This pathbreaking book brings to bear a sweeping body of contemporary intersectional feminist work to disrupt the entire discipline of criminology. Women have been largely absent from criminological theory, research, policy, and practice. This fresh, conversational book critiques the field's dominant theories by analyzing gendered patterns of perpetration and victimization and challenging traditional criminological perspectives on characteristics such as race and queerness. Designed as a rebuttal to conventional criminology textbooks, the book mirrors standard course content through an intersectional feminist lens, offering students a valuable opportunity to question the field's underpinnings and forge a new path to understanding the true meaning of justice.
Organized in fourteen chapters, each chapter includes accessible learning aids for students:
- A review of how traditional criminology textbooks cover the topic
- Critical perspectives on the topic
- Critical thinking breaks
Intersectional Feminist Criminology is a timely intervention and companion to the curriculum that helps to imagine a new world and ultimately lays out a clear abolitionist vision as an alternative to the American criminal legal system.
Venezia Michalsen is Associate Professor of Sociology at Southern Connecticut State University and author of Mothering and Desistance in Re-Entry.
"This exciting and innovative coursebook helps students critique common ways of studying and thinking about crimes, while also encouraging critical thought about hot-button issues and headline news. Utterly unique, with great potential for classroom adoption. There is no other title like this on the market."—Janet Garcia-Hallett, author of Invisible Mothers: Unseen Yet Hypervisible after Incarceration
"This book offers a much-needed, comprehensive understanding of critical criminology, moving away from traditional criminology textbooks and providing digestible ways for readers to think about and discuss complex social problems. It is a must-read to complement and replace outdated criminology textbooks."—Calvin John Smiley, author of Purgatory Citizenship: Reentry, Race, and Abolition
"Venezia Michalsen's Intersectional Feminist Criminology is a highly readable textbook for students interested in a closer examination of the theories, policies, and programs within criminology and criminal legal studies than what is typically found in introductory textbooks. While traditional texts portray surveillance and punishment as a given, Michalsen offers a critique through an intersectional feminist lens, encouraging students to ask questions about our systems with every turn of the page."—Allyn Walker, author of A Long, Dark Shadow: Minor-Attracted People and Their Pursuit of Dignity
"Re-envisioning a traditional criminology coursebook, Intersectional Feminist Criminology is uniquely effective as a text that grounds readers in classical criminological theory while also opening their eyes to new ways of thinking about harm, violence, criminal offending, and the legal system itself. This is an excellent core reading for introductory courses."—Lisa Pasko, coauthor of The Female Offender: Girls, Women, and Crime
320 pp.6 x 9
9780520380288$95.00|£80.00Hardcover
Jul 2025