Postmodernism in Criminology: A Dead End or a Catalyst for Change?

The author joins the discussion of the potential of postmodern criminology that was recently started on the pages of the “Russian Journal of Criminology”. Attention is drawn to the similarities and differences in the positions of the debating authors regarding the essential aspects of postmodernist criminology and its prospects in theoretical and practical work. The limits of the author’s participation in the abovementioned discussion are outlined: from the formulation of the question of the essence of modern social sciences and basic trends of their development to the definition of postmodern criminology and the place that constitutive criminology holds within it. The closed character of the question in the article’s headline is stated. The author then suggests discussing some questions that are formulated differently. Why have postmodernism and its varieties become an important part of academic discourse in the latest decades? What justifies the necessity and significance of including chapters on postmodernist criminology in encyclopedias and textbooks? What is behind these practices? What can the potential of postmodernist criminology offer to researchers in the theoretical and methodological sense?