Globalisation And Crime

Question 1

[🌏] what is organised crime?

Answer 1

• serious crime planned, coordinated and conducted by people working together on a continuous basis. This is now international in nature.

Question 2

[🌏] what are examples of transnational organised crimes ?

Answer 2

• Druf trafficking
• Human trafficking
• Smuggling of migrants
• Illegal trading in firearms
• Cyber crimes

Question 3

[🌏] Growth in these crimes linked to globalisation, what are the features of globalisation

Answer 3

1. The development of cheaper and faster international transport allowing trafficking of illegal products
2. Deregulation of the financial sector allowing money laundering
3. Explosion in computer and electronic communication allowing communication between organised crime groups based in more than one country and more opportunities of clime ( eg: cyber crime)
4. The collapse of Iron Curtain allowing organised crime groups in the former Soviet Union to move to new territories
5. The growth of tax havens which tend to not be worried about where the money passing through originates from

Question 4

[🌏] what is the demand and supply side of global criminal economy?

Answer 4

• Demand for its products & services in the rich west and the sources of drugs, sex workers and other services.
• Supply linked to globalisation process. Eg: in drug producing countries like Colombia and Peru have large populations of impoverished peasants therefore drug cultivation is an attractive option, that requires little investment in technology and commands high prices
• In Colombia, 20% of the population depends on cocaine production for livelihood and cocaine outsells all Colombia’s exports

Question 5

[🌏] Globalisation, Capitalism and Crime

Answer 5

• TAYLOR
• globalisation has created greater inequalities and rising crime. Deregulation, marketisation and materialistic culture promoted by global media promotes a lifestyle of consumption resulting:
  1. Encouraging the poor to turn to crime
  2. Lack of legitimate job opportunities destroys self respect and drives the unemployed to look for illegitimate job opportunities. Eg: LA de- industrialisation created 10,000 members of drug gangs
  3. Deregulation of financial sector caused insider trading and movement of funds outside the globe to avoid taxation
  4. New patterns of employment: subcontracting to recruit flexible workers illegally or less than min wage or breaching health and safety laws

Question 6

[🌏] Patterns of Criminal organisations

Answer 6

• WINLOW study of Bouncers in Sunderland, de-industrialisation and globalisation has caused crime on a local level
• HOBBS & DUNNINGHAM- Glocal system: crime is locally based but with global connections
  —> Eg: international links w/ drug trade but individuals still need local contacts to sell drug to
• shift from hierarchal gang structures to loose networks of flexible, opportunistic entrepreneurial criminals
• HOWEVER: not clear if structure us new and does not mean there is a disappearance of the old structure

Question 7

[🌏] What is the McMafia

Answer 7

• GLENNY
• refers to organisation that emerged from Russia and Eastern Europe after fall of Comunism
• Under communism prices for everything we’re regulated, after the gob deregulated most markets except for natural resources therefore they remained at old soviet prices
• Former communist officials and KGB members would pay for commodities such as diamond, oil and metal at prices next to nothing and sell them abroad for astronomical profits, creating a new Russian capitalist class of billionaires called Oligarch
• These Oligarchs would hire the Mafia a violent organisation to protect their wealth

Question 8

[🌏] what is global risk consciousness ?

Answer 8

• BECK
• We now live in a risk society and global crime has created new insecurities. We are at risk of crimes that originated miles away
• The result of risk consciousness is:
  1. Tightening immigration and border control
  2. Countries w/ land borders have introduced fences, CCTV and thermal imaging devices to prevent illegal crossing
  3. Moral panics about immigrants and asylum seekers and an increase in hate crimes ( Eg: Racist attacks)
• Intensification of social control: Uk has tightened its border control regulations and fines airlines who bring undocumented passengers

Question 9

[🌏] (1) what is globalisation and how does it link to crime ?

Answer 9

• HELD
• increasing inter connectedness of societies
  1. Spread of communication technologies (ICT)
  2. Influence of the global mass media
  3. Cheap air travel
  4. Deregulation of financial and other markets
• HELD: an increasing interconnectedness of crime across national borders
• CASTELLS: a global economy worth over £1 trillion per annum