Communitarianism and law and order

In: Critical social policy: a journal of theory and practice in social welfare, Band 16, Heft 49, S. 17-41

Abstract

This paper engages critically with the major variants of contemporary communitarian thought on crime and disorder. It begins with an assess ment of the moral authoritarian communitarianism of Etzioni and Dennis. It is then argued that there are different and more radical appro priations of community associated with the work of intellectuals in Europe and Oceania beyond that of moral authoritarianism. In particu lar, the development of radical re-imaginings of community and social justice are identified in communitarian work on ( 1 ) local governance and the re-constitution of civil society, (2) basic income and the common good and (3) restorative justice. In conclusion, it is argued that there are progressive as well as the already widely recognized regressive poten tialities in contemporary communitarian discourses on law and order.