Criminological Reformism and Transnational Criminal Law (1870s–1930s)

Michele Pifferi focuses his attention on the generally ignored fact that in the late 19th and early 20th centuries influential criminological reformers relied heavily on the notion of ‘social defence’, which provided a foundational conceptual justification for the modernization of approaches to the transformation of criminal law to meet transnational criminal threats. He shows how they used international associations such as the AIDP as venues for developing their ideas about modernization of practices and institutions, and then used these associations to influence state practice through treaty making.