MARX’S QUASI-CRIMINOLOGICAL SATIRE AND CURRENT THEORETICAL CONCERNS ON CYBERCRIME

This paper addresses theoretical concerns on crime and technological innovation enabling cybercriminal activities by reflecting on Marx’s short satirical essay “Apologist Conception of the Productivity of all Professions” to discuss criminological challenges posed by cybertechnologies. To a certain extent, it could be argued that the epistemological challenges posed to criminological theories by the development of cybercrime stem from the mediational role of digital technologies and the social dynamics that frame their potentially criminal uses. Social studies of technology may arguably inform ways to meet such challenges. To address this issue, the paper discusses the case for the role of hacking in developing the so-called cyberculture and the technological devices enabling it. In this regard, it is argued that Marx’s short essay may become insightful for discussing the relationship between crime and technological innovation, informing theoretical concerns that bear significant practical, criminological, legal and jurisprudential consequences.