This will be one of the most widely read and cited anthologies in critical criminological history. David Brotherton and Rafael Gude assembled a group of highly respected scholars, all of whom have contributed rich reviews of the extant literature in their particular areas of critical gang studies. There is, indeed, no other book like this one, and it is a useful, "cutting-edge" resource for researchers, teachers, students, practitioners, and policy makers. Professor Walter S. Dekeseredy, West Virginia University Spanning the globe, this extraordinary book provides exciting and theoretically informed analyses that challenge the status quo, provoke difficult conversations, and compel the reader to view social justice and inequality as central to contemporary gang studies. A tour de force that will stimulate and create pause for reflection, it is simultaneously a major chronicle of our times. Rob White, Distinguished Professor of Criminology, University of Tasmania, Australia Canvassing a broad swath of the sociological literature on street gangs, this anthology will become a vital source of information for future gang researchers. No stone is left unturned. The authors cover gangs from theoretical, practical, and historical perspectives to comparative international viewpoints. It is an important contribution to critical gang studies.Mark S. Hamm, Professor of Criminology, Indiana State UniversityThis anthology of gang studies represents critical scholarship at its best. Written and edited by leading scholars in the field, this work contributes to our understanding of the historical, political, and cultural dynamics of the street gang on a global scale. It represents a refreshing antidote to conventional views which tend to pathologize such groups. It is essential reading for academics, practitioners, students, and anyone interested in a more humanist perspective.Tara Young, Lecturer in Criminal Justice and Criminology, Unviersity of KentGangs are much maligned, misunderstood and demonised. While gang members are caricatured as thugs, deviants, drug dealers and the criminals. Gangster is a term all too often mis-used to stigmatise the marginal and criminalise racial groupings of young people. Yet, gangs can be sites of resistance that offer marginalised young people a space for collective identify formation to contest the militarised policing and suppression efforts of settler colonialism that lingers in so many parts of the world. The Routledge Handbook of Critical Gang Studies unpacks these caricatures. Drawing on original studies from Africa, Central and Latin America, Asia, Canada, Europe and United States this compendium debunks the shortfalls of reactionary approaches, such as gang suppression. Based on rich ethnographies, biographies and qualitative methods the 49 chapters apply theories from critical, cultural, de-colonial, Indigenous, Latina and southern perspectives to unearth rich new understandings about gangs as spaces of identity, resistance and belonging. It is essential reading for anyone remotely connected to the correctional and criminal justice systems, such as social workers, police, lawyers, legislators and of course students and academics from an array of disciplines in the social sciences, including criminology, law, sociology, anthropology, social work, public policy, humanities, cultural studies and history. Professor Kerry Carrington, QUT Centre for Justice, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane Australia
