Globalisation and Crime Flashcards
What is a global crime?
One which transcends national boundaries
How does Held define globalisation?
The widening, deepening and speeding up of the worldwide interconnectedness in all aspects of life, from the culture to the criminal, the financial to the spiritual
Who defined globalisation?
Held
Who investigated global crime networks?
Glenny
what % of the world’s GDP is organised crime?
15%
The fall of what led to a growth in global organised crime?
Communism / the USSR
Give an example of a transit zone
Balkans
Give an example of zones of distribution and production
Mexico - 6,00 killed due to cocaine (2010)
DRC - from 1998-2009 - 5 million deaths were connected to coltan
Where did 6,000 die due to cocaine? (2010)
Mexico
Where were 5 million deaths connected to the production and distribution of coltan?
DRC
In the DRC, 5 million died due to what?
Coltan
Give an example of a zone of consumption?
England, US, EU, Japan
Who talks about zones of production, distribution, consumption and transit zones?
Glenny
According to Castells, the global criminal economy is worth what?
Over £1 trillion
Who says that the global criminal economy is over £1 trillion?
Castells
Outline 6new types of crime?
Drugs trade, human trafficking, financial crimes, cyber crime, transnational organised crime, terrorism
What was the estimated number of people in Britain in 2014 who were victims of slavery?
13,000
How much does the drugs trade make per year in street prices?
$300-400 billion
Give an example of smuggling of illegal immigrants
Chinese triads make $2.5 million annually
How much do the Chinese Triads make annually?
$2.5 million
Why is growing drugs very attractive to those in third world countries?
There is a large demand for drugs in the West which makes it an appealing trade to large populations of poor people
Give an example of a third world country which is involved in the drugs trade?
Colombia
What % of the population in Colombia is dependent on cocaine production?
20%
What is global risk consensus?
Where risk is seen as global and is no longer tied to a particular place
What are the consequences of a global criminal economy and global risk consensus?
The media creates ‘moral panics’
Results in the intensification of social control at a national level
Attempts at international cooperation in various wars on terror, drugs and crimes
Give an example of globalisation leading to moral panics?
Immigration
Give an example of globalisation leading to the intensification of social control at a national level?
UK tougher border controls, new regulations e.g fining airlines if they bring undocumented passengers into the country. The UK no longer has a legal limit to how long a person can be held in immigration detention
Who says that globalisation leads to capitalism and greater inequality?
Taylor
Why does Taylor believe that globalisation leads to greater inequality?
Globalisation has led to changes in the patterns and extent of crime. By giving free rein to market forces, globalisation has created greater inequality and rising crime. It has allowed transnational corporations to switch manufacturing to low wage countries producing poverty and unemployment.
The lack of legitimate job opportunities creates insecurity and widening inequality encouraging illegitimate ways of earning a living.
Globalisation also creates criminal opportunities for elite groups. The deregulation of financial markets has created opportunities for insider trading and tax avoidance through the movement of money across the globe
This has led to new employment patterns with increased use of subcontracting to recruit ‘flexible’ workers
Examples: deindustrialisation in LA has led to the growth of drug gang members to 10,000 // establishment of EU has offered opportunities for fraudulent claims for subsidies estimated at $7 billion a year
Give an example of the lack of legitimate opportunities creating insecurity and widening inequality encouraging illegitimate ways of earning a living
deindustrialisation in LA has led to the growth of drug gang members to 10,000
What is a strength of Taylor’s theory of globalisation leading to capitalism and greater inequality?
His theory is useful in lining global trends in capitalist economy to changing patterns of crime
What is a weakness of Taylor’s theory of globalisation leading to capitalism and greater inequality?
It doesn’t explain how it makes people act in a criminal way - not all poor people turn to crime
What do Rothe and Freidrich examine?
They examine the roles of international financial organisations such as the IMF and world bank in what they call crimes of globalisation
Who sees the actions of the IMF and World Bank as acting as a global state? What does this means?
Cain - they don’t break laws but cause social harm
Which 5 countries hold 1/3 of the voting rights in the IMF and World Bank?
USA, Japan, Germany, Britain and France
How do USA, Japan, Germany, Britain and France cause social harm?
They impose pro-capitalist neoliberal economic structural adjustment programmes on poor countries in exchange for loans. These programmes often require governments to cut spending on health and education and to privatise publicly owned services e.g the water supply. Whilst allowing Western corporations to expand in these countries, it also creates conditions for crime
What example do Rothe et all give for the IMF and World Bank causing social harm?
The programme imposed on Rwanda in the 1980s created mass unemployment and the economic basis for the 1994 genocide
What did Hobbs and Dunningham examine?
How organised crime has expanded on the back of globalisation. It involves individuals with contacts acting as a ‘hub’ around a loose knit network of individuals, often linking legitimate and illegitimate activities. Global crime operates through a glocal system - there’s a global distribution network built from local connections.
There has been a shift from old rigidly hierarchical gang structure to loose networks of flexible opportunistic entrepreneurial criminals
Who argues that global crime now operates through a glocal system?
