Matthew Light
Biographic Data
| ID | 4398166 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Matthew Light |
| GIVEN NAMES | Matthew |
| FAMILY NAME | Light |
| SIGNATURE | LIGHT M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Toronto |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-6806-6514 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 21 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 81 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 20 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2004 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
A Privilege That Can Be Withdrawn: Regulation of Exit in Russia and Other Post‐Soviet Republics
The former Soviet Union's restrictions on citizens' foreign travel or emigration were notoriously draconian. Yet what replaced them in the fifteen independent states of the post‐Soviet region has not been well analysed. Outside the Baltic republics, the monolithic and prohibitive policies of the Soviet past have given way to a patchwork of restrictions with more complex motivations reflecting the diversity of contemporary Eurasian states. However…
Urban disorder in democratic transitions: Ukraine’s municipal policing debates in comparative perspective
Private security and national security: The case of Estonia
Most studies of private security postulate exclusively internal, primarily economic, causes of the industry's growth and regulation. In contrast, based on the case of post-Soviet Estonia, we investigate how a state's external security environment influences private security. Estonia's tense relations with neighbouring Russia and related pursuit of EU and NATO membership have generated several policies through which private security evolved from a…
Introduction to Special Issue on comparative criminology: Context, scope and applicability in critical criminological research
This Special Issue highlights the value of the comparative case study method for theory-building and refinement in criminology. Early figures in criminology, including those in the Chicago School, were aware of the importance of scope and applicability, which refer to the temporal, geographic, or other contextual boundaries of a theory, yet the field as a whole has not always given these issues due attention. While the discipline already deploys …
Migration from the Newly Independent States: 25 Years After the Collapse of the USSR
How gun control policies evolve: Gun culture, ‘gunscapes’ and political contingency in post-Soviet Georgia
We analyse the influence of gun culture and exogenous political events on gun regulation in post-Soviet Georgia. While neighbouring states retain restrictive Soviet-era gun laws, in Georgia, state failure, armed conflict and proliferation of weapons during the 1990s all impelled recent governments towards moderate gun policies, including liberal rules on handgun ownership, strict rules on gun carriage and a national gun registry. We conceptualize…
Constraints on the growth of private policing: A comparative international analysis
While much has been written on private security expansion in a few English-speaking industrialized democracies, less is known about why the industry does not develop uniformly around the world. We propose some hypotheses about constraints on private security growth in other settings, based on three comparative case studies in authoritarian states (Russia and Georgia), developing countries (Guyana and Trinidad) and non-‘Anglosphere’ industrialized…
Fragile Migration Rights: Freedom of Movement in Post-Soviet Russia
The Soviet Union comprehensively governed the mobility of its citizens by barring emigration and strictly regulating internal migration. In the aftermath of the Soviet collapse, the constitution and laws of the new Russian Federation appeared to herald a complete break with the repressiveness of the previous government. Russian law now proclaims the right of Russian citizens and residents to move around their country freely. This book examines ho…
Lauren A. McCarthy, Trafficking justice: How Russian police enforce new laws, from crime to courtroom
On one level, this impressive monograph is a detailed study of the legal regulation of human trafficking and slave labour (HTSL) in post-Soviet Russia, a country that is a major source of, and dest
Crime and criminal justice after communism: Why study the post-Soviet region
This special issue focuses on crime and criminal justice in the former Soviet Union (FSU), a world region we believe should be better known to criminologists. Together with all our fellow authors, we hope to convey to readers the fascination of the postSoviet region and the thought-provoking criminological questions that it prompts. We also aim to stimulate debate about what criminologists elsewhere in the world can learn from the FSU, and to con…
Policing following political and social transitions: Russia, Brazil, and China compared
This is a comparative analysis of policing in three countries that have experienced a major political or social transition, Russia, Brazil, and China. We consider two related questions: (1) how has transition in each country affected the deployment of the police against regime opponents (which we term “repression”)? And (2) how has the transition affected other police misconduct that also victimizes citizens but is not directly ordered by the reg…
Interpersonal violence by authoritarian rulers: Saddam Hussein and Joseph Stalin compared
Why do some authoritarian rulers, such as Saddam Hussein, kill or torture other people personally, whereas others, like Joseph Stalin, delegate such violence to subordinates? Such politically motivated interpersonal violence committed by authoritarian leaders has never before been theorized. Through a comparison of Hussein and Stalin, we explain why some dictators engage in this behavior and others do not. We propose a model based on three compon…
Russia, the death penalty, and Europe: The ambiguities of influence
