As relevant as it was at the time of publication, this landmark work remains timely and urgent in demonstrating how to examine questions of race, politics and crime in contemporary society. A formative text in cultural studies and criminology, it shows the relevance of conjunctural analysis to the current emergence of forms of authoritarian populist politics. Examining the crisis of the British state in the 1970s, the book explores how interacting economic, social and political conflicts and crises were displaced onto the problem of crime.

Now in the Bloomsbury Revelations series, this re-issue of the 35th Anniversary Edition includes a personal note from the authors about their co-author, the late Stuart Hall, and a brand new foreword by Michael Denning.

Stuart Hall is one of the founding figures of the Birmingham School of Cultural Studies, was formerly President of the BSA (1995-97) and was Professor Emeritus at the Open University, UK. He is widely regarded as one of the leading cultural theorists of our time and is the author of many influential and highly-respected texts, including: The Hard Road to Renewal, Formations of Modernity, Questions of Cultural Identity and Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices.

Chas Critcher is Visiting Professor in Media and Communications at Swansea University and Professor Emeritus at Sheffield Hallam University, UK.

Tony Jefferson is Professor Emeritus at Keele University, UK. He has held Visiting Professorships in Denmark, Sweden, Australia and the USA.

John Clarke is Professor Emeritus of Social Policy at the Open University, UK and has been a Recurrent Visiting Professor at Central European University and a Hooker Visiting Professor at McMaster University in Canada.

Brian Roberts formerly Visiting Professor in the School of Applied Social Sciences, Durham University, UK.