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Crime and Deviance - Globalisation and Green Crime - flashcards done -…
Crime and Deviance - Globalisation and Green Crime - flashcards done
Globalisation and crime x
refers to the increasing interconnectedness of societies, so that what happens in one locality is shaped by distant events and vice versa.
Examples
Cheap air travel
the spread of new information and communication technologies
the influence of global mass media
deregulation of financial and other markets
easier movement of people and companies.
Held et al x
an interconnectedness of crime across national borders. This has led to the spread of
transnational organised crime
Castells x
there is now a global criminal economy worth over
£1 trillion
per annum
Beck - global risk consciousness x
globalisation creates new insecurities and produces a new mentality of 'risk consciousness' in which
risk is seen as global rather than tied to a particular place
example
the increased movement of people (asylum seekers, economic migrants) has given rise to anxieties in the West about the need to protect their boarders
much of our knowledge about risk comes from the media -
exaggerated
. For example, negative coverage of immigrants as scroungers 'flooding' the country
this leads to
intensification of social control
at a national level, (harsher boarder control)
Critique x
therefore globalisation has created greater panic and worry - meaning there is a
greater level of international cooperation between countries
to try and combat the drug trade, trafficking, etc
How has globalisation affected crime? x
culture globalisation
the spread of consumeristist ideology in a bulmic media-saturated society
supply and demand
demand for drugs, sex workers, body parts and cheap labour in affluent countries supplied by poor countries
more inequality
creates more winners and losers in the global marketplace
global risk society
adds to the uncertainty and insecurity of modern life - media exaggerates - fueling hate crimes
disorganised capitalism
deregulation, marketisation and privatisation. Less social cohesion and more insecurity
growing individualisation
individuals in late modernity are left to find their own solution. there is no safety net to protect them from unemployment. They have to make their own cost-benefit decisions to promote personal gain
Globalisation, capitalism and crime x
Taylor (1997) - socialist x
globalisation has created greater inequality and rising crime at
both ends of the social spectrum
to has allowed transational orporations to switch manufacturing to low-wage countries, producing
job insecurity, unemployment and poverty.
marketisation has encourages people to see themselves as individual consumers,
increasing materialistic culture
and seeing success in terms of a
lifestyle of consumption
all of these factors create
insecurity and widening inequalities that encourage people to turn to crime
. The lack of legitimate jobs means that people turn to illegitimate means.
Globalisation also creates criminal opportunities on a grand scale for
elite groups
. For example, the deregulation of financial markets has created opportunities for insider trading
Critique x
Taylor
doesn't adequately explain how the changes make people behave in criminal ways -
not all poor people turn to crime.
patterns of crime x
Hobbs and Dunningham - glocal x
new forms of organisations have international links, but crime is still rooted in its local context
therefore crime works as a
glocal system
. It is locally based but with global connections
changes associated with globalisation have led to changes in patterns of crime - for example, the
shift from the rigidly hierarchical gang structure to opportunistic entrepreneurial criminals - McMafia
Glenny - McMafia x
McMafia - refers to the organisations that emerged in Russia and Eastern Europe following the fall of communism
The collapse of the communist state herald a period of increasing disorder.
To protect their wealth, capitalists turned to the 'mafia'
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.
The new Russian mafias were
purely economic organisations
formed to pursue self interest
Rothe and Friedrichs x
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.
As a result, they can impose
pro-capitalist, neoliberal economic 'structural adjustment programmes'
on poor countries as a condition for the loans they provide
allows Western corporations to
expend into these countries
, and creates the
conditions for crime
.
Rothe et al x
- the programme imposed on Rwanda in the 1980s
caused mass unemployment
and created the
economic basis for the 1994 genocide.
Cain x
- the IMF and the World Bank act as a '
global state
' and , while they may not break any laws, their actions can
cause widespread social harms both directly and indirectly.
Evaluation of crime and globalisation x
Is valuable as it focuses on the newest forms of crime
very hard to investigate - secretive and complex in nature
Dependence on secondary sources; primary research may be dangerous
It is easy to exaggerate the significance of globalisation - it has affected some countries more than others
Much crime still tends to be fairly routine, low-level offences committed in local communities
It has led to more interconnectedness in global law enforcement.
global green crime x
how is it linked to globalisation? x
The planet is a single ecosystem in which humans being, other species and the environment are interconnected and interdependent
As a result, harm done to other species or aspects of the environment are seen as increasingly impacting negative on the quality and future of human life wherever it is in the world.
