The fourth Lecture on Frontiers in Humanities organized by the Institute of Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences (IAS) was successfully held on 10 February 2023 (Friday). Professor Liu Jianhong, Distinguished Professor Department of Global Legal Studies of the Faculty of Law, was invited to lecture on the topic “Asian Criminology – the Concept and Paradigm”, and share his research achievements. Professor Xu Jianhua, Head and Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology, FSS, was invited to be the moderator.
Professor Liu first introduced the current situation of criminology research including criminology having grown primarily in the West and has achieved tremendous success. However, he believes that the dominant theories often do not work very well in non-Western countries. A critical challenge for criminology is to resolve the conflict between the universality of theories and Asian criminology can be understood as a response to this critical challenge.
Secondly, Professor Liu explained the definition and approach of Asian criminology. He defines Asian criminology as “the study of crime and justice in the Asian context”. Asian criminologists should be someone who studies crime and justice in Asia. The approach of Asian criminology is a “context-focused approach”, because of the extensive coverage of Asian content including one particular place, a country, a group, or the whole of Asia.
Finally, Professor Liu discussed the Asian paradigm and future directions. Asian paradigm includes the concept, the approach, the theoretical contributions, and institutionalization. For the future trends of Asian criminology, he specifically mentioned the impact of digital criminology on criminology research and the arguments that Asian criminologists need to deepen their understanding of the developing markets in different countries, providing “high-quality products”.
Around 120 participants attended the event, including professionals, students, alumni, and external audience, effectively promoting academic dialogue and boosting the intellectual atmosphere on UM campus.
