Professor Benjamin Bowling
Contact details
Email: ben.bowling@kcl.ac.uk
Room: SW2.18
Biography
Professor Ben Bowling has taught at the Dickson Poon School of Law since 1999. He was previously Assistant Professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice (City University of New York), Senior Research Officer in the Home Office and lecturer at the University of Cambridge Institute of Criminology. He has been a visiting professor at the University of the West Indies and at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
Research
Ben’s research examines practical, political and legal problems in policing and the connections between local and global police power. His work exploring central themes of fairness, effectiveness and accountability has been published in three recent books - Policing the Caribbean, Global Policing and Stop & Search - and in articles in the Modern Law Review, Criminal Law Review, Policing and Society and Theoretical Criminology. His studies of Violent Racism and Racism, Crime and Justice are the standard works on these subjects.
Selected publications
Books
Refereed journal articles
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Bowling, B. and Sheptycki, J. (2011) 'Policing Globopolis'. Social Justice, 38 (1-2), 2011
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Bowling, B. (2009) ‘Transnational policing: the globalisation thesis, a typology and a research agenda’ Policing: A Journal of Policy & Practice, Volume 3 (2) 1-12 (Chinese translation: 本鲍林：《全球化背景下的跨国警务合作》，载《青少年犯罪问题》2013年期第1期)
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Agozino, B., Bowling, B., St. Bernard, G. and Ward, E. (2009) ‘Guns, Crime and Social Order in the West Indies’, Criminology and Criminal Justice, 3 (3)
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Bosworth, M., Bowling, B. and Lee, M. (2008) ‘Globalisation, racism and ethnicity’, Theoretical Criminology 12(3) 263-273
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Weber, L. And Bowling, B. (2008) ‘Valiant Beggars and Global Vagabonds: Select, Eject, Immobilize’, Theoretical Criminology, 12(3) 355-375
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Bowling, B. (2008) Fair and effective police methods: towards ‘good enough’ policing, Scandinavian Studies in Criminology and Crime Prevention Vol. 8/S1 pp17-23
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Bowling, B. and Phillips, C. (2007) Disproportionate and Discriminatory: Reviewing the Evidence on Stop and Search, Modern Law Review 70 (6) 936-961
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Bowling, B. and Ross, J. (2006) The Serious Organised Crime Agency: Should we be afraid? Criminal Law Review, pp 1019-34
Book chapters
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Bowling, B., Phillips, C. and Sheptycki, J. (2012) 'Race, political economy and the coercive state' in J. Peay and T. Newburn (eds.) Policing, Politics and Control. Oxford: Hart
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Phillips. C. and Bowling, B. (2012) 'Ethnicities, racism, crime and criminal justice' in M. Maguire, et al The Oxford Handbook of Criminology (5th ed.) Oxford: OUP
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Bowling, B. (2011) 'Transnational criminology and the globalisation of harm production' in M. Bosworth and M. Hoyle (eds) What is Criminology? Oxford: OUP
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Bowling, B. Marks, A. And Murphy, C. (2008) ‘Crime control technologies’ in R. Brownsword and K. Yeung, Regulating Technologies, Oxford: Hart. pp51-78
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Bowling, B. Parmar, A. And Phillips, C. (2008) ‘Policing ethnic minority communities’ in T. Newburn The Handbook of Policing. (2nd ed). Cullompton: Willan pp611-641
Book reviews of Policing the Caribbean: Transnational Security Cooperation in Practice
Praise for Policing the Caribbean: Transnational Security Cooperation in Practice
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“Bowling has succeeded in writing the most comprehensive book on policing in the Caribbean yet, based on a detailed empirical study of law enforcement responses to security threats in the region. The author has, additionally, managed to produce that rarest of creatures – a specialized academic book that is also an immensely enjoyable read.” Intelligence and National Security
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“Policing the Caribbean provides an outstanding combination of theoretical and empirical probity that takes the perimeters of knowledge about law enforcement in the Caribbean to new frontiers. It's a must read by public security scholars, practitioners, and policy workers in the Caribbean and those concerned with the region, in Europe, North America, and elsewhere.” Ivelaw Lloyd Griffth, Professor of Political Science, The City University of New York
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“This admirable book is a pioneering examination of the workings of the upper echelons of the policing family of the Commonwealth Caribbean in a comparative fashion. It raises a number of profound questions [providing] much food for thought if little comfort.” Trinidad and Tobago Review
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“This book deftly weaves empirical detail with a survey of the academic literature on transnational security actors and is a nearly textbook perfect example of twenty-first century sociology of policing research. The results are clearly expressed and deeply insightful, not only about transnational policing but potentially of the global system more generally.” Policing and Society.
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“This timely monograph presents a comprehensive analysis of the ‘transnational’ dimensions of crime and policing in the contemporary Caribbean. It constitutes a contribution to transnational, criminological, development and regional studies.” Bulletin of Latin American Research.
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“In prose accessible to non-criminology specialists, Bowling deftly untangles the complex web of security sector organizations and gives a clear-eyed assessment of the consequences of the sector's transformation. His research is thorough and the range of territories covered is impressive.” European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies
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“A remarkably candid account of how disparate elements of the security field have become subsumed in the endeavour to extend security beyond the shores of any one country. It is a valuable resource for graduate and undergraduate students specializing in governance and security, and a particularly useful reference for Caribbean criminal justice scholars and practitioners seeking to improve their understanding of the practice and politics of transnational policing.” British Journal of Criminology.
Teaching
Undergraduate
Criminology & Criminal Justice
Public Law
Postgraduate
Case Study Research Methods (Doctoral Training Centre)
PhD students
Ben currently supervises the following students:
Ana Cardenas Gonzales de Cosio (1st)
Charmian Werren (1st)
Peng Wang (1st)
Paula Perez Morgado (1st)
Maria Hannan (1st)
Sally Atkinson Shepherd (1st)
Anastasia Chamberlen (2nd)
Katherine Grainger (2nd)
Becca Fransen (2nd)
Michaela Menting (2nd)
Sally Adams (2nd)
Public Engagement
Ben submitted written evidence to the Lawrence Inquiry and has been a specialist adviser on the subjects of fairness, justice and accountability to the UK Parliament, the United Nations and Interpol. He speaks regularly about his work on courses, conferences, television and radio and in high schools. He is founding member of
Stop Watch, a group of academics, lawyers, non-governmental organisations and young people engaged in research and action for fair and accountable policing.
Newspaper articles
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Bowling, B. (2010) 'Jamaica bleeds for our 'war on drugs'. Guardian Online, 26 May
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Bowling, B. (2010) 'Reducing stop-and-search paperwork undermines fairness'. Guardian Online, 26 May
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Bowling, B. (2007) 'A lack of leadership: Young black teens need more positive support', Guardian, 20 June
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Bowling, B. (1999) 'Facing the ugly facts', Guardian, 17 February
Television and radio work
StopWatch launched by Rev. Jesse Jackson
Professor Ben Bowling | Real Solutions to Racial Profiling