Illusion of Order

Bernard E. Harcourt is Isidor and Seville Sulzbacher Professor of Law at Columbia University and Directeur d’études at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales, Paris.

• Acknowledgments 1 Punishment and Criminal Justice at the Turn of Century 2 The Order-Maintenance Approach Part I Empirical Critique 3 The Broken Windows Theory 4 Policing Strategies and Methodology Part II Theoretical Critique 5 On Disorderly, Disreputable, or Unpredictable People 6 The Implications of Subject Creation Part III Rhetorical Critique 7 The Turn to Harm as Justification Part IV Rethinking Punishment and Criminal Justice 8 An Alternative Vision 9 Toward a New Mode of Political Analysis Notes Bibliography Index

This is an excellent, timely, and thought-provoking book, absolutely critical to the continuing debate on the "broken windows" theory. Harcourt's book will be a welcome intervention in this ongoing public debate. As an academic matter, Harcourt takes on the social norms school, and effectively exposes its absence of empirical support. This, too, is a tremendously important contribution to the literature. Like "broken windows'" in policing, "social norms" theory has been accepted all too uncritically in academia, and the questions Harcourt raises are the right ones.