This article examines some aspects of the controversy generated by Alan Sokal's postmodern parody and the ensuing book published with Jean Bricmont where criticism is levelled at alleged relativist tendencies in the humanities for their negative consequences, deterimental to the Left in particular and to the advancement on the human condition in general. This criticism is examined in light of its relevance to various criminological conceptions of crime. The article concludes that the problematization through deconstruction that the concept of crime is undergoing with some theories should not be confused with relativism and that caution must be exercised when calling for rationalism if it is believed that it will prevent the excesses of conceptualization.
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