Globalisation, Green Crime, Human Rights and State Crime Flashcards
(70 cards)
1
Q
name some causes of globalisation
A
- the spread of new information + communication technologies (ICT)
- the influence of global mass media
- cheap air travel
- the deregulation of financial + other markets + their opening up to competition
- easier movement of businesses to other countries where profits will be greater
2
Q
name some forms of the global criminal economy
A
- arms trafficking: to illegal regimes, terrorists, guerrilla groups
- smuggling of illegal immigrants: e.g. the Chinese Triads make about $2.5 billion annually
- sex tourism: where Westerners travel to poorer countries for sex, sometimes involving minors
- green crimes: that damage the environment, e.g. illegal dumping of toxic waste in poorer countries
- the drug trade: worth an estimated $300-$400 billion annually
2
Q
outline global risk consciousness
A
- globalisation creates new insecurities + the mentality of ‘risk consciousness’ in which risk is seen as global - not confined to single places
- the increased movement of people, e.g. migrants seeking work/ asylum seekers fleeing persecution, has contributed to fear among the West about the risks of crime + and the need to protect boarders
- most knowledge about risks comes from the media - which exaggerates the dangers we face + creates irrational fears - e.g. moral panics about the ‘flooding in’ of immigrants fueled by politicians can lead to hate crimes against minorities in many Eur countries
2
Q
outline the global criminal economy
A
- Held: there has been a globalisation of crime - an increasingly interconnected/ international network of crime - e.g. transnational organised crime
- Castells: there is now a global economy worth over £1 trillion annually
- has both a demand and supply side - e.g. demand from the rich West + supply from LICs who source the drugs + sex workers
2
Q
outline crime in developing counties
A
- poor + drug-producing countries like Colombia, Peru, Afghanistan have large populations of impoverished peasants
- for these groups, drug cultivation is an attractive option that requires little investment in tech + derives high prices compared to traditional crops
- in Colombia, about 20% depend on cocaine production for their livelihood - cocaine outsells all other Colombian exports combined
2
Q
what is a result of the global risk consciousness
A
- a result of globalised risk is intensification of social control at the national level
- the UK has toughened its boarder control regulations - e.g. fining airlines if they bring in undocumented passengers
- also, the UK now has no legal limit on how long a person can be held in immigration detention
- other European states have implemented fences, CCTV + thermal imaging devices to prevent illegal crossings
- another result of globalised risk is increasing attempts to control the various ‘wars’ on terror, drugs + crime - esp since 9/11
2
Q
outline Taylor’s view of globalisation, capitalism and crime
A
- Taylor: globalisation has led to changes in the extent + pattern of crime
- G has created crime at both ends of the spectrum - it allows transnational corporations to manufacture in LICs, producing job insecurity + unemployment + poverty
- deregulation: Gov has little control over their economy - e.g. to create jobs/ raise tax, and state spending on welfare has decreased
- marketisation: encourages people to see themselves as individual consumers, calculating the cost + benefit of every action - undermines social cohesion
- materialist culture promoted by the global media portrays success in terms of a lifestyle of consumption
2
Q
outline the usefulness of Taylors theory for globalisation, capitalism and crime
A
- Taylor’s theory usefully links global trends in the capitalist economy to changes in the patterns of crime
- however, it doesn’t adequately explain how the changes make people behave in criminal ways
- e.g. not all poor people turn to crime
2
Q
what is the effect of globalisation + capitalism on crime
A
- the factors of globalisation, capitalism + crime create insecurity + widen inequalities that encourage people - esp the poor - to turn to crime
- the lack of legitimate job opportunities drives the unemployed to seek illegitimate ones - e.g. in the drug trade
- also leads to new opportunities for crime from employers - e.g. subcontracting to recruit ‘flexible’ workers - who work illegally for less than minimum wage + in breach of health + safety laws
- G also creates criminal opportunities on a grand scale for elite groups/ white collar crimes - e.g. the deregulation of financial markets creates opportunities for movement of funds around the globe to avoid taxation
2
Q
outline crimes of globalisation
A
- Rothe + Friedrichs: examine the role of international financial organisations which dominate the major capitalist states + commit ‘crimes of globalisation’
