Facing into the wind's teeth: Hal Pepinsky brings peacemaking to fields of war¹

1. This paper was prepared for presentation at the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology, ‘Crime and Justice: In the Global and the Local,’ in Atlanta, Georgia, November 14–17, 2007.

Abstract

This article looks at the vast contributions political philosopher Hal Pepinsky has made to effecting a peaceful, needs‐meeting vision of justice in the academic fields of criminology and criminal justice over the past three decades. The article examines his life's work as reflected in his most recent book, Peacemaking: Reflections of a Radical Criminologist. This work demonstrates that those who push the boundaries of scholarly disciplines, such as he has done, sometimes find themselves in conflict with those most invested in controlling the allocation of the rewards those disciplines mete out. As Professor Pepinsky increasingly became an outsider he took the risk of taking on the burdens of other outsiders whose pain and suffering the vast majority of his academic colleagues turned their eyes from.

Keywords:

• peacemaking criminology
• anarchism
• needs‐based justice
• restorative justice
• criminal justice
• ritual abuse

Notes

1. This paper was prepared for presentation at the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology, ‘Crime and Justice: In the Global and the Local,’ in Atlanta, Georgia, November 14–17, 2007.

2. See Professor Robert Cavalier's commentary on the Apology in the syllabus of his course ‘Ancient Philosophy (80–250)’ at Carnegie Mellon University (http://caae.phil.cmu.edu/cavalier/80250/part2/apologyanalysis.html). The Platonic text for these remarks can be found in the Apology, 29c–31b.

3. Of course many scholars work in ways directly opposed to war and violent conflict resolution, paramount among whom are those who have committed themselves to restorative means of justice (e.g., Sullivan & Tifft, 2006). For an overview of those interested in peacemaking criminology specifically, see J.F. Wozniak (2000).

4. For a discussion of ‘right living’ see Nearing (1974).

5. For an example of the school as just community, see Power, Higgins, and Kohlberg (1989) and McDonough (2005).

6. It should be pointed out, maybe or maybe not paradoxically, that Professor Pepinsky does not believe in justice as a viable concept for bettering individuals or the common good. I have discussed such matters many times with him, coming to the conclusion that he has a significant block here.

7. Robert Maynard Hutchins was the Dean of Yale Law School (1927–1929) and the President of the University of Chicago (1929–1951); high among his notable works stands The University of Utopia.

8. We might also include Jeff Ferrell and Randall Amster, among others, on this list. See Ferrell (1998) and Amster (2004).

9. See Fearnley (2002).

10. While encouraging survivors to network, the S.M.A.R.T. website cautioned readers of the transcripts of the association's presentations:

 [S]ome of the topics discussed on these tapes may be very triggering. These tapes are educational and not intended as therapy or treatment. Statements made on these tapes are the speaker's own statements only and don't necessarily represent the policies or views of conference sponsors, cosponsor, speakers, exhibitors or organizers. (retrieved September 18, 2007, from http://members.aol.com/smartnews/smart‐2003‐conference.htm)

11. See, for example, Author (year), within which was recalled the two‐part essay that Frederick Crews had published more than a decade earlier. For his two‐part essay, Crews looked at Bass and Davis (1994), Loftus and Ketcham (1994), Ofshe and Watters (1994), Pendergrast (1995), Terr (1994), and Wright (1994).