Governing Through Crime

Starting at the collapse of the New Deal approach to governing during the 1960s, Jonathan Simon traces the process by which our everyday world became dominated by fear, and one in which every citizen is treated as a potential criminal. Simon illustrates how The War on Crime redefined the ideal citizen as a crime victim-one whose vulnerabilities opened the door to overweening government intervention. This transformation of the core powers of government spilled over into the institutions that structure daily life. Soon our schools, our families, our workplaces, and our communities were being governed through crime.