Transformation and Trouble: Crime, Justice and Participation in Democratic South Africa

Crime is one of the major challenges to any new democracy. Violence often increases after the lifting of authoritarian control, or in the aftermath of regime change. But how can a fledgling democracy fight crime without violating the fragile rights of its citizens? In
Transformation and Trouble , accomplished theorist and criminal justice scholar Diana Gordon critically examines South Africa’s efforts to strike the perilous balance between democratic participation and social control. Although she finds that South Africa has made great progress in pursuing the Western ideals of participatory justice and due process, popular concerns about crime have fostered the growth of a punitive criminal justice system that undermines the country’s rights-oriented political culture.
Transformation and Trouble
calls for South Africa to reaffirm its commitment to public empowerment by reforming its criminal justice system - an approach, she argues, that would strengthen the country’s new democracy.
Transformation and Trouble
cuts across disciplines to speak to political scientists, criminal justice scholars, undergraduate and graduate students, and anyone interested in the future of democratic South Africa.