Bernard Harcourt
Encyclopedia
Bernard E. Harcourt is a leading critical theorist with a specialization in the area of punishment and political economy. He is the chair of the Political Science Department, professor of political science and the Julius Kreeger Professor of Law at the University of Chicago
and the author most recently of The Illusion of Free Markets: Punishment and the Myth of Natural Order (Harvard University Press
2011). He is the co-editor with Fabienne Brion of Michel Foucault's 1981 Louvain lectures, Mal faire, dire vrai. Fonction de l'aveu en justice (forthcoming in French with Presses Universitaires de Louvain and in English with Chicago University Press). He has also written on the actuarial turn in policing and punishment in Against Prediction: Profiling, Policing, and Punishing in an Actuarial Age (University of Chicago Press
2007), on broken-windows policing in his book Illusion of Order: The False Promise of Broken-Windows Policing (Harvard University Press 2001) and on youth gun-carrying in Language of the Gun: Youth, Crime, and Public Policy (University of Chicago Press
2005). He also founded and edits a critical journal called The Carceral Notebooks.
. He earned his bachelor's degree in political theory at Princeton University studying under Sheldon S. Wolin
. He then attended Harvard Law School
where he earned his J.D. in 1989. He later returned to Harvard University to pursue Ph.D. studies in political science, receiving his Ph.D. in June 2000. At Harvard, the chair of Harcourt's dissertation committee was Seyla Benhabib
, and he also studied extensively with Richard Tuck and Bonnie Honig
.
Harcourt was appointed Senior Fellow in the Graduate Program at Harvard Law School from 1995 to 1997. During that time, he also served on human rights missions to South Africa and Guatemala. He then pursued Ph.D. studies in political theory in the Government Department at Harvard University.
Harcourt was on the law faculty of the University of Arizona College 1998 to 2002, with a courtesy appointment in the Philosophy Department. He was a visiting professor at Harvard Law School during the 2001-2002 academic year and at New York University School of Law in the Fall of 2002. He was a visiting professor at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris in 2007-2008, at the University of Paris X—Nanterre in January through March 2008, and at the Universite Paul Cézanne Aix-Marseille III in December 2008. He was appointed Julius Kreeger Professor of Law and Criminology at the University of Chicago Law School
in 2007, where he has taught since 2003. He was appointed Professor of Political Science in 2009. He also serves as Director of the Center for Studies in Criminal Justice.
In Language of the Gun, Harcourt develops a post-structuralist theory of social science. He argues that social scientists need to embrace the ethical choices that they make when they interpret data. He argues for a more transparent and open discussion of those ethical choices, which, he argues, are embedded in the methodological and interpretive decisions that researchers necessarily make in the course of their research.
Harcourt addresses the issues of criminal and racial profiling, and more generally, the use of actuarial methods in crime and punishment in his newest book, Against Prediction: Profiling, Policing, and Punishing in an Actuarial Age. He argues there that profiling is most likely counter-productive and ineffective, and distorts our notions of just punishment. He has also written about these topics in the New York Times.
Harcourt has just released a new book on The Illusion of Free Markets: Punishment and the Myth of Natural Order (Harvard University Press
2011) that explores the paradoxical relationship between laissez faire and mass incarceration. Harcourt is now conducting research on the relationship between prison and asylum populations in two new papers on the topic. He has also been guest blogging about the topic on the Volokh Conspiracy. Harcourt is also writing about the virtues of randomization in crime and punishment and has a new essay titled “Post-Modern Meditations on Punishment.”
Homepage at the University of Chicago Law School: http://www.law.uchicago.edu/faculty/harcourt/
University of Chicago Experts: http://experts.uchicago.edu/experts.php?id=57
Social Science Research Network: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=141624
2007 - Against Prediction: Punishing and Policing in an Actuarial Age. University of Chicago Press
2006 - L'illusion de l'ordre: Incivilités et violences urbaines: tolérance zéro?, Éditions Descartes
2005 - Language of the Gun: Youth, Crime, and Public Policy, University of Chicago Press
2005/6 – Carceral Notebooks (editor), Vol. 1-2
2003 - Guns, Crime and Punishment in America (editor), New York University Press
2001 - Illusion of Order: The False Promise of Broken Windows Policing, Harvard University
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
and the author most recently of The Illusion of Free Markets: Punishment and the Myth of Natural Order (Harvard University Press
Harvard University Press
Harvard University Press is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. In 2005, it published 220 new titles. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. Its current director is William P...
2011). He is the co-editor with Fabienne Brion of Michel Foucault's 1981 Louvain lectures, Mal faire, dire vrai. Fonction de l'aveu en justice (forthcoming in French with Presses Universitaires de Louvain and in English with Chicago University Press). He has also written on the actuarial turn in policing and punishment in Against Prediction: Profiling, Policing, and Punishing in an Actuarial Age (University of Chicago Press
University of Chicago Press
The University of Chicago Press is the largest university press in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including The Chicago Manual of Style, dozens of academic journals, including Critical Inquiry, and a wide array of...
2007), on broken-windows policing in his book Illusion of Order: The False Promise of Broken-Windows Policing (Harvard University Press 2001) and on youth gun-carrying in Language of the Gun: Youth, Crime, and Public Policy (University of Chicago Press
University of Chicago Press
The University of Chicago Press is the largest university press in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including The Chicago Manual of Style, dozens of academic journals, including Critical Inquiry, and a wide array of...
2005). He also founded and edits a critical journal called The Carceral Notebooks.
Education
Harcourt was raised in New York City and attended the Lycée Français de New YorkLycée Français de New York
The Lycée Français de New York , literally The French High School of New York, is an exclusive French-medium school for K-12 students based in Manhattan, New York which follows the French curriculum of study and allows students to study for the French general Baccalauréat, the international option...