Studies of capital punishment worldwide investigate how international influence affects the death penalty. We analyze European influence on the death penalty in Russia over the imperial, Soviet, and post-Soviet periods, using two parameters: the changing mechanisms of influence in each period and the death penalty's significance in the broader spectrum of punitive violence. On the first parameter, in the tsarist period, European influence on Russ…
Police reforms in the Republic of Georgia: The convergence of domestic and foreign policy in an anti-corruption drive
Since the 2003 revolution that brought to power President Mikheil Saakashvili, the post-Soviet Republic of Georgia has implemented a major programme of police reforms, including the mass dismissal of corrupt officers, the restructuring of police agencies, and significant changes in recruitment, training, and compensation. The reforms have eliminated many forms of corruption and have transformed what was a criminalised and dysfunctional police for…
Migration, ‘Globalised’ Islam and the Russian State: A Case Study of Muslim Communities in Belgorod and Adygeya Regions
In post-Soviet Russia, changing migration patterns have led to the formation of Muslim communities in new regions, and to increased contacts between Russian and foreign Muslims. This article examines two Russian regions, Belgorod Oblast’ and the Republic of Adygeya, in which such post-Soviet mobility is causing political conflicts over the governance and rights of Muslim communities. In Belgorod, regional authorities have blocked construction of …
What Does It Mean to Control Migration? Soviet Mobility Policies in Comparative Perspective
The migration policies of the former Soviet Union (or USSR) included a virtual abolition of emigration and immigration, an effective ban on private travel abroad, and pervasive bureaucratic controls on internal migration. This article outlines this Soviet package of migration controls and assesses its historical and international distinctiveness through comparison with a liberal state, the United States, and an authoritarian capitalist state, Apa…
The Russo-Georgian War of 2008: A Conflict Announced in Advance
Ronald D. Asmus, A Little War that Shook the World: Georgia, Russia, and the Future of the West. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010, xiv + 254 pp., £20.00 h/b. Svante E. Cornell & S. Frederick St
Policing Migration in Soviet and Post-Soviet Moscow
Why and how does the Moscow city government limit the rights of migrants? How are Moscow police involved in enforcing these policies? Drawing on interviews, scholarly publications, and the Russian press, this article addresses these questions. Post-Soviet changes in migration to Moscow and the city government's efforts to restrict migration are examined as are changes in enforcing residence restrictions. Soviet and post-Soviet approaches to migra…
Mathieu Deflem, Sociology of Law: Visions of a Scholarly Tradition
The Politics of Gender Equality: Explaining Variation in Fertility Levels in Rich Democracies
A consensus has emerged that gender-friendly policies can promote higher fertility in rich democracies (Esping-Andersen 1999). This paper supplies a political explanation for why these fertility-enabling policies diverge across countries. Using Sweden and Germany as our primary case studies, we argue that the strength of the left party's hold on government, rather than economic or social factors, underpins the expansion of the public sector that …
The politics of gender equality: Explaining variation in fertility levels in rich democracies
Policing Migration in Soviet and Post-Soviet Moscow
Why and how does the Moscow city government limit the rights of migrants? How are Moscow police involved in enforcing these policies? Drawing on interviews, scholarly publications, and the Russian press, this article addresses these questions. Post-Soviet changes in migration to Moscow and the city government's efforts to restrict migration are examined as are changes in enforcing residence restrictions. Soviet and post-Soviet approaches to migra…
What Does It Mean to Control Migration? Soviet Mobility Policies in Comparative Perspective
The migration policies of the former Soviet Union (or USSR) included a virtual abolition of emigration and immigration, an effective ban on private travel abroad, and pervasive bureaucratic controls on internal migration. This article outlines this Soviet package of migration controls and assesses its historical and international distinctiveness through comparison with a liberal state, the United States, and an authoritarian capitalist state, Apa…
Police reforms in the Republic of Georgia: The convergence of domestic and foreign policy in an anti-corruption drive
Since the 2003 revolution that brought to power President Mikheil Saakashvili, the post-Soviet Republic of Georgia has implemented a major programme of police reforms, including the mass dismissal of corrupt officers, the restructuring of police agencies, and significant changes in recruitment, training, and compensation. The reforms have eliminated many forms of corruption and have transformed what was a criminalised and dysfunctional police for…
Policing following political and social transitions: Russia, Brazil, and China compared
This is a comparative analysis of policing in three countries that have experienced a major political or social transition, Russia, Brazil, and China. We consider two related questions: (1) how has transition in each country affected the deployment of the police against regime opponents (which we term “repression”)? And (2) how has the transition affected other police misconduct that also victimizes citizens but is not directly ordered by the reg…
Migration, ‘Globalised’ Islam and the Russian State: A Case Study of Muslim Communities in Belgorod and Adygeya Regions
In post-Soviet Russia, changing migration patterns have led to the formation of Muslim communities in new regions, and to increased contacts between Russian and foreign Muslims. This article examines two Russian regions, Belgorod Oblast’ and the Republic of Adygeya, in which such post-Soviet mobility is causing political conflicts over the governance and rights of Muslim communities. In Belgorod, regional authorities have blocked construction of …
