Globalisation, green crime and state crime

Castells - globalisation and crime

● As a result of globalisation, there is a global criminal economy worth over £1 trillion per annum:

○ Trafficking of arms, women, children, body parts, cultural artefacts, nuclear materials and endangered species

○ Smuggling illegal immigrants

○ Sex tourism

○ Cyber-crimes

○ Green crimes

○ International terrorism

○ The drugs trade

○ Smuggling of legal goods

Taylor - globalisation and crime

○ Globalisation has created crimes at both ends of the spectrum; it has allowed transnational corporations to switch manufacturing to low-wage countries, producing job insecurity, unemployment and poverty.

○ Globalisation has also created inequality, leading to the increase in crime due to resentment and material deprivation.

Glenny - globalisation and crime

○ McMafia - the organisations that emerged in Russia following the fall of communism.

○ Glenny traces the origins of transnational organised crime to the breakup of the soviet union, which coincided with the deregulation of global markets.

White - green crime

● Distinguishes between types of criminology:

○ Traditional criminology - its subject matter is defined by criminal law and is therefore not concerned with green criminology

○ Green criminology - the proper subject of criminology is any action that harms the physicalenvironment, and humans or non-human animals within it.

● Distinguishes between types of harm:

○ Anthropocentric = a human-centred approach. It’s the idea that humans have the right to use the world’s resources and dominate nature.

○ Ecocentric = humans and nature are interdependent. This is the view of green criminologists who see both humans and the environment as liable to exploitation.

● Primary green crimes - crimes that result directly from the destruction and degradation of the earth’s resources:

○ Crimes of air pollution

○ Crimes of deforestation

○ Crimes of species decline and animal abuse

○ Crimes of water pollution

● Secondary green crimes - crime that grows out of flouting or rules aimed at preventing or regulating environmental disasters:

○ State violence against oppositional groups

○ Hazardous waste and organised crime

○ Environmental discrimination

McLaughlin - state crime

● Distinguishes between the types of state crime:

○ Political crimes (Eg. Corruption and censorship)

○ Crimes by security and police forces (Eg. Genocide, torture and disappearances of dissidences)

○ Economic crimes (Eg. Violation of health and safety laws)

○ Social and cultural crime (Eg. Institutional racism)