Book Review: Heidensohn, F. (Ed.). (2006). Gender and Justice: New Concepts and Approaches. Devon, UK: Willan. xiv, 314 pp

• Author: Rasby Marlene Powell
• Date: 01 June 2009
• DOI: 10.1177/0734016808325626
• Published date: 01 June 2009
• Subject Matter: Articles

304 Criminal Justice Review

attribute these failures to racism or class conflict say little, in the end, about what exactly

happened or why (e.g., such attributions do not explain why the city of New Orleans, which

had received millions of dollars in homeland security funds, was so ill prepared for a major

hurricane). In any event, the author of this chapter apparently was not aware of the work of

Kathleen Tierney and her colleagues, who have argued, much more effectively, that the

militarization of the relief effort was facilitated by an urban warfare frame that officials

applied to the disaster and that served various political interests.

The chapter on the prison industrial complex exemplifies the weaknesses that afflict the

majority of essays in this volume. In the tradition of critical theory, the authors focus almost

exclusively on the role of broad social forces and the plight of marginalized social groups.

Their approach is mainly deductive in nature, which some of the authors recognize as being

perhaps less objective than inductive research (one author aligns himself with scholar activists

who promote the agenda of the working class and the goal of democratic socialism). A criti-

cal approach to the Katrina disaster is certainly fitting and offers a badly needed counterpoint

to the conservative analyses that have dominated the popular press. Nevertheless, many of

the analyses offered here are clearly skewed (one could argue they are skewed in a desirable

direction, depending on one’s politics, but they are skewed nonetheless). Most notably,

the authors have a penchant for making sweeping claims and generalizations that have little

chance of being verified or refuted. Not surprisingly, most of their venom is directed at

the federal government. There is little mention of failures at the local level. Whatever one’s

view of federal responsibilities in this area (and I happen to agree with the position of

Hannibal Travis, described above), one need to only conduct a cursory examination of the

preparedness of local officials to be shocked and dismayed by their level of neglect and irre-

sponsibility, which may have cost many lives (see, for example, The Storm by Ivor van

Heerden & Mike Bryan, 2006, New York: Viking). Why are these local failures not also of

concern to scholars and activists engaged in the fight for social justice?

In sum, this is a fine collection for what it represents—a collection of essays rooted in

critical theory—with a few standout chapters that I highly recommend. However, serious

students of Katrina will need to supplement this volume with works that strive for a more

complete and objective understanding of the disaster.

Timothy Brezina

Georgia State University, Atlanta

Heidensohn, F. (Ed.). (2006). Gender and Justice: New Concepts and Approaches. Devon,

UK: Willan. xiv, 314 pp.

DOI: 10.1177/0734016808325626

Although Heidensohn’s earlier book, Women in Control: The Role of Women in Law

Enforcement, was more narrowly focused on women’s obstacles and contributions within law

enforcement, Gender and Justice: New Concepts and Approaches focuses more broadly on

feminist criminology. The purpose of this edited volume is to illustrate how feminist criminol-

ogy has changed over time, as original questions and concepts have spawned new questions