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The figure of the “Kafkaesque” in law serves often as a stand-in for something like “perverted justice” and ranks prominently among the legal profession as a whole. But we should not soothe ourselves with such obvious clichés surrounding the “Kafkaesque,” rather we must continue to pursue the disturbing challenge Kafka poses for the analysis of the law. It is clear that Kafka’s texts hit a certain nerve of modern law that reaches well beyond these familiar punchlines. It is the task of this article to uncover some of the reasons why Kafka strikes such a strong cord with both legal scholars and people outside of academia alike.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the victimization experiences of farming and herding communities in Nasarawa State, Nigeria.

The study employed purposive sampling, extracting data from 27 victims in Lafia and Obi local government areas. Data were collected using in-depth and key informant interviews. In a balance of tales, both farming and herding communities claimed victimhood status.

While farming communities suffered internal displacement resulting from destruction of farmland, forceful takeover of own community, destruction of livelihoods and human fatalities; herding community victimization manifested in destruction of livelihood (killing of cows), cattle rustling and human fatalities. Arising from the findings, the authors suggest proactive policing and victim compensation to reduce the incidence and severity of victimization.

The study is unique as it probed into the neglected domain of victimization experiences of farming and herding communities.

The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into the role and practices of informal waste pickers and the implications for waste management policy in urban contexts of the Global South.

Qualitative case studies were used, including interviews, observations and document analyses. The authors compared informal waste management in two cities of the Global South: Accra (Ghana) and Porto Alegre (Brazil).

The analysis points out that informal waste pickers play a crucial role in the implementation of waste policies in both cities, despite differing economic, social and institutional contexts. The study of the waste management system also points to multiple connections between informal and formal parts of the economy. Although the informal waste pickers are integral to the waste management systems, their economically disadvantaged position excludes them from the formal labour market. Faced with these challenges, they develop creative solutions to guarantee their livelihood and gain more effective collective voice.

The comparison of two case studies, conducted about the same social phenomenon in two different economic, institutional and social contexts, has limited generalisability but is theoretically and practically important.

The findings are relevant to policy-makers who deal with urban waste management and for organisations who develop support actions for informal workers.

The authors draw on a comparison of qualitative case studies to explore the multidimensionality of the waste picker’s phenomenon. This paper sparks discussion among scholars and experts who study the informal economy from different perspectives, in this case bridging insights from sociology and victimology.

This chapter elaborates a “pedagogy of narrative shifting” as conceptualized by Li, Conle, and Elbaz-Luwisch (2009) in a course that seeks to foster dialogue across difference in an Israeli university located in a highly polarized setting. The approach draws on personal life stories as a vehicle for examining multiculturalism in teacher education, in the context of the multiple and overlapping identities, conflict and narratives of exclusion that characterize Israeli society. For prospective teachers, the opportunity to tell an important personal story and to have that story heard and validated by others, contributed to both personal and professional development. Working with their stories in a small-group format allowed students to develop their own “internally persuasive discourse” (Bakhtin, 1981) in discussions of controversial issues. Prominent themes emerging in the work included “recognition” (Taylor, 1994) and “resonance” (Conle, 1996). Engaging with bodily experience and with the imagination helped participants to transcend limited understandings and create shared visions of their present and future. The course afforded a unique space for dialogue that can be adapted for other contexts, to allow teacher educators to engage with their students in new and creative ways.

My project is to develop a phenomenological, constructionist, symbolic interactionist theory of the narrative productions of meaning in the public realm. Situated within our globalized, technologically mediated world characterized by extraordinary social, political, economic, and moral fragmentation, my basic question is quite practical: How can public communication be understandable and persuasive to audiences whose experiences, world views, and moral sensibilities are so different? Here I explore how the more-or-less widely shared systems of meaning in symbolic codes and emotion codes are incorporated into narratives that circulate in the public sphere. I conclude with arguing that more attention by symbolic interactionists to these productions of meaning would be good for the study of culture and good for symbolic interactionism.

The purpose of paper is to shine light on the under‐theorised relationship between old age and victmisation. In classical criminological studies, the relationship between “age”, victimisation and crime has been dominated by analysis of younger people's experiences. This paper aims to address this knowledge deficit by exploring older people's experiences by linking it to the social construction of vulnerability.

The paper explores both historical and contemporary narratives relating to the diverse experiences of older people as victims in the UK. In particular, from 1945 to the present, statistical context and theoretical advancement illuminates that older people as a social group have a deep “fear of crime” to their relative victimisation.

A careful survey of the criminological literature highlights a paucity of research relating to older people's views and experiences of crime and victimisation. The conceptual issue of vulnerability in different contexts is important in understanding ageing and victimisation in UK. The paper's findings illustrate that their experiences have remained marginalised in the debates around social policy, and how the criminal justice system responds to these changes remains yet to be seen.

Any research attempt at theorising “age” should take into consideration not just younger people, but also the diverse experiences of older people. Policy makers may care to ponder that benchmarks be written that takes into full consideration of older people's experiences as vulnerability.

For criminal justice scholars and practitioners, there is a need to listen to the narratives of older people that should help shape and frame debate about their lived experiences. There should be an examination of existing formal and informal practices regarding elders, as the first step in developing an explicit and integrated set of policies and programmes to address the special needs of this group.

This is an original paper in highlighting how important old age is in construction of “victims” in modern society. By theorising age, victimisation and crime it is hoped to dispel and challenge some of the myths surrounding later life, crime and the older victim.