Globalisation and Green crime Flashcards
How did Held and McGrew (2007) define globalisation?
‘the widening, deepening and speeding up of worldwide interconnectedness’
Globalisation involves the process of deterritorialisation - what is this?
an increasing number of social , political and economic activities are no longer attached to specific countries.
What crimes has globalisation created/increased?
international illegal drug trade:
$322 billion worth a year
human trafficking:
18,000 victims in 2014
70% of victims are women and girls
money laundering:
making illegally obtained money look like it came from legal sources.
cybercrime:
internet based fraud
e.g NHS was targeted
outline and explain reasons transnational organised crime has increased.
cultural globalisation:
culture of consumerism , media saturated
disorganised capitalism:
Lash and Urry (1987)- globalisation has been accompanied by less regulation and fewer state controls over business/finance.
global risk society:
Beck (1992)- people are more risk conscious and fearful , foe example having their identity stolen
more opportunities:
new means of carrying out crime , for example the ‘dark web’
supply and demand:
global media has pushed people to emigrate for a ‘better life’
more inequality:
Taylor (1997) - winners are rich investors , losers are the workers.
What did Castells argue?
Globalisation has created transnational networks of organised crime
What were the two main forms of global criminal networks identified by Farr (2005)?
established mafias - preexisting, organised around family and ethnicity. Have adapted activities to take advantage of new opportunities brought about by globalisation.
new organised crime groups- emerged since globalisation after collapse of communist regimes such as in Russia and Eastern Europe.
Glenny (2009)
used the term ‘McMafia’ to describe the way transnational organised crime mirrors legal transnational corporation’s (like McDonalds) who seek to provide and sell the same products across the world
What is glocalism?
Hobbs and Dunninghan (1998)- glocalism: the idea that global criminal networks work within local contexts as interdependent local units. For example, international drugs trade requires local networks to connect to the global networks.
why may the explanation for crime, globalisation, be critiqued?
-secretive and complex forms of crime so difficult to study accurately
-easy to exaggerate the significance of globalisation - some parts of the world more affected than others.
What did Wolf (2011) say?
The definition that was first used to describe green crime - actions that break laws protecting the environment- is problematic as not all actions doing so are illegal and laws differ between countries.
What did South (2014) say in regards to green crime?
There are two types of green crime:
primary-direct destruction of earth’s resources- airpollution/deforestation
secondary-deliberate breaches of laws that prevent green crime - outsourcing disposal/dumping chemicals
what percentage of the Earth’s species will be extinct in 10 years?
50%
How was Bhopal , India (1984) an example of green crime?
health and safety laws were broken , meaning mass leak of toxic gas - killed approx 25,000 people with thousands more affected.
What did Beck (1992) argue globalisation had caused.
Beck argued globalisation has caused a ‘risk society’ whereby science and technology has created more opportunities for people to commit crimes and are more willing to do so, despite possible disastrous consequences for the global environment.
What did White (2008) argue?
TNCs hold an anthropocentric view of the world. (humans are the most important thing)
name the different categories of those who commit green crimes and what their impact is.
individuals- cumulative impact
private businesses- most devastating, example of cooperate crime
states/governments-military waste e.g nuclear waste
organised crime- low risk , high profit
What did Santana (2002) say?
the military is the largest institutional polluter
What did Wolf argue?
there are inequalities in how laws are made, applied and enforced.
What did Potter (2010) argue?
social divisions are reinforced by environmental harms, with the least powerful (poor/minority ethnic) most likely to be victims of green crime
What did Snider (1991) argue?
Spoke from a marxist perspective , arguing states are often reluctant to pass laws against environmental harm , only doing so when pressured.
What did Sutherland (1983) argue?
pointed out environmental crimes often don’t carry the same stigma as other crimes
What did Pearce (1976) argue?
green crimes are often as example of ‘the crimes of the powerful’
(seek to minimise cost and maximise profit)
What are some problems with researching green crime?
different laws between countries (official stats may differ , hard to make comparisons)
Different definitions (dispute over what constitutes a green crime)
difficulty in measurement (crimes often concealed)
case studies (Wolf argues they are limited in explaining and making generalisations about the causes of green crime)
evaluate green crime.
+addresses the growing threat of environmental harm
-doesn’t explain why not all corporations turn to crime
-fails to explain why non-capitalist countries still commit green crime.
-White argues there is lack of clarity over what green crime actually is and said ‘much depends upon who is defining the harm’