- e.g. the World Bank is dominated by 5 of its 188 member countries who hold over 1/3 of the voting rights - enables concentrated power in favour of capitalism
- these bodies impose pro-capitalist ‘structural adjustment programmes’ on LICs in return for loans
- whilst this allows Western corporations to expand globally, it can enable crime - e.g. a program imposed on Rwanda in the 80s caused mass unemployment + created the economic basis for for the 1994 genocide
2
Q
outline patterns of criminal organisation
A
- globalisation + de-industrialization have created new criminal opportunities + patterns at a local level
- Hobbs + Dunningham: crime is organised through its link to economic changes brought by G
- it increasingly involves individuals with contacts acting as a ‘hub’ from which networks form, composed of other individuals seeking opportunities
- H + D argues that this contrasts with the large scale, hierarchal ‘mafia’ style criminal organisations of the past - e.g. East London gangs
2
Q
what is a criticism of the concept of glocal organisations
A
- its not clear that such glocal patterns are new, nor that the older structures have disappeared - it may be that the 2 have always co-existed
- also, their conclusions may not be generalizable to other criminal activity elsewhere
2
Q
outline McMafia
A
- Glenny: ‘McMafia’ shows the relationship between criminal organisations + globalisation;
- many organisations emerged in Russia + East Euro after the fall of Communism (a major factor in globalisation)
- the instability of the economy allowed people to cheaply buy oil + gas to sell them abroad for very high profit - creating a new capitalist class (oligarchs)
- the collapse of Comm brought a period of increasing disorder; to protect their wealth, the Russian capitalists turned to the forming mafias + formed alliances
- these mafias were traditional, strictly hierarchal and based on ethnic or familial ties + were essential to the entry of the new Russian capitalist class in the world economy
2
Q
outline green crime
A
- green crime = green/ environmental crime is crime against the environment
- much green crime can be linked to globalisation, with the increasing interconnectedness of societies
- the planet is a single econ-system, so threats to the eco-system are increasingly global rather than merely local in nature
2
Q
outline the global risk society in relation to the environment
A
- most of the threats to human well being + the eco-system are now man made rather than natural - e.g. famine, drought of the past
- Beck: in todays late modern society, we can now provide adequate resources for all (at least in developed countries)
- but, the massive increase in productivity + technology creates new ‘manufactured risks’ - of which we have never faced before - e.g. greenhouse gas emissions from industry
- like climate change, many of these risks are global, which can produce crime + disorder
2
Q
outline the debate of green vs traditional criminology
A
- what if the pollution that causes global warming or acid rain is perfectly legal + no crime had been committed? - would it be a matter for criminologists?
- there are 2 opposed answers to this debate: traditional criminology and green criminology
2
Q
outline the traditional criminology view of the environmental ‘crime’ debate
A
- traditional criminology hasn’t been concerned with unofficial environmental ‘crimes’ since its subject matter is defined by the criminal law, and no laws have been broken
- Situ + Emmons: define environmental crime as: ‘an unauthorised act or omission that violates the law’ - trad crim investigates the patterns and causes of law breaking
- this approach clearly defines the subject matter, but is criticised for accepting official definitions of environmental problems + crimes, which are often shaped by powerful groups to serve their own interests
2
Q
outline the green criminology view of the environmental ‘crime’ debate
A
- green criminology takes a more radical approach - starts from the notion of harm rather than criminal law as a definition of environmental crime
- White: the subject of criminology is any action that harms the physical environment and/ or the human + non-human animals within it (even if no law has been broken)
- most of the worst environmental harms are legal, so the subject matter of GC is wider than that of TC - which is why GC is a form of transgressive criminology - it oversteps the boundaries of TC to include new issues
- also, diff countries have diff laws to class environmental actions as crimes - and so legal definitions cant provide a consistent standard of harm
2
Q
outline the 2 views of harm
A
- in general, nation-states + transnational corporations adopt what White calls an anthropocentric/ human-centred view of environmental harm
- this assumes humans have a right to dominate nature for their own interests + puts economic growth before the environment
