New publication: Crime and Technology: Controversial Presents, (Un)likely Futures

Following the recently completed E-Monitoring project, the book Crime and Technology: Controversial Presents, (Un)likely Futures has just been launched.
The work comes at a time when the intersection between crime and technology is giving rise to increasingly intense and fundamental debates, although these are often scattered across the academic sphere.

The coordinator of the research project, and also of this publication, Rafaela Granja, points out that:
‘Contemporary concerns about crime have driven growing investment in technologies that cut across different areas of the justice system — from criminal investigation to the courts, including custodial measures. This book invites critical reflection on the (un)likely futures that emerge from the increasingly close intertwining of crime and technology.
While risk management legitimises the promise of technological solutions for crime control, the chapters gathered here show that these technologies are not neutral: they are shaped by socio-technical networks where values, interests and disputes — both symbolic and structural — circulate, influencing what we consider possible, legitimate and ethically acceptable in the field of criminal justice.
More than an analysis of the technologies themselves, this work offers a critical look at the ways in which they are conceived, implemented and experienced. In doing so, it challenges us to imagine futures that are not mere repetitions of the problems of the present, nor unquestioningly accept the idea that technological innovation is, in itself, synonymous with social progress.
This book is thus an invitation to reflection anchored in equity, social justice and respect for fundamental rights. It is intended for researchers, students and professionals in the social sciences, criminal sciences and justice — and for anyone interested in critically understanding the role of technologies in the criminal justice system.’

The book is available here 

[Posted:14-11-2025]