Sage Publications, Inc. (Books and Journals)

• British Journal of Politics and International Relations

Neoclassical Realism popularised by including context into a structuralised worldview. However, far from a novelty, Global South scholars have been promoting similar Realist course corrections, reducing parsimony, and increasing explanation. This article compares Ayoob’s Subaltern Realism, Escudé’s Peripheral Realism, and Yan’s Moral Realism, showcasing how originality is displayed via...

• Criminology & Criminal Justice

“Land on Fire: The Spatial Production of the Mafia” proposes to address a major lacuna in geographic literature: How mafia groups are socially and spatially reproducing themselves through the intentional setting of fire. Analyzing the 2021 and 2023 wildfire seasons in Sicily, this research proposes that the Sicilian Mafia is operationalizing both rural and urban space in novel ways that reflect a

• Journal of Criminal Law, The

• Political Studies

Gaining the attention of legislators in a crowded advocacy landscape is a key dilemma for organized interests. Yet, there has not been a great deal of direct analysis of whether groups are indeed recognized as important by politicians in the context of them advancing political arguments. In this article, we examine under what conditions interest groups achieve prominence among political elites....

• British Journal of Politics and International Relations

The terminology of ‘never again’ has been studied in Sociology, Cultural Studies and History, yet remains neglected in International Relations. This is despite its centrality in debates over humanitarian intervention, the Responsibility to Protect and mass atrocity prevention. To foster a conversation over the term’s use, this article uses an interdisciplinary approach to show how the meaning of ‘

• Criminology & Criminal Justice

This article studies legitimate businesses confiscated from mafia groups in Italy to assess whether mafia investment patterns across industries depend on the characteristics of the geographical environment in which infiltrated firms operate. We carry out a spatial regression analysis of more than 1700 firms, with special emphasis on restaurants/hotels and construction, confiscated from mafia...

• Journal of Criminal Law, The

Recently, there have been some powerful calls in the media for the law to adopt an affirmative consent model in relation to the law on rape. This article explores this proposal. It argues that while there is much that is attractive about the concept of affirmative consent, it needs considerable unpacking and explanation before it can be accepted. Indeed, if adopted at a simplistic level, it...

• Social & Legal Studies

• British Journal of Politics and International Relations

Contextualist and empirical analyses have recently become important tools in political theory due to a growing ‘methodological turn’ in the discipline. In this article I argue that realism, the ethnographic sensibility in political theory, and comparative political theory should be considered as part of this methodological turn. I show that they share its diagnosis of a gap between political...

• Criminology & Criminal Justice

Territory, where a network of influence and business interests can be developed, is an important feature of criminal organizations. While some research on organized crime by Chinese triads has been published in recent years, the concept of triad territory is still under-researched. This article discusses what a triad territory is and how it is formed, managed and defended. Through qualitative...

• Journal of Criminal Law, The

This article considers recent proposed revisions to Crown Prosecution Service legal guidance on ‘Deception as to Gender’, that were put out for public consultation in September 2022. It does so against a backdrop of a series of sexual offence prosecutions brought against young LGBTQ people since 2012. These prosecutions, especially those brought against trans people, have been widely criticised....

• Political Studies

In a backsliding democracy, antidemocratic politicians often vilify nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and impose restrictions that make it harder for them to form, advocate, or obtain funding. Do citizens consider NGOs as a threat? Do they support regulatory measures to restrict NGO activities? We focus on two factors that may influence citizens’ attitudes toward NGOs: these groups’ reliance...

• Social & Legal Studies

The practice of forced marriage has been the subject of focussed attention over the past 15 years in Australia. The policy approach has largely centred on criminal law responses. In this paper we turn to the social safety net, supports available for those experiencing pressure to marry or in a forced marriage, and their families. We report on eight focus groups with 56 participants working in key

• British Journal of Politics and International Relations

Amid growing strategic competition, regional powers have intensified their engagement with Pacific Island Countries. This article examines Australia’s ‘Pacific Step-up’, a signature foreign policy initiative of the Scott Morrison government (2018–2022), from a signalling perspective. Through the Step-up, Australia sought to affirm its resolve to be partner of choice for Pacific Island Countries....

