Globalisation, state and crime

What has led to globalisation?

new technology, global mass media, cheap air travel, deregulation of financial and other markets, easier movement across the world

What does Held et al say about globalisation and crime?

led to transnational organised crime eg drug trafficking

How much may the global criminal economy be worth a year?

$5.8 trillion

Who creates demands that require criminal activity to fulfill?

the rich west

Who supplies the west’s demands for illegal substances and trafficked people?

the East, South America and parts of Africa

How has globalisation led to an increase in transnational crime?

better technology and easier travel has increased the links to the poorer countries who provide illegal goods making international crime easier and more profitable

Why do impoverished peasants in countries such as Columbia and Afghanistan choose drug cultivation?

it is much more profitable than growing legit products and requires little investment and no new technologies

What percentage of people in Colombia depend on the cocaine trade?

20%

What is Colombia’s best sold export?

cocaine (more than all others combined)

What type of crime is globalisation good at explaining?

organised crime

What type of crime is globalisation bad at explaining?

non-utilitarian crime, petty crime, abuse or rape

What is the criticism of the globalisation explanation for crime?

may place too much blame on the poorer countries who provide the illegal goods than the western countries with the demand

What is risk consciousness?

risk of crime is seen as global and is not limited to your local area eg fear of immigration

What is the result of risk consciousness?

tighter regulations, more security, countries sharing intelligence

How may the risk consciousness theory be limited?

people still tend to pay more attention to crime in their local area, overestimates how much global crime shapes how people view crime

What is state crime according to Green and Ward?

illegal or deviant activities perpetrated by or that the state is complicit in

How many people do Green and Ward estimate were killed by governments in the 20th century?

262 million

What are the 4 types of state crime according to McLaughlin?

political, police/security, economic, social/cultural

What is political state crime?

corruption or censorship

What is police/security state crime?

genocide/torture

What is economic state crime?

violation of health and safety laws

What is social/cultural state crime?

institutional racism or destruction of culture

What is genocide?

elimination by mass murder of people of a specific ethnic, national or religious group

How many people were killed in the Rwandan genocide?

800,000 - 1,000,000 people

How did the rwandan genocide happen?

Tutsi rebels invaded after being exiled by the Hutu majority, they fought for 3 years, Hutu president’s plane was shot down and Hutu used this as an excuse to kill Tutsi and moderate Hutu

What is state-initiated corporate crime?

state encouraged or orders corporations to harmful or illegal acts in order to achieve its goals

What is state-facilitated corporate crime?

crimes committed by corporateions that are enable through the state having weak laws, weak regulation, corruption or failing to investigate

Who can declare war?

UN security council

When can a country declare war by themselves?

in self -defense

What happens when a country declares war no under those circumstances

it is declared illegal

What did Cramer and Micholwski find about the Iraq war?

it was illegal because no weapons of mass destruction were found and that was there justification for starting the war

What did Whyte find about Iraq after the war?

neo-liberal colonisation

What are war crimes?

something that violates internationally accepted rules about war

How does Chambliss define state crime?

as something that is criminal as defined by law that a state official carries out

What is the evaluation of Chambliss definition of state crime?

allows the state to make laws which allow what they are doing, is not consistent between countries

What is Malinowski’s social harm definition of state crime?

includes acts which are illegal but also acts which are not illegal but cause people harm

What is the evaluation of the social harm definition of state crime?

is vague, doesn’t sepcify how much harm, what harm is and who defines what harm is

What is Rothe and Mullins international law definition for state crime?

any action which violates international law and/or domestic law

What is the criticism of the international law definition of state crime?

is still a social construct which can be manipulated but is at least agree between all countries

What is Schweindinger’s human rights definition of state crime?

state crime is anything that violates people’s human rights

What is the evaluation of the human rights definition of state crime?

countries can be shamed for their actions by most countries, some acts which violate people’s human rights are obviously not illegal

What is the authoritarian personality according to Adorno et al?

people who are willing to obey without question

How does someone develop the authoritarian personality?

strict and authoritarian personality resulting in them wanting to take anger out on their parents but they can’t so they take it out on people they see as weak

What are the traits of authoritarian personality?

hostile to people who are different or ‘inferior’, black and white thinking, respect for status, blindly obedient

What is the evaluation of the authoritarian personality?

deterministic, many people with normal upbringing also commit atrocities, shifts blame from the state

What is Green and Ward explanation for people committing state crime?

socialisation and propaganda about the ‘enemy’, and creating ‘enclaves of barbarism’ which is separated from society

What are the 3 features of obedience according to Kelman and Hamilton?

authorisation by someone with authority, routinisation, dehumanisation of the enemy as sub-human

What is the evaluation for Kelman and Hamilton’s theory?

better explanation for mass obedience of a whole society

What did Bauman argue allowed the holocaust to happen?

division of labour (each person only played a small role), bureaucratisation (routine), instrumental rationality ( using efficient methods) and technology (actually did the killing)

What does Cohen argue about how democratic states cover up their crimes?

3 stages - deny, say it was something else (not how it looks), justification

Why is it so difficult to study state crime?

no official stats, censorship, relies on secondary data which can be dismissed