalt faengselsregime (prisonfare) udvikle sig. Wacquant papeger, at det er usikkert, hvorvidt og pa hvilken made vi i fremtiden vil se en ’europaeisk vej mod en straffestat’. Han fastholder, at de skandinaviske lande udgor en undtagelse til denne globale ’tough on crime’ bolge og skriver sig implicit ind i den kriminologiske debat om den sakaldte ’skandinaviske undtagelse’. Malet med denne artikel er at udvide dette perspektiv og diskutere Wacquants teoriudvikling i en skandinavisk kontekst. Empirisk analyseres behandlingen af to danske lovforslag fra 2009 og 2011. Begge omhandler stramning af straffeloven inden for henholdsvis bandekriminalitet og hjemmeroverier, og begge blev stemt igennem med et overbevisende flertal i Folketinget. Fokuspunktet for analysen er, hvilke overordnede tematikker politikerne henviser til som argumentation for en oget strafferamme. Konklusionen er, at disse alle henviser til et nyliberalt folelsesbetonet argument om retsfolelsen. Artiklen inviterer, med baggrund i Wacquants teori, til kritiske refleksioner over den stramme danske retspolitik. n n nENGELSK ABSTRACT: n nIda Norvin Nilsson and Kristian Nagel Delica: Critical Perspectives on Recent Danish Legal Policy – a Step on the Way Towards a ”Penal State”? nThis article discusses Loic Wacquant’s thesis of a gradual shift from a Keynesian welfare regime via a Schumpeterian workfare regime to the contemporary creation of a neoliberal penal state. This thesis raises the question as to whether we will see a ”European road towards the penal state”. Wacquant maintains that the Scandinavian countries are exceptions to the global ”tough on crime” trend, thus implicitly touching upon debates in criminology about so-called ”Scandinavian exceptionalism”. This article is both a contribution to this debate as well as a critical view on Wacquant’s theories seen from a Scandinavian perspective. The empirical case in the analysis is the debates about two bills in the Danish parliament in 2009 and 2011 aimed at increasing punishment for gang violence and home robberies. Both of these bills were passed by an overwhelming majority. The analysis dissects the kind of themes referred to by the politicians in their arguments for increasing the punishment in these specific cases. One clear theme is the ill-defined term ”sense of justice”. The article invites critical reflections on the increasingly tough Danish justice policy and Wacquant’s theory of the neoliberal penal state. n nKeywords: Loic Wacquant, penalty, punitive state, legal policy, neoliberalism, Scandinavian exceptionalism.