Vittimità e prudenzialismo. Nuove forme di controllo sociale fra individualizzazione e globalizzazione

The concern of this essay is with the representation of the victim in contemporary crimino-legal and public discourse. In the context of late modernity characterised by globalizing tendencies and new forms of social control, the very function of the victim and its relation to offender, state and society is missed, the author argues if all-too-easily described as "politics of victimization". The paper opens with an outline of the changes of social control. Building up on considerations on the "normal form" of society and the social construction of "risks", it then queries the "subjective reflection" of these alterations and discusse envy and crime as intersubjective attempts to reconstruct weakened social bonds. In this context, the author seeks to show, "victimhood" gains its importance as a cultural model which takes effect in the current period of transition, reconciling the diminishing regulating powers of modern institutions with regressive tendecies of the individual. In this way, "victimhood" contributes to stage public justice and to support the hierarchical social order.