Hobbs and Dunningham
What does it mean for crime to operate through a glocal system?
A global distribution network built from local connections
What is the problem with Hobbs and Dunningham’s theory of the patterns of criminal organisation?
It is not clear that these patterns are ‘new’ nor that older structures have disappeared - perhaps they have always co-existed? Perhaps these conclusions cannot be applied to criminal activities elsewhere
What explanation does Glenny provide for the organisations that emerged in Eastern Europe following the fall of communism?
- Under communism, the Soviet state regulated prices of everything. In 1989, the fall of communism led to deregulation in most sectors of the economy except natural resources such as oil which remained on old Soviet prices. Therefore anyone with funds (e.g former KGB agents) could buy natural resources, oil, diamonds, gas very cheaply and sell abroad for huge profits (oligarchs)
- To protect this new money, wealthy oligarchs turned to the ‘mafias’ which were often alliances between former KGB men and ex-convicts. They were not like the old Italian mafia as they were purely economically/self-interested groups
- With the help of violent groups, oligarch billionaires were able to protect their wealth and move it out of the country. The new mafia groups were vital for this new Russian capitalist class
- Russian mafias were able to build links with criminal organisations in other parts of the world
When was the fall of communism?
1989
What is the name for those who buy natural resources such as oil, diamonds, gas, very cheaply and sell abroad for huge profits?
Oligarchs
Give an example of a Russian/Soviet mafia group which is a purely economic/self-interested group?
Chechen mafia came from Chechnya but began to ‘franchise’ its operations to non-Chechen groups
What % of human trafficking victims are female?
70%
What is the most common form of human trafficking for men?
forced labour
What is the most common form of human trafficking for women?
sexual slavery and marriage
How much did cocaine production increase between 2020-2021?
a third
Give an example of the drugs trade leading to other crimes?
in 2023 - an 11 year old was killed in a gang shooting linked to cocaine trade in Antwerp
2 strengths of studying globalisation and crime?
- Valuable - focuses on the newest, most dramatic and serious of crimes
- Has led to more connectedness between law enforcement agencies around the world
3 weaknesses of studying globalisation and crime
Difficult to investigate due to the secretive and global nature
Dependency on secondary sources and reliable statistics are not available. Primary research can be dangerous
Easily exaggerated in terms of impact
How many organs per year are trafficked from condemned or executed criminals?
2000
How many people are trafficked to Western Europe annually?
over half a million
Why have financial crimes emerged due to globalisation?
Financial crimes such as money laundering have become much easier with the relaxing of international banking laws meaning that people are able to move money between offshore accounts much easier or to have countries where national laws do not allow law enforcement access to accounts
How has globalisation led to cyber crimes?
They have developed out of the growth in technology and take a number of forms including cyber fraud, cyber theft, cyber terrorism and cyber violence. It is a transnational crime as the hacker can be in one country whilst hacking a system in another country
How are cyber crimes transnational crimes?
It is a transnational crime as the hacker can be in one country whilst hacking a system in another country
How has globalisation led to terrorism?
Technological and communication advancements have made international terrorism easier as groups as able to communicate with members all over the world and cultivate in-state members through online radicalisation
Who talks about individualisation as an impact of globalisation on crime?
Bauman
What does Bauman say about individualisation as an impact of globalisation on crime?
Growing individualism and consumer culture means that individuals are left to weigh the costs and benefit of their decisions and choose the best course to bring them the highest rewards. This can lead to people taking part in criminal activity in order to achieve the consumer lifestyle which is otherwise unobtainable
How has globalisation led to more opportunities for crime?
- Growing globalisation, technological advancements and communications has led to newer types of crime as well as new ways in which to carry out crime.
- Places, like the dark web, which allow criminals to communicate and conduct crimes whilst undetected
- Crimes can be committed in one nation whilst the criminal is in a different country
Who says that globalisation has led to disorganised capitalism?
Lash and Urry, Taylor
According to Lash and Urry, how has globalisation led to disorganised capitalism?
Increased deregulation and fewer state controls over business and finance. Corporations now act transnationally moving money, manufacturing, waste disposal and staff around the world to increase profits and lower regulation
According to Taylor, how has globalisation led to disorganised capitalism?
It has led to greater job insecurity, less social cohesion and fewer job opportunities in the West which can increase crime rates
Who talks about risk society being an impact of globalisation on crime?
Beck
How has globalisation led to a risk society?
Growing instability in the globalised world has led to people being more risk conscious. The causes of risks are often global in nature which can make it hard to pinpoint who is responsible and the media can play on this fear. These fears can lead to hate crimes and racially motivated crimes
How is problems with policing an impact of globalisation?
Due to crimes becoming transnational, cooperation between many different law enforcement agencies is now a requirement to bring criminals to justice. What may be illegal in one country might not be in another, and if the criminal is in one country and the victim is in another it can be difficult to determine jurisdiction
What are 6 impacts that globalisation has had on crime?
Individualism, opportunities, disorganised capitalism, risk society, problems with policing, more inequality
