Chaos theory challenges the presumption that the cosmos is orderly, linear, and predictable - but it does not imply pure randomness and chance events. Rather, chaos-informed postmodernist analysis introduces a new vision by celebrating unexpected, surprise, ironic, contradictory, and emergent elements. Scholars in many disciplines are taking this perspective as an alternative to the entrenched structural functionalism and empiricism rooted in linear science.

In the early 1990s studies began to emerge applying chaos theory to criminology, law, and social change. This book brings together some of the key thinkers in these areas. While the book emphasizes the usefulness of the conceptual tools of chaos theory in critical criminology and law, its ultimate goal goes beyond theory-building to provide vistas for understanding the contemporary social scene and for the development of the new just society.