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Why We Punish: An Introduction to Crime, Justice, and Power
1/5/2026
1. Blood, Honor, and Gods: Crime and Punishment in the Ancient World
1/5/2026
Eye for an Eye: The First Written Penal Code
1/5/2026
Ma'at and The Egyptian Notion of Justice
1/5/2026
From Blood to Courts: Greek Legal Experiments
1/5/2026
Rome’s Harsh Order: Law, Punishment, Citizenship
1/5/2026
Sacred Wrongs and Sacred Ordeals
1/5/2026
Daily Life Under Early Law: Theft, Debt, and Domestic Disputes
1/5/2026
2. Sins, Heresies, and Kings: Medieval Justice and the Rise of State Power
1/5/2026
Trials by Fire and Water
1/5/2026
The Right to Punish: Lords, Kings, and Courts
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Clergy as Judges: The Mortal Sin Jurisdiction
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Sharia, Qisas, and Forgiveness
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Heretics and Witches: The Inquisition and the Criminalization of Belief
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Shame, Spectacle, and Community: Pillories, Banishment, and Fines
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3. Torture, Spectacle, and the Birth of the Modern State
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The Public Scaffold
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The Queen of Proofs
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Witchcraft and Panic
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Monopoly on Violence
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Edges of Empire
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Voices of Doubt
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4. Enlightenment on Trial: From Cruelty to “Rational” Punishment
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Beccaria and the Revolt Against Torture
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From Secret Files to Open Courts: Transparency and the Rule of Law
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Codifying Justice: The Napoleonic Code and Modern Legal Systems
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Juries and Lay Participation: Putting Ordinary People in Judgment
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Policing the Poor: Vagrancy, Morals, and Social Order
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Revolutions and Rights: Crime, Treason, and the People
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5. Prisons, Penitence, and the Birth of the Carceral Age
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From Dungeons to Houses of Correction
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The Penitentiary Ideal
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Work as Discipline
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Women and Children Behind Bars
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Science Meets Punishment
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Resistance and Reform
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6. Cities, Cops, and Courts: The Making of the Modern Criminal Justice System
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From Night Watch to Police Force: London, Paris, and Beyond
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Crime in the Industrial City: Crowds, Gangs, and New Anxieties
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Detectives and the Birth of Criminal Investigation
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Professionalizing Justice: Lawyers, Judges, and Legal Training
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Colonial Policing: Empire, Race, and Control at a Distance
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Crime Stories and Public Opinion: Newspapers, Penny Dreadfuls, and Panics
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7. Science in the Dock: Forensics, Psychology, and the Criminal Mind
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Tracing Identities: Passports and Prints
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The Lab as Evidence Factory
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To the Edge of Reason: Why Insanity Matters
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Mind over Matter: Measuring Minds and Moral Worth
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The Lab’s Dark Side and the Promise of Truth
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Profiling the Unknown: Crime, Clues, and the Art of Prediction
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8. War, Revolution, and Dictatorship: Crime and Punishment in Extremes
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Total War and Emergency Powers: When Security Trumps Rights
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Political Crimes and Show Trials: Justice as Spectacle in Dictatorships
1/5/2026
Camps and Gulags: Mass Incarceration as State Policy
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Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity: Nuremberg and Beyond
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Spies, Subversives, and Secret Police: Surveillance Under Authoritarian Rule
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Transitional Justice: Truth Commissions, Amnesty, and Retribution
1/5/2026
9. Rights, Reforms, and Revolts: The Late-20th-Century Criminal Justice Turn
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New Codes, New Nations
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Rights in the Street
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Health, Fear, and Punishment: The War on Drugs
1/5/2026
Rising Voices, Shifting Fates: Victims, Voices, and Tough on Crime
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The Era of Fear: Three Strikes and the Minimums
1/5/2026
The Prison Boom: Mass Incarceration and Its Consequences
1/5/2026
10. Cybercrime, Surveillance, and the Algorithmic Future of Punishment
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Hackers, Fraudsters, and Dark Web Markets: New Frontiers of Crime
1/5/2026
Policing by Numbers: Predictive Analytics and Risk Scores
1/5/2026
Cameras Everywhere: CCTV, Bodycams, and Facial Recognition
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Borders, Terrorism, and Global Policing Networks
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Corporate Crime and Financial Scandals: When the Powerful Break the Rules
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Digital Trails and Social Credit: Punishment Beyond the Prison
1/5/2026
Imagining Justice Differently: A Conclusion on Crime, Punishment, and Possibility
1/5/2026