Academic Engagement of International Policing-Reform Assistance: Putting Foucauldian Genealogy to Practical Use

• NCJ Number: 231435
• Journal: Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice Volume: 52 Issue: 3 Dated: June 2010 Pages: 271-283
• Author(s): Michael Kempa
• Date Published: June 2010
• Length: 13 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: French; English
• Country: Canada
• Note: For additional articles in this special issue see NCJ-231433-34, and NCJ-231436-37.

Annotation

This article examines international policing reform as practiced by Western states by discussing in detail a reform project begun by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Abstract

In this paper, the author developed an approach for normative engagement by academic criminologists through the test case of international policing-reform assistance. By examining some of the known controversies and difficulties associated with international policing-reform assistance, this study illustrates the practical policy utility of Foucauldian genealogical analytic inquiry. The author argues that the insights and capacities for lateral thinking opened up through this approach are usefully "brought to bear" by taking a page from Jürgen Habermas to institutionalize discursive space and thereby democratic experimentalism. Notes and references (Published Abstract)