Policy Press's New Horizons in Criminology book series provides concise authoritative texts that reflect cutting-edge thought and theoretical developments in criminology and have an international scope. These short, accessible texts are written so that the non-specialist academic, student or practitioner can understand them, by explaining principles and developments clearly before going deeper into the subject. Written by leading authors in their fields, the series will become essential reading for all academics and students (and practitioners) interested in where criminology is heading.

When I first proposed a series on ‘New Horizons’, one criminologist suggested that criminology does not need any more criminologies. The subject of criminology has expanded so much over recent years that perhaps it should have time to draw breath – growing from ‘a smallish cottage industry’ (Loader and Sparks, 2012, p 4) to the extent that most universities now offer criminology and/or criminal justice at undergraduate or postgraduate levels. Yet, my reply was that without exploring new areas of enquiry, the subject could stagnate. If criminologists had not been willing to explore new horizons, there would not have been the expansion from conventional crime and justice issues into important research on, for example, state crimes, social harms, green issues or cultural identity, as reflected in ‘new’ criminologies such as green criminology and cultural criminology. For any discipline to remain vibrant it needs to explore new areas and, where relevant, to draw on other disciplines and investigate innovative methodologies. This does not mean that the past is cast aside. Instead, by exploring new horizons, light might be reflected back onto criminology's traditional core. The criminological imagination (see Young, 2011) continues to expand, with new approaches being adopted by criminologists, and criminological approaches being relevant to new areas of study. This book series aims to reveal to a wider audience these cutting-edge developments.

I am delighted that one of the first books in the series is on the important topic of Indigenous criminology and that this book is authored by Chris Cunneen and Juan Tauri, two of the leading authors in this area of study. Indigenous peoples are over-represented within the criminal justice systems of settler colonial states such as Canada, the US, Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia, yet are also under-represented within discussions of criminology, except perhaps within certain aspects of restorative justice.