• Criminology & Criminal Justice

Since the so-called ‘migrant crisis’ in 2015, there has been intense policy interest around irregular migration along the Central Mediterranean Route to Europe. Despite increased research focus on this route, the details and geographical intricacies of these migration journeys have scarcely been examined. In this study, we investigate the what, where and how of the journeys of 71 people who...

• Journal of Criminal Law, The

• Social & Legal Studies

• British Journal of Politics and International Relations

This article speaks to an established interest of International Relations scholars in the construction of the ‘China threat’ in US political discourse. We advance recent works which have argued that the rise of China has contributed to the success of populism in the United States and Western liberal democracies more widely. Specifically, we transpose the concept of the ‘populism of the privileged’

• Criminology & Criminal Justice

Natural disasters can affect the behavior of criminal organizations. This article analyses the effect of the 2017 earthquakes that hit Mexico on the incidence of crimes related to organized crime. In particular, the outcomes of interest are rates for homicides, extortion, drug crime, and kidnapping. Using a difference-in-differences and an event-study methodologies, the findings indicate an...

• Political Studies

Since 2001, studies of (counter)terrorism and (counter)radicalisation have burgeoned. However, at times, these literatures have reduced the agency of ordinary citizens, imagining them as ‘actors of the state’ and ‘petty sovereigns’. By integrating vernacular security approaches with allied research in Education, we develop a novel ontological conceptualisation of ordinary citizens as ‘enactors of

• Social & Legal Studies

• British Journal of Politics and International Relations

Pacifism and anarchism share some territory and have cross-pollinated across historical contexts, but are also distinct traditions and movements, with voices in each holding serious reservations and criticisms of the other. Identifying and critically discussing these reservations helps correct widespread misunderstandings in the scholarship and the wider public, thereby also presenting arguments...

• Criminology & Criminal Justice

Organised crime – and the people, processes and structures involved – do not exist in a geographical vacuum. They have an inherent spatiality: shaped by and shaping the places they occupy in physical, virtual and hybrid spaces. Although the ‘social embeddedness’ of organised crime is relatively well-recognised, its spatiality – or ‘spatial embeddedness’ – has been neglected. This article...

• Social & Legal Studies

Drawing on a series of interviews with on-demand food delivery riders, who are rural migrant workers, this paper seeks to explain the workers’ decision to give up stable jobs in factories in favour of largely unregulated and precarious on-demand work. Focusing on those aspects of the legal framework which shape workers’ decisions, it presents the explanation under the dual banners of ‘income’ and

• British Journal of Politics and International Relations

Freedom-of-navigation operations (FONOPs) led by the United States have become a prominent policy tool in the South China Sea. These operations, however, have caused much confusion and consternation in the region despite the limited legal purpose that they officially serve. Why? This article departs from existing research by examining FONOPs as a form of signalling. Utilising an original dataset...

• Political Studies

While the effects of political stigma on populist radical right parties have been extensively investigated, we know little about the impact of societal stigma on populist radical right sympathisers. To examine this, I focus on a key group of populist radical right supporters, party members, and ask: How does perceived societal stigma affect the participation of populist radical right party...

• Social & Legal Studies

In Australia, vagrancy and public order laws have been used to criminalise homelessness since colonisation. Such laws have never provided an effective deterrent against ‘offending’ because most crimes committed by homeless people are survival-related or otherwise associated with their homeless status. It is generally agreed that a welfare-oriented rather than a punitive approach is needed if...

• British Journal of Politics and International Relations

Character assassination, a specific type of negative campaigning, has been intensely investigated through the lenses of the circumstances and content of attacks. However, we know little about why some politicians survive and others do not. The present article addresses this gap in the literature and identifies the reasons for political survival following character assassination attempts. It...

• Social & Legal Studies

This paper examines legal mobilisation in socio-environmental movements through the Caimanes case, a Chilean community opposing the Los Pelambres mining project. It integrates structural and agency perspectives, highlighting the community's adaptation to political and legal opportunities and focusing on distributive environmental justice. The study identifies two protest cycles: the first seeking

• British Journal of Politics and International Relations

Why has it been so difficult to reform U.S. policing? We provide a theoretical argument that understanding of the entrenched militarisation and accountability problems of U.S. police departments would benefit from using theory in comparative research on civil–military relations. American police forces undermine local democracy by encroaching upon the decision-making powers of city officials in...