In an innovative departure from the much-studied field of 'crime in the media', this lively book focuses its attention on the forces of law and order; how they visualize and represent danger and criminality and how they represent themselves as authorities.

After two chapters covering basic terms and tools in the study of culture and representation, the book covers such topics as the history of justice - system methods for visualizing criminality, from fingerprinting to DNA; the emergence of a 'forensic gaze' that begins with Edgar Allan Poe and Sherlock Holmes and culminates in the American television show Crime Scene Investigation and the rise of ways of seeing urban space that constantly divide the city into 'good' and 'bad' areas. The final chapter uses some recent conflicts regarding the legal admissibility of 'gruesome pictures' to reflect on the importance of the visual in our everyday experiences, both of safety and of danger.

Shortlisted for the Hart SLSA Book Prize 2007

Lovise Aalen is a Political Scientist and Research Director at Chr. Michelsen Institute. Her research interests include institutional solutions in divided societies, including power sharing, federalism, and decentralisation. She has explored the impact of introducing ethnic federalism in Ethiopia, and has demonstrated how ethnic-based federalism was an important tool for the ruling party to gain legitimacy, control, and support across ethnic groups, thereby sustaining the national government rather than deepening democracy.

Ragnhild L. Muriaas is Professor in Political Science at the University of Bergen and an Associated Senior Researcher at Chr. Michelsen Institute. Her key research interest is explaining variation in the inclusionary aspects of African regimes. She has led international research projects and published extensively on topics related to political decentralisation, traditional authorities, and women’s representation in Malawi, Uganda, South Africa, and Zambia.