Restorative Justice and Contemporary Political Theory

Outlining an original analysis of the political dimension of restorative justice, this book seeks both to enhance the critical comprehension of this phenomenon and to forge new tools for acting politically through restorative justice, inviting restorative justice scholars, practitioners and advocates to become a radical political movement. Restorative justice is widely studied, nationally and internationally legislated, and increasingly practised; however, the growth of relevant policy, practice and research has been only marginally accompanied by the development of updated, theoretically informed and critical reflections on the relationships between politics and restorative justice. This is a significant problem since neglecting the political dimension may limit the capacity of the restorative justice movement to critically appreciate its possible role in confronting oppressive social and political arrangements. This book addresses this gap by providing reflections on restorative justice in relation to six complex political concepts – difference, sovereignty, community, identity, equality and subalternity. Engaging with the thoughts of Gilles Deleuze, Giorgio Agamben, Jean-Luc Nancy, Judith Butler, Jacques Rancière and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, each chapter works as a prism to unravel and reconstruct creatively restorative justice unearthing its political conditions and effects. Providing an innovative contribution to our thinking about the political nature and significance of restorative justice from the specific perspective of political theory, Restorative Justice and Contemporary Political Theory will appeal to both students and scholars of restorative justice specifically and of criminal justice and criminology more broadly.