topic 3- globalisation and crime in contemp socie- green crime; human rights and state crimes

what is globalisation

Globalisation refers to the increasing interconnectedness of societies, so that what happens in one locality is shaped by distant events and vice versa. For example, David Held et al

(1999) define globalisation as:
the widening, deepening and speeding up of world wide interconnectedness in all aspects of life, from the cultural to the criminal, the financial to the spiritual'.

what is globalisation casued by

Globalisation has many causes. These include the spread of new information and communication technologies (ICT) and the influence of global mass media, cheap air travel, the deregulation of financial and other markets and their opening up to competition, and easier movement so that businesses can easily relocate to countries where profits will be greater.

what does held et al suggest

As Held et al suggest, there has also been a globalisation of crime - an increasing interconnectedness of crime across national borders. The same processes that have brought about the globalisation of legitimate activities have also brought about the spread of transnational organised crime.

Globalisation creates new opportunities for crime, new means of committing crime and new offences, such as various cyber-crimes.

what has castells estimated global criminal economy is worth

Manuel Castells (1998) argues, there is now a global criminal economy worth over £1 trillion per annum.

what forms of global crime does castells identify

• Arms trafficking to illegal regimes, guerrilla groups and terrorists.

• Trafficking in nuclear materials, especially from the former communist countries.

• Smuggling of illegal immigrants, for example, the Chinese Triads make an estimated $2.5 billion annually.

• Trafficking in women and children, often linked to prostitution or slavery. Up to half a million people are trafficked to Western Europe annually.

• Sex tourism, where Westerners travel to poorer countries for sex, sometimes involving minors.

• Trafficking in body parts for organ transplants in rich countries. An estimated 2,000 organs annually are taken from condemned or executed criminals in China.

• Cyber-crimes such as identity theft and child pornography.

• Green crimes that damage the environment, such as illegal dumping of toxic waste in poorer countries.

• International terrorism Much terrorism is now based on ideological links made via the Internet and other ICT, rather than on local territorial links as in the past.

• Smuggling of legal goods, such as alcohol and tobacco, to evade taxes, and of stolen goods, such as cars, to sell in foreign markets.

• Trafficking in cultural artefacts and works of art, sometimes having first been stolen to order.

• Trafficking in endangered species or their body parts, for example to produce traditional remedies.

• The drugs trade worth an estimated $300-400 billion annually at street prices.

• Money laundering of the profits from organised crime, estimated at up to $1.5 trillion per year

reason for the scale of transnational organised crime

the demand for its products and services in the rich West.

however, the global criminal economy could not function without a supply side that provides the source of drugs, sex working and other goods of service demanded in the west, this supply is linked to what process, give example

This supply is linked to the globalisation process. For example, poor, drugs-producing countries such as Colombia, Peru and Afghanistan have large populations of impoverished peasants. For these groups, drug cultivation is an attractive option that requires little investment in technology and commands high prices compared with traditional crops. In Colombia, for instance, an estimated 20% of the population depends on cocaine production for their livelihood, and cocaine outsells all Colombia's other exports combined. To understand drug crime, we cannot confine our attention merely to the countries where the drugs are consumed.

what does globalisation create new

Globalisation creates new insecurities and produces a new mentality of 'risk consciousness' in which risk is seen as global rather than tied to particular places. For example, the increased movement of people, as economic migrants seeking work or as asylum seekers fleeing persecution, has given rise to anxieties among populations in Western countries about the risks of crime and disorder and the need to protect their borders.

how does the media create mral panic

Much of our knowledge about risks comes from the media, which often give an exaggerated view of the dangers we face.

In the case of immigration, the media create moral panics about the supposed 'threat', often fuelled by politicians. Negative coverage of immigrants - portrayed as terrorists or as scroungers

'flooding' the country - has led to hate crimes against minorities in many European countries including the UK.

result of moral panic of immigrants in the uk

One result is the intensification of social control at the national level. The UK has toughened its border control regulations, for example fining airlines if they bring in undocumented passengers. Similarly, the UK now has no egal limits on how long a person may be held in immigration detention. Other European states with land borders have introduced fences, CCTV and thermal imaging devices to prevent illegal crossings

what is another result of globalised risk

Another result of globalised risk is the increased attempts at international cooperation and control in the various 'wars' on terror, drugs and crime, particularly since the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001.

what does ian taylor argue

Writing from a socialist perspective, lan Taylor (1997) argues that globalisation has led to changes in the pattern and extent of crime. By giving free rein to market forces, globalisation has created greater inequality and rising crime.

