Description
Book SynopsisPreface by R.A. Duff In line with theories of National Socialism as a continuation and radicalization of existing trends, this innovative study interprets Nazi criminal law as a racist (anti-Semitic), nationalist (“Germanic”), and totalitarian construct that continues and develops further the authoritarian and anti-liberal tendencies of German criminal law of the fin-de-siècle and the Weimar Republic. This is borne out by a systematic analysis of writings by relevant authors that focuses first and foremost on the texts, which speak for themselves, and is less concerned with morally judging the scholars who produced them. Furthermore, the study shares novel insights on the reception of German (National Socialist) criminal law in Latin America. The aforementioned continuity existed not only between the Nazi period and the eras preceding it, but also between National Socialism and the period that followed (the Bonn Republic). In short, National Socialist criminal law neither came out of nowhere nor disappeared completely after 1945. Current identitarian attempts by the so-called Neue Rechte (“New Right”) to reconstruct the Germanic myth represent yet another continuation that links seamlessly to National Socialist ideology.
Trade ReviewA worthwhile read for any American criminal theorist – it jolts us out of our familiar discussion paradigms and reminds us of how criminal law theory was complicit in one of the darkest chapters in human history. -- Brenner Fissell, Hofstra University * Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books *
Table of ContentsChapter I. Preliminary Remarks 1. Zaffaroni’s “Doctrina Penal Nazi” 2. My approach Chapter II. The Foundations of National Socialist Criminal Law 1. Racism, Volksgemeinschaft, Führer state, Führer principle and exclusion 2. The material concept of justice and wrongdoing, ethicisation, “total” criminal law and deformalisation 3. General preventive and atonement-focused Willensstrafrecht (criminal law of the will) Chapter III. Continuity and the “Schulenstreit” (“Dispute between the Schools”) (?) Chapter IV. National Socialist Criminal Law and Neo-Kantianism 1. The (alleged) influence of Neo-Kantianism 2. The “Marburg School of Neo-Kantianism” 3. Neo-Kantianism—a forerunner of National Socialist criminal law? 4. Collectivism and material theories of value—forerunners of National Socialist criminal law? Chapter V. The Independent National Socialist Criminal Law of the Kiel School 1. Basic orientation and main representatives 2. Criminal policy: an authoritarian NS criminal law 3. The role of the judge in the NS Führer state 4. Loyalty, breaches of duty, honour punishments 5. Concrete Wesensschau (focus on the substance of the offence), Täterstrafrecht (agent-focused criminal law) and Willensstrafrecht (criminal law of the will) 6. A comprehensive actus reus defined by overall disvalue (“offence type”) instead of a structured theory of crime Chapter VI. Erik Wolf: From Perpetrator Types to an Attitudinal Theory of Agency 1. Authoritarian-social criminal law and theory of agency 2. Wolf’s turn towards and away from National Socialism Chapter VII. Some (preliminary) conclusions 1. Selective reception of German (NS-inspired) criminal law in Latin America 2. Did Hans Welzel truly overcome (Neo-Kantian) NS criminal law? 3. A continuity of National Socialist criminal law thought in Latin America?