Green crime is carried out by powerful interest groups, particularly transnational corporations such as oil and chemical companies working with the cooperation of nation states and local wealthy elite
Beck - 'Global risk society x
the massive increase in productivity and technology have created
new, manufactured risks
.
many of these
risks involve harm to the environment
and has consequences for humanity
many of these risks are global, such as climate change, leading
Beck
to describe late modern society as
'global risk society'
Example - Mozambique - Patel (2010) x
the country is heavily dependent on food imports.
Russia experienced a heat wave triggered by global warming, which led to the destruction of the grain belt. This created a global grain shortage, meaning prices increased around the world
In Mozambique, bread prices increased by 30% which resulted in rioting and looting. This was increased due to the country's own grain harvest being poor due to drought
Meanwhile, capitalist spectators were gambling on hunger, on the financial markets
Criminological differences in definition - GC
Ecocentric x
Ecofeminists x
both the environment and humans are liable to
exploitation, particularly by global capitalism
believe in an
ecocentric view
that humans, and particularly women are
interdependent
with the environment
believe that the earth is
oppressed and exploited
in the same way women face
patriarchy
. Men are to blame for environmental harm. Women do not harm the earth due to the
'natural' and maternal instincts
green criminologists
use this view to judge environmental harm
humans and the environement are interdependent, so environmental harm hurts humans too
Anthropocentric x
transnational organisations
sell toxic waste to
developing nations
to dispose of, contributing to eco-poverty.
Eco-mafia
also deal with toxic waste
White x
- nation states and corporations tend to adopt this view. why GC occurs
assumes that humans have the right to dominate nature to their own ends, and puts economic grown before the environment.
White - radical criminologist x
current laws are biased as they are influenced by businesses who have vested interest in harming the environment for their own gain
green crime should be defined as
'any action that harms the physical environment and any creatures that live within it, even if no law has technically been broken
green criminology
Rob White (2008) x
- argues that
proper
criminology is about
action
which is
deviant or harmful
and which does not necessarily break the law.
This view is similar to the Marxist view
- powerful interest groups are able to define in their own interests what counts as unacceptable environmental harm
different countries have different laws
, so some harmful action may be a crime in one country but not another. So moving away from a legal definition of green crime, allows for the development of a
global perspective on environmental harm (cultural sociologists)
it is a form of
transgressive
criminology, as it oversteps the boundaries of
traditional
criminology to include that harm caused.
based on the nation of
harm rather than criminal law
-
Zemiology
Evaluation
(+) it recognises the growing importance of environmental issues and the need to address the harms and risks of environmental damage, both to humans and on-human animals
(-) by focusing on the much broader concept of harms rather than simply on legally defined crimes, it is hard to define the boundaries of its field of study clearly. critics argue that defining moral and political statements cannot be done objectively
Situ and Emmons - traditional criminology x
They are
holistic/structuralist
sociologists and
positivists
in methodology
if
no law has been broken
then they are not concerned
environmental crime is
'an unauthorised act or omission that violates the law'.
Wolf x
- GC is motivated by many of the same factors as ordinary crime, such as those considered by
rational choice, strain, control and Marxist theories.
individuals and companies are motivated to break environmental laws or commit harm because crime pays.
Marxists x
most serious GC are examples of what
Pearce
called 'the crimes of the powerful' - CC arising from criminogenic capitalism
Types of Green Crimes x
Primary x
- defined by
south x
as crimes where the environment itself is damaged
air pollution x
burning fossil fuels from industry and transport adds
6 billion
tons of Carbon to the atmosphere every year - growing at around
2% per annum
example
- pollution occurring from the burning of oil walls after the First Gulf War; Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
Walters (2013) x
- twice as may people now die from air pollution-induced breathing problems as 20 years ago
deforestation x
between
1960 and 1990, 1/5
of the world's tropical rain forests was destroyed - illegal logging in the amazon
urbanization is rising:
37% in 1970; projection of 61% in 2030
- increase need for space, agriculture, building resources
species decline/animal rights x
50 species a day are becoming extinct, and
46%
of mammals and
11%
of bird species are at risk
deforestation -
70-95%
of the earth's species live in the rainforests
while new green crime has occurred and increased (illegal logging), traditional crimes such as dog fights and badger baiting are on the rise.