- White: contrasts this with an ecocentric view that sees humans + their environment as interdependent, so that environmental harm also hurts humans
- this view sees both humans + the environment as liable to exploitation - esp by global capitalism
- Green Criminology adopts the ecocentric view as the basis for judging environmental harm
2
Q
what 2 types are the green criminology’s classification of green crime
A
- green criminologists, such as South, classifies green crime in 2 types;
1) primary
2) secondary
2
Q
outline primary green crimes
A
- primary green crimes are ‘crimes that directly result from the destruction + degradation of the earth’s resources’
- South identifies 4 main types of primary crime: air pollution, deforestation, species decline + animal abuse, and water pollution
2
Q
(types of primary green crime) outline crimes of air pollution
A
air pollution:
- burning fossil fuels from industry + transport adds 6 billion tons of Carbon to the atmosphere every year
- carbon emissions are growing at about 2% every year - contributing to global warming
- the potential criminals are: governments, businesses, consumers
- Walters: 2x as many people now die from air pollution-induced breathing problems than 20 years ago
2
Q
(types of primary green crime) outline crimes of deforestation
A
deforestation:
- between 1960-90, 1/5 of the worlds tropical rainforest was destroyed - e.g. through illegal logging
- in the Andes, the ‘war on drugs’ has led to pesticide spraying to kill coca + marijuana plants - but this has resulted in new green crime - e.g. destroying food crops, contaminating drinking water + causing illness
- the criminals include: the state + those who profit from forest destruction, such as logging companies
2
Q
(types of primary green crime) outline crimes of species decline and animal abuse
A
species decline + animal abuse:
- 50 species a day are becoming extinct, and 46% of mammal are at risk
- 70-95% of earths species live in the rainforests, which are under severe threat
- there is increased trafficking in animals + animal parts
- in addition, old crimes such as dog-fights + badger-baiting are on the increase
2
(types of primary green crime) outline crimes of water pollution
water pollution:
- half a billion people currently lack access to clean drinking water + 25 million die annually from drinking contaminated water
- marine pollution threatens 58% of the world's ocean reefs + 34% of fish
- the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: caused massive harm to marine life + coasts
- criminals include: businesses that dump toxic waste + governments that discharge untreated sewage into rivers and seas
2
_ species a day are becoming extinct, and _% of mammal are at risk
- 50 species a day are becoming extinct, and 46% of mammal are at risk
2
outline secondary green crimes
- secondary green crime is crime that grows out of the flouting (disregarding) of rules aimed at preventing or regulating environmental disasters
- e.g. govts often break their own regulations + cause environmental harm
- South suggests 2 types of secondary crimes: state violence against oppositional groups, hazardous waste and organised crime
2
(types of secondary green crime) outline state violence against oppositional groups
- states condemn terrorism, but they have been prepared to resort to similar illegal methods themselves
- e.g. in 1985, the French secret service blew up a Greenpeace ship in Auckland harbour, New Zealand, killing one crew member
- the vessel was there in an attempt to prevent a green crime, French nuclear weapon testing
- Day: when a government has committed itself to nuclear weapons/ nuclear power, all those who oppose this policy are treated in some degree as enemies of the state
2
(types of secondary green crime) outline hazardous waste and organised crime
- due to the high costs of safe + legal disposal, businesses may seek to dispose of such waste illegally
- Walters: the ocean floor has been a radioactive rubbish dump for decades
- e.g. 28,500 barrels of radioactive waste lie on the seabed off the Channel Islands, reportedly dumped by the UK authorities in the 1950s
- some Western businesses ship their waste to be processed in LICs where costs are lower + safety standards are often non-existent
- illegal waste disposal represents the problems of law enforcement in a globalised world
2
outline environmental discrimination
- environmental discrimination is a term used by South to describe the fact that poorer groups are worse affected by pollution
- e.g. Black communities in the USA find their housing is situated next to garbage dumps or polluting industries
2
outline AO3 evaluations of green criminology
- by focusing on the wider concept of harm rather than simply on the legally defined crimes, its hard to define the boundaries of its field of study clearly
- defining these boundaries involves making moral + political statements about which actions are 'wrong' - critics argue this value based + cant be established objectively
