Globalisation, green crime, human rights and state crime

What is globalisation

The process by which the world is becoming increasingly inter-connected as a result of increased trade and culture exchange

What crimes have been effected by globalisation

Trafficking

Green crimes- as globalisation increases economic competition

Drugs trade

Money laundering

Sex tourism

International terrorism

Cyber crime- more opportunities available to steal information

What sociologists talk about globalisation and crime

Taylor, Winlow, Hobbs and Dunningham, Glenny, Beck

Taylor

Globalisation has led to inequality which has then led to higher crime rates:

-marketisation- undermines social solidarity as saw themselves as individuals consumers and wanted to benefit themselves

-deregulation-

Governments deregulate to attract global business as globalisation increases competition

-increases inequality and ‘crimes of the powerless’:

→move production to low wage countries so there is unemployment and poverty in western societies

Increases ‘crimes of the powerful’:

→ deregulation of financial markets has opened the doors to financial fraud and tax evasion

Winlow

Deindustrialisation led to crime

-bouncer study in Sunderland, as people couldn’t do traditional blue collar jobs, bouncer jobs gave them access to illegal business opportunities and violence

Hobbs and Dunningham

‘Glocal’ - if a local problem then brought to other places through globalisation

Glenny

McMafia-

-franchise of original mafia

-Original mafia were focused on family while McMafia were more focused on personal gain

-organised crime

-created a brand out of crime, runs like a business

-increase of Eastern European gangs are an example of the cultural, social and political changes since the fall of communism

-e.g. many corrupt Russian secret police had stolen coal, oil and weapons

Beck

Global risk society

-biggest threats people face are man made e.g. environmental damage, terrorism, new technology

-global risk consciousness- people are more aware of the risks that cross national boarders, people no longer see risk as confined to one place, global awareness of insecurity

-new opportunities for crimes as can operate globally

What did the World bank do to do with the Rwandan genocide

· Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs): The World Bank forced Rwanda to adopt austerity, currency devaluation to integrate into the global economy.

· Economic Collapse: These policies caused mass poverty and social instability, worsening ethnic tensions.

· Funding Violence: Money freed by cuts was secretly used to import weapons, enabling the genocide.

· Crime of Globalisation: Harm was caused by global economic institutions pursuing neoliberal agendas, not just the Rwandan state.

What is green crime

Crime against the environment. Much green crime can be linked to globalisation as green crime becomes from local to global as the whole world becomes effected

What sociologists talk about green crime

White, South

How does White define Green Crime and what terms does he introduce

Any action that harms the physical environment or human and non-human animals within it even if no laws are broken

-form of transgressive criminology- outside the borders of traditional criminology

Zemiology- the study of harm being classed as a crime even if no laws are broken

What is a strength and weakness of the zemiology definition

Weakness- still subjective what counts as harm, field of study is too wide

Strength- keeps countries accountable by the same standard

What is an alternative to zemiology/ transgressive criminology

Actions which harm the environment which also have to be against the law

What does White class as the 2 different perspectives to the environment

Anthropocentric- a human-centred approach

-idea that humans have the right to use the worlds resources and dominate nature

Ecocentric- view that humans and nature are interdependent

-this is the view of green criminology who see both humans and the environment are equally important

South

2 types of green crime:

-primary green crime- direct harm to the environment e.g.pollution

-secondary green crime- crime that results from breaking rules aimed at preventing environmental disasters e.g. violence against environmentalists

What is a limitation of green crime

Who decides what is write or wrong?

Why is state crime difficult to measure

-state defines laws, making them law abiding

-have huge power to conceal crimes

-can evade punishment

What sociologists talk about state crime

McLaughlin, Adorno et al, Kerman and Hamilton, Bauman, Cohen

McLaughlin- types of state crime

-political crimes e.g. corruption

-crimes by security and police e.g. Genocide

-economic crimes

-social and cultural crimes

Adorno et al

Authoritarian personalities:

-urge to obey orders from authority

-people don’t have to be psychopaths to inflict torture

Kerman and Hamilton

-authorisation-if an order comes from authority, people obey it regardless whether it goes against a norm

-routinisation- once it has been committed, there’s pressure for it to become routine and detach

-dehumanisation- the enemy may be portrayed as sub-human

What event can be linked to authorisation, routinisation and dehumanisation

My lai massacre in the Vietnam war with 500 unarmed soldiers being killed

-this was state ordered and then concealed

Bauman

Modernity:

-modern society enables war crimes such as the holocaust- ‘gardening state’ - treats society like a garden where people are either useful or ‘weeds’ to be removed

-turned killing into a job

-division of labour- people only do one job which made horrific acts into a mundane job e.g. someone managing transport may actually be leading to a genocide

-instrumental rationality- obsessed with achieving goals

-science and technology- nuclear weapons

Cohen

Culture of denial of the state:

-saying it didn’t happen

-blaming it on something else