Nils Christie

Nils Christie (24 February 1928 – 27 May 2015) was a Norwegian sociologist and criminologist. He was a professor of criminology at the Faculty of Law, University of Oslo. Considered a leading figure of his field, Christie is one of two Norwegian social scientists covered in the book 50 Key Thinkers in Criminology (Routledge, 2009), alongside sociologist Thomas Mathiesen.

Early life and education
Christie was born in Oslo on 24 February 1928, as son of Ragnvald Christie and Ruth Hellum. Having passed examen artium at Berg Upper Secondary School in 1946, he graduated in sociology from the University of Oslo in 1953. His 1959 dr.philos. thesis, Unge norske lovovertredere (Young Norwegian Offenders), compared all male lawbreakers born in 1933 in Norway to others born the same year.

Career
Christie was appointed to the Faculty of Law, University of Oslo from 1959, and was a professor of criminology at the faculty from 1966. His books include Pinens begrensning (Limits to Pain) from 1981, which has been translated into eleven languages. His work Fangevoktere i konsentrasjonsleire (Prison Guards in Concentration Camps, 1952) was selected for the Norwegian Sociology Canon in 2009–2011. The book If Schools Didn't Exist (1971; English edition 2020) is also considered a key work of his. Christie became well known for his longstanding criticisms of drug prohibition, industrial society, and prisons. He expressed the belief that in order to understand crime, it is vital to understand the society around us, and vice versa, and he considered it the duty of a social scientist to influence society through debate and dialogue.

Christie was a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. He received an honorary degree from the University of Copenhagen in 1996. In 2001 he was awarded the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Prize "for his original and independent contributions to the Norwegian and international social debate."

Personal life
Christie married Vigdis Margit Moe in 1951, and was later married to sociologist Hedda Giertsen.

Select bibliography

 * Fangevoktere i konsentrasjonsleire (Prison Guards in Concentration Camps, 1952)
 * Hvis skolen ikke fantes (1971)
 * If Schools Didn't Exist (2020)
 * Pinens begrensning (1981)
 * Limits to Pain (1981)
 * Den gode fiende: Narkotikapolitikk i Norden (with Kettil Bruun, 1985)
 * Kriminalitetskontrol som industri: På vej mod GULAG, vestlig stil? (1996)
 * Crime Control as Industry: Towards GULAGs, Western Style? (2000)
 * En passende mengde kriminalitet (2004)
 * A Suitable Amount of Crime (2004)