This collection introduces readers to three decades of Ronnie Lippens' research and writing and his multifaceted contribution to the social sciences. It focusses on five of his key themes, the respective relationships between critical criminological practice and hypermodernity, rhetorical discourse, poststructural theory, Luciferianism, and the ethics of care. Most of his work can be placed between existentialism and poststructuralism. The chapters are written by former colleagues of Lippens and are respected academics with international reputations of their own, from England, Italy, and Brazil across the disciplines of criminology, sociology, philosophy, and legal studies. Each contributor offers their own perspective on one theme in an essay original to this collection. This book encourages readers to move beyond empiricism and engage in the abstract theorization of issues connected to crime and justice.
Chapter 1: One: A Conversation with Ronnie Lippens by Rafe McGregor & Jessica Drew.- Chapter 2: Citizen Criminology as Borderless Criminology: The #justiceforSanda Campaign through the Lens of Ronnie Lippens Earlier Writing by Lieve Gies.- Chapter 3: Opening the Space of Reasons: A Note on Ronnie Lippens' Rhetorical-Ethical Discourse by Claudius Messner.- Chapter 4: The Formless Against the Uniform: The Experience of Limit in Ronnie Lippens' Thought by Luciano Nuzzo.- Chapter 5: The Dark Theology of Crime: A Brief History of the Luciferian Tendency from Nietzsche to Space X by Mark Featherstone.- Chapter 6: Towards a Humane Criminology of Compassion and Understanding by Patrick Van Callister.
Rafe McGregor is Reader in Criminology at Edge Hill University, UK. A critical theorist with research expertise in Anglophone culture, political violence, and policing, he is the author of twenty books, the most recent of which is Reducing Political Violence: Narrative Accounts of Crime and Harm (2026).
Jessica Dreworth is Lecturer in Law at the University of Liverpool, UK. She is currently completing her PhD, which examines international legal protections for people displaced across borders by the adverse effects of climate change. She holds an LLM in International Human Rights Law from Liverpool and an LLB in Law from Edge Hill University.