How gun control policies evolve: Gun culture, ‘gunscapes’ and political contingency in post-Soviet Georgia
We analyse the influence of gun culture and exogenous political events on gun regulation in post-Soviet Georgia. While neighbouring states retain restrictive Soviet-era gun laws, in Georgia, state failure, armed conflict and proliferation of weapons during the 1990s all impelled recent governments towards moderate gun policies, including liberal rules on handgun ownership, strict rules on gun carriage and a national gun registry. We conceptualize…
Constraints on the growth of private policing: A comparative international analysis
While much has been written on private security expansion in a few English-speaking industrialized democracies, less is known about why the industry does not develop uniformly around the world. We propose some hypotheses about constraints on private security growth in other settings, based on three comparative case studies in authoritarian states (Russia and Georgia), developing countries (Guyana and Trinidad) and non-‘Anglosphere’ industrialized…
Crime and criminal justice after communism: Why study the post-Soviet region
This special issue focuses on crime and criminal justice in the former Soviet Union (FSU), a world region we believe should be better known to criminologists. Together with all our fellow authors, we hope to convey to readers the fascination of the postSoviet region and the thought-provoking criminological questions that it prompts. We also aim to stimulate debate about what criminologists elsewhere in the world can learn from the FSU, and to con…
Introduction to Special Issue on comparative criminology: Context, scope and applicability in critical criminological research
This Special Issue highlights the value of the comparative case study method for theory-building and refinement in criminology. Early figures in criminology, including those in the Chicago School, were aware of the importance of scope and applicability, which refer to the temporal, geographic, or other contextual boundaries of a theory, yet the field as a whole has not always given these issues due attention. While the discipline already deploys …
The Politics of Gender Equality: Explaining Variation in Fertility Levels in Rich Democracies
A consensus has emerged that gender-friendly policies can promote higher fertility in rich democracies (Esping-Andersen 1999). This paper supplies a political explanation for why these fertility-enabling policies diverge across countries. Using Sweden and Germany as our primary case studies, we argue that the strength of the left party's hold on government, rather than economic or social factors, underpins the expansion of the public sector that …
The Politics of Gender Equality: Explaining Variation in Fertility Levels in Rich Democracies
A consensus has emerged that gender-friendly policies can promote higher fertility in rich democracies (Esping-Andersen 1999). This paper supplies a political explanation for why these fertility-enabling policies diverge across countries. Using Sweden and Germany as our primary case studies, we argue that the strength of the left party's hold on government, rather than economic or social factors, underpins the expansion of the public sector that …
The politics of gender equality: Explaining variation in fertility levels in rich democracies
Mathieu Deflem, Sociology of Law: Visions of a Scholarly Tradition
The Russo-Georgian War of 2008: A Conflict Announced in Advance
Ronald D. Asmus, A Little War that Shook the World: Georgia, Russia, and the Future of the West. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010, xiv + 254 pp., £20.00 h/b. Svante E. Cornell & S. Frederick St
Policing Migration in Soviet and Post-Soviet Moscow
Why and how does the Moscow city government limit the rights of migrants? How are Moscow police involved in enforcing these policies? Drawing on interviews, scholarly publications, and the Russian press, this article addresses these questions. Post-Soviet changes in migration to Moscow and the city government's efforts to restrict migration are examined as are changes in enforcing residence restrictions. Soviet and post-Soviet approaches to migra…
Migration, ‘Globalised’ Islam and the Russian State: A Case Study of Muslim Communities in Belgorod and Adygeya Regions
In post-Soviet Russia, changing migration patterns have led to the formation of Muslim communities in new regions, and to increased contacts between Russian and foreign Muslims. This article examines two Russian regions, Belgorod Oblast’ and the Republic of Adygeya, in which such post-Soviet mobility is causing political conflicts over the governance and rights of Muslim communities. In Belgorod, regional authorities have blocked construction of …
What Does It Mean to Control Migration? Soviet Mobility Policies in Comparative Perspective
The migration policies of the former Soviet Union (or USSR) included a virtual abolition of emigration and immigration, an effective ban on private travel abroad, and pervasive bureaucratic controls on internal migration. This article outlines this Soviet package of migration controls and assesses its historical and international distinctiveness through comparison with a liberal state, the United States, and an authoritarian capitalist state, Apa…
Interpersonal violence by authoritarian rulers: Saddam Hussein and Joseph Stalin compared
Why do some authoritarian rulers, such as Saddam Hussein, kill or torture other people personally, whereas others, like Joseph Stalin, delegate such violence to subordinates? Such politically motivated interpersonal violence committed by authoritarian leaders has never before been theorized. Through a comparison of Hussein and Stalin, we explain why some dictators engage in this behavior and others do not. We propose a model based on three compon…
Russia, the death penalty, and Europe: The ambiguities of influence