Globalisation has created crime at both ends of the social spectrum. It has allowed transnational corporations to switch manutacturing to low-wage countries, producing job insecurity, unemployment and poverty. Deregulation means that governments have little control over their own economies, for example to create jobs or raise taxes, while state spending on welfare has declined. Marketisation has encouraged people to see themselves as individual consumers, calculating the personal costs and benefits of each action, undermining social cohesion

what do left realiss note

As left realists note, the increasingly materialistic culture promoted by the global media portrays success in terms of a lifestyle of consumption.

thus, what does globlisation create for poor

All these factors create insecurity and widening inequalities that encourage people, especially the poor, to turn to crime.

The lack of legitimate job opportunities destroys self-respect and drives the unemployed to look for illegitimate ones, for instance in the lucrative drugs trade. For example, in Los Angeles, de-industrialisation has led to the growth of drugs gangs numbering 10,000 members.

globalisation also creates criminal opportunities on a grand scale

globalisation also creates criminal opportunities on a grand scale for elite groups. For example, the deregulation of financial markets has creater exportunities for insider trading and time movement of Funds around the globe to avoid taxation.

what has the eurpean union created

the creation of transnational bodies such as the European Union has offered opportunities for fraudulent claims for subsidies, estimated at over $7 billion per annum in the EU.

globalisation has also led to new patterns of employment

Globalisation has also led to new patterns of employment which have created new opportunities for crime. It has lef to the increased use of subcontracting to recruit flexible" workers, often working illegally or employed for less than the minimum wage or working in breach of health and safety or other labour laws.

eval of taylors theory

Taylor's theory is useful in linking global trends in the capitalist economy to changes in the pattern of crime.

However, it does not adequately explain how the changes make people behave in criminal ways. For example, not al poor people turn to crime.

what do rothe and friedrichs examine

Rothe and Friedrichs 2015 examine the role of international financial organisations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in what they call 'crimes of globalisation'.

These organisations are dominated by the major capitalist states. For example, the World Bank has 188 member countries, yet just five - the USA, Japan, Germany, Britain and France - hold over a third of the voting rights.

what do rothe and friedrichs argue

Rothe and Friedrichs argue that these bodies impose pro-capitalist, neoliberal economic 'structural adjustment programmes' on poor countries as a condition for the loans they provide. These programmes often require governments to cut spending on health and education, and to privatise publicly-owned services (such as water supply), industries and natural resources. While this allows Western corporations to expand into these. countries, it creates the conditions for crime.

example of internaltional financial oganisations imposing programme

For example, Rothe et al (2008) show how the programme imposed on Rwanda in the 1980s caused mass unemployment and created the economic basis for the 1994 genocide.

Maureen Cain (2010) suggests that in some ways, the IMF and World Bank act as a 'global state' and, While they may not break any laws, their actions can cause. widespread social harms both directly, through cutting welfare spending, and indirectly, as in the Rwandan case.

winlow’s study of bouncers in sunderland highlighted that gliobalisation and de industrialisation have created new criminal opportunities, what study supports ths

Hobbs and Dunningham found that the way crime is organised is linked to the economic changes brought by globalisation, increasingly it involves, individuals with contacts acting as a 'hub' around which a loose-knit network forms, composed of other individuals seeking opportunities, and often linking legitimate and illegitimate activities.

Hobbs and Dunningham argue that this contrasts with the large-scale, hierarchical Mafia style criminal organisations of the past, such as that headed by the Kray brothers in the East End of London.

what do hobbs and dunnningha conclude that crime works as

hobbes and dunningham conclude that crime works as a ‘glocal’ system, it is localled based but with global connections. this means that the form it takes will vary from place to place and is dependent to local conditions even if it is influenced by global factors such as the availability of drugs from abroad

what do hobbes and unningham argue tha globalisaton has led to changes in patterns of crime

Hobbs and Dunningham argue that changes associated with globalisation have led to changes in patterns of crime

- for example, the shift from the old rigidly hierarchical gang structure to loose networks of flexible, opportunistic, entrepreneurial criminals. However, it is not clear that such patterns are new, nor that the older structures have disappeared. It may be that the two have always co-existed Equally, their conclusions may not be generalisable to other criminal activities elsewhere.

what is another example of the relationship between criminal organisation and globalisation

misha glenny calls ‘mcMafia’ this refers to the organisations that emerged in russia and Eastern Europe folowing the fall of communism, which itself was a major factor in the process of globalisation.

she traces the origin of trnasantional roganised crime to the break up of the soviet union in 1989, whch coincided with the deregulation of global markets.

what happened under communism and then what changed following its fall

Under communism, the Soviet state had regulated the prices of everything.

However, following the fall of communism, the Russian government deregulated most sectors of the economy except for natural resources such as oil. These commodities remained at their old Soviet prices - often only a fortieth of the world market price. Thus anyone with access to funds - such as former communist officials and KGB (secret service) generals - could buy up oil, gas, diamonds or metals for next to nothing. Selling them abroad at an astronomical profit, these individuals became Russias new capitalist class - often popularly referred to as 'oligarchs'.

