This book is a timely and wide-ranging account of the relationship between the development of a 'free market society' in Europe and North America and the fears and anxieties provoked by crime. It offers an evaluation of the theoretical schools in social theory and in criminology which continue to dominate the academy, but whose purchase on contemporary realities is everywhere slipping.

• Cover 2
• Title Page 6
• Copyright 7
• CONTENTS 8
• List of Figures 12
• List of Tables 13
• Acknowledgements 14
• Introduction 16
• 1 Social Transitions of the Late Twentieth Century: ‘Crime’ and ‘Fear’ in Context 23
  • The Job Crisis 28
  • The Crisis of Material Poverty and Social Inequality 30
  • Fear of Falling and Fear of the Other 32
  • The Crisis of the Nation-state 35
  • Crises of Inclusion and Exclusion 42
  • Crisis in ‘the Culture’ 49