2
outline 2 examples of green crime
- e.g. atmospheric pollution from industry in 1 country can turn into acid rain that falls in another
- an accident in the nuclear industry - e.g. in Chernobyl in Ukraine in 1986 can spread radioactive material over thousands of miles - having global effects
2
outline an example of a global risk society in relation to the environment
- e.g. Russia in 2010: global warming triggered the hottest heatwave in a century - causing wildfires that destroyed grain belts, resulting in Russia banning grain exports + inc world price of grain
- this had a knock on effect in Mozambique, which is heavily dependent on food imports - was a 30% price rise of bread - sparked riots + looting of food stores leaving more than 12 dead
2
outline 'glocal' organisations
- glocal organisations = new forms of crime organisations that have international links - esp within the drug trade, but is still rooted in its local context
- e.g. inds still need local contacts + networks to find opportunities + to sell drugs
- Hobbs + Dunningham: crime works as a 'glocal' system - crime will vary according to its local conditions, even if it is influenced by global factors, e.g. availability of drugs abroad
- H + D argue changes associated with G have led to changes in the pattern of crime - e.g. the shift from the old hierarchal gang structure to loose networks of flexible, opportunistic, entrepreneurial criminals
2
what are the 2 reasons for why state crime is the most serious form of crime
1) the scale of state crime
2) the state is the source of law
2
outline the scale of state crime as a reason for its seriousness
- the state's enormous power gives it the potential to inflict harm on a huge scale
- Green + Ward: found that 262 million people have been murdered by the gov during the 20th century
2
outline the state as the source of law as a reason for state crimes seriousness
- it is the states role to define what is criminal, uphold the law and prosecute offenders
- this power means it can conceal its crimes, evade punishment + avoid defining its actions as criminal in the first place
- state crimes undermine the justice system + public faith in it
- this makes prosecution from external bodies very difficult - e.g. from the United Nations
2
what are McLaughlin's 4 categories of state crime
1) political crimes - e.g. corruption, censorship
2) crimes by security + police forces - e.g. genocide, torture
3) economic crimes - e.g. official violations of health and safety laws
4) social and cultural crimes - e.g. institutional racism
2
outline state-corporate crimes + Kramer and Michalowski's view
- state crimes are often committed in conjunction to corporate crimes
- Kramer + Michalowski: distinguish between state initiated and state facilitated crimes
2
(Kramer and Michalowski) define + outline an example of a state initiated crime
- state initiated crime = when states initiate, direct or approve corporate crimes
the Challenger space shuttle disaster:
- in 1986, the US state agency NASA took risky, cost cutting and negligent decisions about their space shuttle, Challenger, which resulted in an explosion that killed 7 astronauts 73 seconds after the blast off
2
(Kramer and Michalowski) define + outline an example of a state facilitated crime
- state facilitated crime = when states fail to control + regulate corporate behaviour - making crime easier
Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster:
- in 2013 on the Gulf of Mexico, the rig exploded + sank, killing 11 workers and causing the largest accidental oil spill in history, with major health + environmental + economici impacts
- the official enquiry found that while the disaster resulted from decisions made by companies - e.g. BP, govt regulators had failed to oversee the industry adequately
2
what are the 2 kinds of war-related crimes
1) illegal wars
2) crimes committed during war or its aftermath
2
outline illegal wars as a type of war related crime
illegal wars:
- under international law, war can only be declared by the UN Security Council - or as self-defence
- from this basis, many see the US-led wars in Afghanistan + Iraq as illegal
- Kramer + Michalowski: to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq as self defence, the USA and UK made the false claim that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction
2
outline crimes committed during war/ its aftermath as a type of war related crime
- Kramer + Michalowski identify other crimes committed during the Iraq War - e.g. torture of prisoners
- a US military inquiry into the Abu Ghraib prison found several cases of 'sadistic, blatant criminal abuses' of prisoners
- 9 soldiers were convicted - the highest ranking being a staff sergeant, commanding officers were prosecuted, or personnel from private companies
2
outline defining state crime + name the 5 types
- defining crime of any kind isn't straight forward - esp state crime
