Overview

Vigilantes operate in the shadows rather than the bright lights of mainstream political consensus. They have arisen at many times in different regions of the world as defenders, often by force, of their view of the good life against those they see to be its enemies. Recent reports of their activities in Britain, Ireland, mainland Europe, Africa, and America have appeared in the press. Yet they have been relatively little studied outside the United States, where they hold a special if at times romanticized position in the nation's history. It may be that their common involvement in the defence of power, property and other ""bourgeois"" interests has been less attractive to scholars than the more radical activities of bandits and revolutionaries. Nonetheless, it is surprising that their often independent stance towards the State has not received more attention from both critical and friendly analysts of that institution. The book explores the ""frontier"" conditions in which vigilantism emerges as a solution, full of ambiguities, to problems of perceived disorder which official instruments of law and order do not handle to the vigilante's satisfaction. Contemporary and historical case material - from Africa, North and South America, the Philippines, Europe and Britain - is examined within an analytic and comparative framework, as are the often fuzzy boundaries between vigilantism and other forms of ""informal sector"" activity, such as state death squads, mafia, and banditry. This book will be of value to undergraduates and graduates in anthropology, political sociology, criminology and history. It will also provide stimulating reading for all who are interested in issues of law and order.

Full Product Details

9780745616377

Table of Contents

Reviews

'Well researched and clearly written, with little academic jargon. [It] could be of interest to academics and a wider reading public.' Times Higher Education Supplement 'Ray Abraham's book, Vigilant Citizens, begins to break through conventional approaches that simply focus on broad historical or social causes of vigilantism, and has much to offer as a result. By providing a rich historical overview of the social and political contexts in which vigilante groups have emerged, and a balanced degree of detail on their activities and goals, Vigilant Citizens is an excellent text for students, both at undergraduate and graduate levels.' Ron Levi, Faculty of Law and Centre of Criminology, University of Toronto, in the British Journal of Criminology '[An] impressive piece of work that goes a long way to filling a gap in the literature on social protest movements.' Social Anthropology

'Well researched and clearly written, with little academic jargon. [It] could be of interest to academics and a wider reading public.' Times Higher Education Supplement 'Ray Abraham's book, Vigilant Citizens, begins to break through conventional approaches that simply focus on broad historical or social causes of vigilantism, and has much to offer as a result. By providing a rich historical overview of the social and political contexts in which vigilante groups have emerged, and a balanced degree of detail on their activities and goals, Vigilant Citizens is an excellent text for students, both at undergraduate and graduate levels.' Ron Levi, Faculty of Law and Centre of Criminology, University of Toronto, in the British Journal of Criminology '[An] impressive piece of work that goes a long way to filling a gap in the literature on social protest movements.' Social Anthropology

Author Information

Dr. Ray Abrahams is Lecturer in Social Anthropology at Cambridge University and a Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge.

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