Violence and Crime in Nineteenth Century England: The Shadow of our Refinement

by Wood,J. Carter

• ISBN13: 9780415329057
• ISBN10: 0415329051
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-06-17
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

This book illuminates the origins and development of violence as a social issue and its place in modern life. Combining a vivid analysis of criminal records and public debate with theories from cultural studies, anthropology and social geography, it significantly contributes to current debates in history, criminology and violence studies.

Author Biography

J. Carter Wood taught as a visiting lecturer in modern British history at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Acknowledgements	xi
Introduction: casting shadows	1	(7)
``Speakable'' violence: mentality and violence, narrative and counternarrative	8	(19)
Violence, narrative and mentality	10	(5)
Civilizing processes and discourses of violence	15	(5)
Civilizing offensives, social control, class and counternarrative	20	(7)
A useful savagery: violence, civilization and middle-class identity	27	(20)
Inventing violence	28	(4)
``Civilization'' and ``savagery''	32	(4)
Violence and identity	36	(4)
The limits of civilization	40	(7)
``Vigorous passions and decided actions'': custom and the cultural contexts of violence	47	(23)
Retribution	48	(8)
Autonomy	56	(5)
Discipline	61	(9)
``The brave old English custom'': dispute, recreation and ritual violence among working-class men	70	(25)
Sport fighting and streetfighting	72	(3)
Locations and motives	75	(5)
The fighting ritual	80	(6)
Foul blows, brutal assaults and violence	86	(5)
Fighting, Englishness and working-class life	91	(4)
``The wrongdoing of the poor man is as open as day'': built space, imagined space, knowledge and violence	95	(24)
Built spaces	98	(7)
Imagined spaces	105	(5)
Knowledge of violence	110	(9)
``Heave half a brick at a stranger'': strategies of violence	119	(19)
Performance and legitimacy	120	(7)
Exclusion and resistance	127	(11)
Conclusion	138	(10)
Notes	148	(32)
Bibliography	180	(15)
Index	195