1st Edition
Lacan for Criminologists Zemiology, Ultra-Realism, and Harm Reduction
1 Introduction 2 Ultra-Realist Criminology 3 Lacan’s Register Theory 4 The Lacanian Subject 5 Lacan in Ultra-realism 6 A Lacanian Zemiology 7 Conclusion
Biography
Rafe McGregor is Reader in Criminology at Edge Hill University in Lancashire, UK. He is the author of 20 books, including Reducing Political Violence: Narrative Accounts of Crime and Harm (2026), Anthropocide: An Essay in Green Cultural Criminology (2025), and Recovering Police Legitimacy: A Radical Framework (2024).
David Grčki is a senior assistant in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Rijeka, Croatia. His research focuses on logic, the philosophy of logic, and the philosophy of narrative arts. He is the co-author (with Rafe McGregor) of An Epistemology of Criminological Cinema (2024).
Ema Lalić is a research assistant at the Department of Philosophy, University of Rijeka, Croatia. She is currently writing her dissertation on the value of philosophy. Her other interests include philosophy of language and philosophy of literature.
The first thorough examination of ultra-realist theory in a Lacanian context. The points of convergence and dispute identified here are further steps towards the sophisticated zemiological framework criminology needs to move forward in the twenty-first century.
Steve Hall, Professor Emeritus, Teesside UniversityThe ubiquity of abstract empiricism and the drab emotivism of so much contemporary theorising mean criminology has little of note to say about the world today. Where can we look to discover the energy and insight we need to drag criminology out of its self-satisfied inertia? The work of Jacques Lacan is an excellent place to start. In this well-written and insightful book, the authors offer criminologists a rigorous but accessible introduction to Lacan’s oeuvre, outlining his central concepts and encourage us to use Lacan to deepen our understanding of crime and harm.
An excellent introduction to Lacan. A must-read for all true criminologists!
Simon Winlow, Professor, Northumbria University
Since its inception, many outside the Ultra Realist project have engaged in a critical manner. Often such engagement has been disingenuous, erroneous or dismissive. In this thesis the authors state the value of the Ultra Realist framework is, in part, its success in bringing forth a much-needed theoretical revolution in Criminology. Equally, the value of this book is propelling the revolution forth through rigorous, stimulating and intellectual debate. A brilliant contribution highlight the necessity of a Lacanian Zemiology.
Craig Kelly, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Birmingham City UniversityLacan for Criminologists is essential reading for anybody who wants to understand the relationship between the normal violence of late capitalism, individual psychology endlessly in search of some sense of relief, and crime and deviance in liberal democratic society. McGregor, Grčki, and Lalić expertly reveal the Lacanian psychology underpinning Hall and Winlow’s criminogenic society and in this regard suggest pathways to the reduction of harm for a neo-Hobbesian model of society that seems to survive in a dire state balanced on the edge of chaos
Mark Featherstone, Professor of Sociology, Keele University
