Globalisation and Crime Overview

According to Castells, global crime costs $1 trillion per year. It includes various illegal activities like money laundering, arms trafficking, trafficking of people, body parts, animals, cultural artifacts, women and children, and the drug trade.

The process of international integration, where the world becomes increasingly connected, driven by factors like trade, communication, and technology.

Castells identifies examples of the global crime economy, including money laundering, arms trafficking, trafficking of people, body parts, animals, cultural artifacts, women and children, and the drug trade. He claims it costs $1 trillion per year.

Globalisation creates new insecurities and produces a new mentality of risk consciousness.

Taylor argues that globalization has led to changes in the pattern and extent of crime due to increased inequality and the unrestrained pursuit of market forces.

While valuable for linking global economic trends to crime patterns, Taylor's theory doesn't adequately explain WHY individuals engage in criminal behaviors. It doesn't account for individual choices and motivations.

A World Bank deal leading to widespread unemployment in Rwanda triggered a genocide, resulting in the deaths of over 1 million people within 100 days.

Hobbs and Dunningham describe 'glocal' crime – local crimes with global connections, where local activities tap into international markets. For example, the drug trade.

Organizations that emerged in Russia and Eastern Europe after the fall of communism, often involved in illegal activities and transnational organized crime networks. Glenny coined the term 'McMafia' to describe these criminal organizations, highlighting their similarities to multinational corporations.

A radical approach to criminology that focuses on harms caused to the environment rather than just legal infractions. It considers environmental damage and harm to animals as crimes, even if they aren't explicitly defined as illegal.

Traditional criminology focuses on actions defined by law as criminal, neglecting harm to the environment even if it's not explicitly illegal.

Crimes that directly harm the environment, including deforestation, oil spills, poaching, air pollution, and water pollution.

Crimes that result from the violation of rules designed to protect the environment, like the illegal dumping of hazardous waste or state violence against environmental activists.

Green criminology acknowledges the significance of environmental issues and the need to address the harms caused. By concentrating on harms (zemiology) rather than legal violations, it investigates crimes that traditional criminology often overlooks. However, it faces challenges in defining and measuring 'harm' due to its subjective nature. Additionally, the lack of universal definition for 'harm' makes objective analysis difficult.

Green and Ward define state crime as 'illegal or deviant activities perpetrated by, or with the complicity of, state agencies.' It's a broad definition that includes crimes committed by government officials or with their knowledge and support.

McLaughlin categorizes state crimes into four types: political crimes, crimes by security and police forces, economic crimes, and social and cultural crimes. Each category reflects different forms of state wrongdoing.

In 1994, during the Rwandan civil war, the Hutu government launched a campaign of genocide against Tutsis, using hate propaganda and mass killings. This exemplifies state-sanctioned violence and a systematic breakdown of law and order.

Illegal wars, and crimes committed during wars or their aftermath. Individuals, groups, and states can commit war crimes, which are punishable under international law.

Michalowski advocates for zemiology, the study of harms, arguing that state crime includes not only illegal acts but also 'legally permissible acts whose consequences are similar to those illegal acts in they harm they cause.' This expands the scope of state crime to include policies that have harmful consequences even if they're not explicitly criminal.

Labelling theory suggests that whether an act is considered a crime depends on society's reaction to it. It recognizes that state crimes are socially constructed, and definitions of crime can be influenced by power and authority.

International law governing state crime is established through treaties and agreements between states, like the Geneva and Hague Conventions on war crimes. These agreements set standards for acceptable behavior in international relations, and violations can be considered crimes against humanity.

Schewendinger proposes defining state crime as the violation of people's basic human rights by the state or its agents. This definition focuses on crimes that deny individuals their fundamental freedoms and rights, including those based on race, gender, or economic status.

Kelman and Hamilton identified three features of crime of obedience: authorization, routinization, and dehumanization. Authorization occurs when acts are approved by those in authority. Routinization involves committing crimes as part of a routine, creating a detached mindset. Dehumanization involves portraying victims as subhuman, justifying harmful actions.

Bauman argues that modern features like the division of labor, bureaucracy, instrumental rationality, and scientific advancements contributed to the Holocaust. These factors enabled the efficient dehumanization of Jews, the systematic organization of the genocide, and the detachment of individuals from their actions.

Cohen outlines a three-stage spiral of denial used by states accused of committing atrocities: Initially it's denied, if evidence emerges, it's reinterpreted as something else, and if it's undeniable, it's justified.

Drawing on Matza and Sykes, Cohen identifies techniques of neutralization used by perpetrators to justify their actions: denial of victim, denial of injury, denial of responsibility, condemning the condemners, and appeal to higher loyalties.

The burning of fossil fuels releases 6 billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere annually, contributing to global warming and climate change.

Between 1960 and 1990, one-fifth of tropical rainforests were felled, primarily in the Amazon, to clear land for beef cattle ranching for export. This not only affects the environment but also involves various actors, including governments, logging companies, fast food corporations, and consumers.

Approximately 50 species go extinct daily, driven by trafficking in animals and animal parts, habitat destruction, and animal abuse. This highlights the impact of human activities on biodiversity.

Contaminated water is responsible for the deaths of 25 million people annually. Marine pollution, particularly plastic waste, threatens coral reefs and marine ecosystems.

While condemning terrorism, states often engage in similar actions, often targeting opposition groups. For example, in 1985, the French Secret Service sank the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior, which was campaigning against nuclear testing.

Safe and legal disposal of toxic waste from chemical and nuclear industries is expensive. Criminal organizations often handle it illegally, as seen in the case of 'eco-mafias' in Italy. In the 1950s, thousands of barrels of radioactive waste were dumped into the English Channel, highlighting the scale of this problem.