water pollution x
1/2 billion
people lack access to drinking water, and
25 million
die annually from drinking contaminated water
marine pollution threatens
58%
of the world's ocean reefs and
34%
of its fish
example
- Gulf Oil Spill 2010
Secondary x
- defined by
south x
as crimes that come out of conflict between humans and the environment but are not defined as harmful to the environment.
hazardous waste and organised crime
Walters x
- 'the ocean floor has been a radioactive rubbish dump for decades'
in the 1950s the UK authorities and organisations dumped 28,500 rusting barrels of radioactive waste on the seabed of the Channel Isles.
Bridgeland x
- after the tsunami in 2004, hundreds of barrels of radioactive waste illegally dumped by European companies washed up on the shores of Somalia.
Western business ship their waste to be processed in the third World, where costs are lower and H&S is almost non-existent
Rosoff et al x
- the cost of legitimately disposing of toxic waste in the US is about $2500 a ton. Third world countries can dispose of it at a fraction of the cost, $3 a ton
state violence against oppositional groups
states condemn terrorism, but they have been prepared to resort to similar methods themselves -
example
- in 1985 the French secret police blew up a Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior in Auckland Harbour New Zealand,
killing one member of crew
Day x
- 'in every case where a government has committed itself to nuclear weapons or nuclear power, all those who oppose this police are treated to some degree as '
enemies of the state'
South - environmental discrimination x
poorer groups are worse affected by pollution.
for example, black communities in the USA often find their housing situated next to garbage dumps or polluting industries
evaluation of green crime x
green criminology
recognizes the growing importance of environmental issues and manufactured global risk
it recognizes the
interdependence
of humans, other species and the environment
its focus on
harm rather than criminality
means
green criminolog
y is often accused of being engages with
subjective interpretation
rather then objective scientific analysis and is therefore biased
White x
- useful in addressing the growing threats of environmental harms, and locates this within the context of globalisation, through
eco-local criminology
who commits green crime - Wolf x
individuals
-powerful cumulative effect on the environment, through individual action such as littering and dealing endangered species.
Private business organisations
- cause the most devastating harm. Environmental crime is a typical example of CC, and they are responsible for the bulk of land, air and water pollution
states and governments
- often in collusion with private businesses.
Santana (2002) x
points out that the military is the largest institutional polluter, as warfare plays a major role in creating risk and destruction.
organised crime
- longstanding involvement in green crime, often in collusion with governments and industry.
Massari and Monzini (2004) x
revealed collusion between mafia-type organisations, legal businesses and local authorities in illegal hazardous waste disposal in Italy.
victims of green crime x
Wolf x
points out that there are wide inequalities in the distribution of harm and risks to victims caused by environmental destruction, and in how laws are made, applied and enforced.
Potter (2010) x
-
current social divisions are reinforced
by environmental harms, with the least powerful (W/C, poor and minority ethnic groups) being the
most likely victims
of green crimes, in both developed and developing countruies.
Potter x
-
'environmental racism'
whereby those suffering the worst effects of environmental damage are of different ethnicity from those causing the damage, with the latter, most often, being white.
White (2003) x
- people living in the developing world, which increasingly provides
legal and illegal dump sites
for the developed world, face
far greater risks of exposure
to environmental air, land and water pollution than those in the developed world.
Enforcement action against green crime x
governments
are mainly responsible for creating and enforcing laws and regulations that control green crime, but they often form these policies
in collaboration
with the businesses who are most likely to be the
principle offenders
.
Snider (1991) - Marxist x
- states are
often reluctant
to pass laws and regulations against pollution and other environmental harm by private business, and generally do so only when
pressured by public opposition or environmental crises
.
strengthen them reluctantly, weaken whenever possible and often enforce them only weakly
in a manner calculated to avoid threatening profit and employment, or frightening off potential investors.
Sutherland x
- like other types of WC and CC, EC often do
not carry the same stigma
as conventional crimes. Rich multinational companies also have the
power and legal resources to avoid being labelled
as criminal.
as a result, even where laws exist, they
may not be enforced, or can only be enforced through fines
and not criminal prosecution