. He earned his bachelor's degree in political theory at Princeton University studying under Sheldon S. Wolin
Sheldon Wolin
Sheldon S. Wolin is a political philosopher. He is professor emeritus of Princeton University and a writer on contemporary politics. He is married to Emily Purvis Wolin.-Early life:He attended Oberlin College as an undergraduate...
. He then attended Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
where he earned his J.D. in 1989. He later returned to Harvard University to pursue Ph.D. studies in political science, receiving his Ph.D. in June 2000. At Harvard, the chair of Harcourt's dissertation committee was Seyla Benhabib
Seyla Benhabib
Seyla Benhabib is Eugene Mayer Professor of Political Science and Philosophy at Yale University, and director of the program in Ethics, Politics, and Economics, and a well-known contemporary philosopher. She is the author of several books, most notably about the philosophers Hannah Arendt and...
, and he also studied extensively with Richard Tuck and Bonnie Honig
Bonnie Honig
Bonnie Honig is a political and legal theorist specialized in democratic and feminist theory. She is Sarah Rebecca Roland Professor of Political Science at Northwestern University and Senior Research Professor at the American Bar Foundation...
.
Career
Harcourt clerked for the Honorable Charles S. Haight, Jr., of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. From 1990 to 1994, Harcourt lived in Montgomery, Alabama and represented death row inmates on direct appeal, in state post-conviction, in federal habeas corpus, and at retrial. He practiced at the Equal Justice Initiative (formerly known as the Alabama Capital Representation Resource Center) and continues to represent Alabama death row inmates pro bono.Harcourt was appointed Senior Fellow in the Graduate Program at Harvard Law School from 1995 to 1997. During that time, he also served on human rights missions to South Africa and Guatemala. He then pursued Ph.D. studies in political theory in the Government Department at Harvard University.
Harcourt was on the law faculty of the University of Arizona College 1998 to 2002, with a courtesy appointment in the Philosophy Department. He was a visiting professor at Harvard Law School during the 2001-2002 academic year and at New York University School of Law in the Fall of 2002. He was a visiting professor at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris in 2007-2008, at the University of Paris X—Nanterre in January through March 2008, and at the Universite Paul Cézanne Aix-Marseille III in December 2008. He was appointed Julius Kreeger Professor of Law and Criminology at the University of Chicago Law School
University of Chicago Law School
The University of Chicago Law School was founded in 1902 as the graduate school of law at the University of Chicago and is among the most prestigious and selective law schools in the world. The U.S. News & World Report currently ranks it fifth among U.S...
in 2007, where he has taught since 2003. He was appointed Professor of Political Science in 2009. He also serves as Director of the Center for Studies in Criminal Justice.
Works
His writings focus on issues of punishment and political economy from a critical empirical and social theoretic perspective. Harcourt has written extensively on the broken windows theory and on Giuliani-style policing. He published a book on the topic, Illusion of Order, as well as several recent articles including “Broken Windows” and “Reefer Madness”.In Language of the Gun, Harcourt develops a post-structuralist theory of social science. He argues that social scientists need to embrace the ethical choices that they make when they interpret data. He argues for a more transparent and open discussion of those ethical choices, which, he argues, are embedded in the methodological and interpretive decisions that researchers necessarily make in the course of their research.
Harcourt addresses the issues of criminal and racial profiling, and more generally, the use of actuarial methods in crime and punishment in his newest book, Against Prediction: Profiling, Policing, and Punishing in an Actuarial Age. He argues there that profiling is most likely counter-productive and ineffective, and distorts our notions of just punishment. He has also written about these topics in the New York Times.
Harcourt has just released a new book on The Illusion of Free Markets: Punishment and the Myth of Natural Order (Harvard University Press
Harvard University Press
Harvard University Press is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. In 2005, it published 220 new titles. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. Its current director is William P...
2011) that explores the paradoxical relationship between laissez faire and mass incarceration. Harcourt is now conducting research on the relationship between prison and asylum populations in two new papers on the topic. He has also been guest blogging about the topic on the Volokh Conspiracy. Harcourt is also writing about the virtues of randomization in crime and punishment and has a new essay titled “Post-Modern Meditations on Punishment.”
External links
Personal website: http://bernardharcourt.com/Homepage at the University of Chicago Law School: http://www.law.uchicago.edu/faculty/harcourt/
University of Chicago Experts: http://experts.uchicago.edu/experts.php?id=57
Social Science Research Network: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=141624
Books and edited volumes
2011 - The Illusion of Free Markets: Punishment and the Myth of Natural Order, Harvard University PressHarvard University Press
Harvard University Press is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. In 2005, it published 220 new titles. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. Its current director is William P...
2007 - Against Prediction: Punishing and Policing in an Actuarial Age. University of Chicago Press
University of Chicago Press
The University of Chicago Press is the largest university press in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including The Chicago Manual of Style, dozens of academic journals, including Critical Inquiry, and a wide array of...
2006 - L'illusion de l'ordre: Incivilités et violences urbaines: tolérance zéro?, Éditions Descartes
2005 - Language of the Gun: Youth, Crime, and Public Policy, University of Chicago Press
University of Chicago Press
The University of Chicago Press is the largest university press in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including The Chicago Manual of Style, dozens of academic journals, including Critical Inquiry, and a wide array of...
2005/6 – Carceral Notebooks (editor), Vol. 1-2
2003 - Guns, Crime and Punishment in America (editor), New York University Press
2001 - Illusion of Order: The False Promise of Broken Windows Policing, Harvard University