One of the reasons I like writing (and reading) crime fiction is the window on the politics of the community where the crime has been committed. Injustice, corruption, and abuse of authority act like the three witches in the opening scene of MacBeth, stirring the pot, invoking spells and curses.
The Telegraph has an interesting article about the role of novelists in revealing the underlining tensions and problems of society and the relationship between the writers of novels and academics who write research papers about such issues.
The article quotes Professor Michael Woolcock, director of the Brooks World Poverty Institute as saying, “They were "not arguing that poets should replace finance ministers."
He said: ‘Fiction is important because it is often concerned with the basic subject matter of development. This includes things like the promises and perils of encounters between different peoples; the tragic mix of courage, desperation, humour, and deprivation characterising the lives of the down-trodden.’ “
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