Studies of capital punishment worldwide investigate how international influence affects the death penalty. We analyze European influence on the death penalty in Russia over the imperial, Soviet, and post-Soviet periods, using two parameters: the changing mechanisms of influence in each period and the death penalty's significance in the broader spectrum of punitive violence. On the first parameter, in the tsarist period, European influence on Russ…
Police reforms in the Republic of Georgia: The convergence of domestic and foreign policy in an anti-corruption drive
Since the 2003 revolution that brought to power President Mikheil Saakashvili, the post-Soviet Republic of Georgia has implemented a major programme of police reforms, including the mass dismissal of corrupt officers, the restructuring of police agencies, and significant changes in recruitment, training, and compensation. The reforms have eliminated many forms of corruption and have transformed what was a criminalised and dysfunctional police for…
Crime and criminal justice after communism: Why study the post-Soviet region
This special issue focuses on crime and criminal justice in the former Soviet Union (FSU), a world region we believe should be better known to criminologists. Together with all our fellow authors, we hope to convey to readers the fascination of the postSoviet region and the thought-provoking criminological questions that it prompts. We also aim to stimulate debate about what criminologists elsewhere in the world can learn from the FSU, and to con…
Policing following political and social transitions: Russia, Brazil, and China compared
This is a comparative analysis of policing in three countries that have experienced a major political or social transition, Russia, Brazil, and China. We consider two related questions: (1) how has transition in each country affected the deployment of the police against regime opponents (which we term “repression”)? And (2) how has the transition affected other police misconduct that also victimizes citizens but is not directly ordered by the reg…
Fragile Migration Rights: Freedom of Movement in Post-Soviet Russia
The Soviet Union comprehensively governed the mobility of its citizens by barring emigration and strictly regulating internal migration. In the aftermath of the Soviet collapse, the constitution and laws of the new Russian Federation appeared to herald a complete break with the repressiveness of the previous government. Russian law now proclaims the right of Russian citizens and residents to move around their country freely. This book examines ho…
Lauren A. McCarthy, Trafficking justice: How Russian police enforce new laws, from crime to courtroom
On one level, this impressive monograph is a detailed study of the legal regulation of human trafficking and slave labour (HTSL) in post-Soviet Russia, a country that is a major source of, and dest
Constraints on the growth of private policing: A comparative international analysis
While much has been written on private security expansion in a few English-speaking industrialized democracies, less is known about why the industry does not develop uniformly around the world. We propose some hypotheses about constraints on private security growth in other settings, based on three comparative case studies in authoritarian states (Russia and Georgia), developing countries (Guyana and Trinidad) and non-‘Anglosphere’ industrialized…
How gun control policies evolve: Gun culture, ‘gunscapes’ and political contingency in post-Soviet Georgia
We analyse the influence of gun culture and exogenous political events on gun regulation in post-Soviet Georgia. While neighbouring states retain restrictive Soviet-era gun laws, in Georgia, state failure, armed conflict and proliferation of weapons during the 1990s all impelled recent governments towards moderate gun policies, including liberal rules on handgun ownership, strict rules on gun carriage and a national gun registry. We conceptualize…
Migration from the Newly Independent States: 25 Years After the Collapse of the USSR
Private security and national security: The case of Estonia
Most studies of private security postulate exclusively internal, primarily economic, causes of the industry's growth and regulation. In contrast, based on the case of post-Soviet Estonia, we investigate how a state's external security environment influences private security. Estonia's tense relations with neighbouring Russia and related pursuit of EU and NATO membership have generated several policies through which private security evolved from a…
Introduction to Special Issue on comparative criminology: Context, scope and applicability in critical criminological research
This Special Issue highlights the value of the comparative case study method for theory-building and refinement in criminology. Early figures in criminology, including those in the Chicago School, were aware of the importance of scope and applicability, which refer to the temporal, geographic, or other contextual boundaries of a theory, yet the field as a whole has not always given these issues due attention. While the discipline already deploys …
Urban disorder in democratic transitions: Ukraine’s municipal policing debates in comparative perspective
A Privilege That Can Be Withdrawn: Regulation of Exit in Russia and Other Post‐Soviet Republics
The former Soviet Union's restrictions on citizens' foreign travel or emigration were notoriously draconian. Yet what replaced them in the fifteen independent states of the post‐Soviet region has not been well analysed. Outside the Baltic republics, the monolithic and prohibitive policies of the Soviet past have given way to a patchwork of restrictions with more complex motivations reflecting the diversity of contemporary Eurasian states. However…
Political science (18 works) · Sociology (16 works) · Law (14 works) · Law (13 works) · Politics (11 works) · Political economy (9 works) · Crime Patterns and Interventions (7 works) · Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance (7 works) · Criminology (6 works) · Authoritarianism (5 works)