Meanwhile, the collapse of the communist state heralded a period of increasing disorder. To protect their wealth capitalists therefore turned to the 'mafias' that had begun to spring up. These were often alliances between former KGB men and ex-convicts. Among the most ruthless were the Chechen mafia.

difference between old itlain and ameican mafias what is different about russsian mafias

these mafias were unlike the old Italian and American mafias, which were based on ethnic and family ties, with a clear-cut hierarchy. The new Russian mafias were purely economic organisations formed to pursue self-interest. For example, the Chechen mafia originated in Chechnya, but soon began to 'franchise' its operations to non-Chechen groups. 'Chechen mafia' became a brand name that they sold to protection rackets in other towns, so long as they always carried out their word - otherwise the brand would be damaged.

how can green crime be defined

green or envionemtnal crime can be defined as crime against the enviornment.

how is green crime associated with globalisation

Much green crime can be linked to globalisation and the increasing interconnectedness of societies. Regardless of the division of the world into separate nation-states, the planet is a single eco-system, and threats to the eco-system are increasingly global rather than merely local in nature.

For example, atmospheric pollution from industry in one country can turn into acid rain that falls in another, poisoning its watercourses and destroying its forests. Similarly, an accident in the nuclear industry - such as the one at Chernobyl in Ukraine in 1986 - can spread radioactive material over thousands of miles, showing how a problem caused in one locality can have worldwide effects.

what does ulrich beck argue about today’s late modern society

Ulrich Beck (1992) argues that in today's late modern society we can now provide adequate resources for all (at least in the developed countries). However, the massive increase in productivity and the technology that sustains it have created new, 'manufactured risks' - dangers that we have never faced before. Many of these risks involve harm to the environment and its consequences for humanity, such as global heating caused by greenhouse gas emissions from industry. Like climate change, many of these risks are global rather than local in nature, leading Beck to describe late modern society as 'global risk society'.

example of global natue of human made risk producing crime and disorder

in russia global heating triggered the hootest heatwave in the centiry, causing wildfires that destroued parts of the county’s grain belt. this resulting shortage led Russia to introduce export bans and pushed up the world price of grain. this effected Mozambique, which is heavily dependent on food imports and was heavily affected by the 30% rise of the price of bread.

this sparked extensive rioting and looting of food stores that left at least a dozen dead.

Mozambiques own harvest had been by a drought, possible also the result og global heating. At the same time, international speculators were engaging in what the World Developme Movement called gambling on hunger in financial marker (Patel, 2010).

another example of human made risk

in 1984 the Us majority owned union carbide pesticide plant at Bhopal, India. it started to leak cyanide gas and all six safety systsmes failed to operate and thus, 30 tons of glas spread through the city, half a million people were exposed an it is estimated that over 20,000 died. 120,000 continue to suffer effects such as cancers, blindness, breathing difficulties and birth defects.

campaigners say the site has never been cleaned up. no one has ever faced a criminal court. thus, this highlights breaches of safety legislation and faillure to follow proper maintenance procedures. this approach of green criminology

what is traditional criminology concerned with

is not conncered with pollution or acid rain that is perfectly legal and no crime has been committed.

instead they look to national and international laws and regulations concering the environment.

For example, Situ and Emmons (2000) define environmental crime as 'an unauthorised act or omission that violates the law'. Like other traditional approaches in criminology, it investigates the patterns and causes of law breaking.

what is green criminology concerned with

Green criminology takes a more radical approach. It starts from the notion of harm rather than criminal law.

For example, Rob White (2008) argues that the proper subject of criminology is any action that harms the physical environment and/or the human and non-human animals within it, even if no law has been broken.

In fact, many of the worst environmental harms are not illegal, and so the subject matter of green criminology is much wider than that of traditional criminology.

For this reason, green criminology is a form of transgressive criminology - it oversteps (transgresses) the boundaries of traditional criminology to include new issues.

This approach is also known as 'zemiology' literally, the study of harms

why is green criminology a helpful approach

this is a helpgul appriach because different countries have different laws and thus some harmful action may not be considered a crime in a country. thus, legal defintions cannot proide a consistent standard of harm since they are a product of individual nation states.

thus, by moving away from a legal defintion, green criminology can provide a global perspective on environmental harm

how is green criminology similar to marxism

marxists argue that the capitalist class are able to shape the law and defiine crime so thay their own exploitative actions are not criminalised.

similarly, green criminologists argue that national states and transgressional corporations are able to define in their own interests what counts as z environmetnal harm.