Forensic cultures in modern Europe / / ed. by Willemijn Ruberg, Lara Bergers, Sara Serrano Martínez, Pauline Dirven.

• MitwirkendeR: Adam, Alison,; Bergers, Lara,; Dirven, Pauline,; Dixon, Rachel,; Garibian, Taline,; Martínez, Sara Serrano,; Orlandi, Franco,; Parfenchyk, Volha,; Ruberg, Willemijn,; Santos, Filipe,; Skålevåg, Svein Atle,; Ward, Tony,; Wolffram, Heather,
• HerausgeberIn: Bergers, Lara,; Dirven, Pauline,; Ruberg, Willemijn,; Serrano Martínez, Sara,
• Place / Publishing House: Manchester : : Manchester University Press, , [2023]; ©2023
• Year of Publication: 2023
• Language: English
• Series: Social Histories of Medicine ; 60
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (304 p.) :; 8 black & white illustrations

This edited volume examines the performance and role of scientific experts in modern European courts of law and police investigations. It discusses cases from criminal, civil and international law to parse the impact of forensic evidence and expertise in different European countries. The contributors show how modern forensic science and technology are inextricably entangled with political ideology, gender norms and changes in the law and legal systems. Discussing fascinating case studies, they highlight how the ideology of authoritarian and liberal regimes has affected the practical enactment of forensic expertise. They also emphasise the influence of images of masculinity and femininity on the performance of experts and on their assessment of evidence, victims and perpetrators. This book is an important contribution to our knowledge of modern European forensic practices.

Table of Contents

Front Matter -- Contents -- List of figures -- List of contributors -- Introduction -- 1 Blood will out -- 2 A culture of testimony -- 3 The making of evidence after mass violence -- 4 Teaching Grossian criminalistics in Imperial Germany -- 5 Sober suits, bowler hats and white lab coats -- 6 Reassessing the legacy of Cesare Lombroso -- 7 Expert evidence and uncertainty in English infanticide trials, c. 1725–1945 -- 8 Forensic physicians and the Francoist prosecution of infanticide, c. 1939–1969 -- 9 Doing law, psychiatric expertise and ‘crimes of passion’ in the Netherlands and Russia in the twentieth century -- 10 A culture of consensus -- 11 The ‘key’ to the crime -- Index