The future is already here: Covid-19, criminology, and crime

ABSTRACT

Even though the world looks to have irreversibly changed since 2020, many social scientists are still looking at social life through a pre-Covid-19 lens. The evidence for this is present in the slow generation of empirical research during and in the aftermath, which could possibly generate new theoretical means to understand what this may mean for the generations to come. Major social change is underway. Almost every facet of social life is being rewritten right before our very eyes. The lockdowns, social distancing, and other measures implemented to 'control' the spread of Covid-19 have revolutionised the functioning of political and social institutions and have altered the platforms of social interactions and human relations. Yet the sublime ideological alignment of governments, the media, and law enforcement agencies in favour of these measures has radically polarised society as well as intensified present inequalities while simultaneously creating new ones in the process. All the while, all manner of historical, political, and social, as well as, importantly, medical context has been absent in the face of all this. Unless it moves quickly, criminology could well miss an opportunity to show its true multidisciplinary colours. This chapter seeks to give a general overview of this change in the context of social life, crime, and criminology. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023. All rights reserved.