5 types:
1) domestic law
2) social harm + zemiology
3) labelling + societal reaction
4) international law
5) human rights
2
outline domestic law as a definition of state crime
domestic law:
- Chambliss: defines state crime as 'acts defined by law as criminal and committed by state officials in pursuit of their jobs as representatives of the state'
- but; using a states own domestic law to define state crime ignores how states can change the law to avoid criminalising their actions or allowing them to carry out harmful actions
- e.g. the German Nazis passed a law legalising compulsory sterilisation of the disabled
2
outline social harms and zemiology as a definition of state crime
- zemiology/ social harm recognises that much of the harm done by states isn't against the law
- Michalowski: defines state crime as including not just illegal acts, but also legal acts whose consequences are similar to those of illegal acts' in the harm caused
- Hillyard: we should take a wider view of state wrongdoing through zemiology (the study of harms - illegal or legal)
- this definition prevents states ruling themselves 'out of court' by making laws allowing their misbehaviour + creates a single standard that is applicable to different states
2
outline labelling and societal reaction as a definition of state crime
- labelling theory: an act only constitutes as a crime based on whether the social audience (witnessing directly or indirectly - e.g. through media) for that act defines it as a crime
- this definition recognizes that state crime is socially constructed - what people consider state crime varies culturally
- this prevents the sociologist imposing their own definition of state crime when this may not be how the participants (victims, perpetrators, audiences) define the situation
2
outline human rights as a definition of state crime
- human rights can be used to define state crime, they include; natural rights (that people have - e.g. free speech, right to life) + civil rights (e.g. right to vote, to privacy)
- Schwendingers: state crime should be defined as the violation of people's basic human rights by the state/ its agents - e.g. states that are imperialist, racist etc are committing crimes as they are denying people their basic rights
- this definition of crime is inevitably political - if we just accept the states laws then we become subservient to the states interests
- this is a strong definition as most states care about their human rights image - makes them susceptible to 'shaming'
2
outline international law as a definition of state crime
- some sociologists base their definition of state crime in international law (law created through treaties + agreements between states)
- e.g. Rothe + Mullins define SC as any action by/ on the behalf of a state that violates international law/ a states domestic law
- this doesn't depend on the sociologists own personal definitions of harm/ who the relevant social audience is - it uses globally agreed definitions
- the international law definition intentionally is designed to deal with state crime, unlike most domestic law
2
what is an AO3 evaluation of social harms and zemiology as a definition of state crime
- a definition of 'harm' is very vague - what level of harm must occur before an act is defined as a crime
- who decides what counts as crime? what may seriously emotionally harm one person may not to another
2
outline AO3 evaluations of labelling and societal reaction as a definition of state crime
- this definition is even vaguer than social harms definition - e.g. Kauzlarichs study of anti-Iraq war protesters found that while they saw the war as harmful, they were unwilling to label it as criminal
- its also unclear about who is supposed to be the relevant audience that decides whether a state crime has been committed / or what to do if audiences reach different verdicts
- it also ignores how the audiences' definitions may be manipulated by ruling class ideology - e.g. through the media
2
outline AO3 evaluations of human rights as a definition of state crime
- Cohen: criticizes the Schwendingers' view - while gross violations of human rights - like torture - are clearly crimes, other acts, like economic exploitations, aren't self-evidently criminal - even if morally unacceptable
- there are also disagreements about what counts as a human right - while most include life + liberty, some wouldn't include freedom from hunger
- if the state knowingly permits the export of food from a famine area - e.g. like the British gov in the Irish Famine of the 1840s, then this is a denial of human rights + a state crime
3
outline AO3 evaluations of international law as a definition of state crime
- like the laws made by individual states, international law is a social construction involving the use of power
- Strand + Tuman: found that Japan has sought to overturn the international ban on whaling by concentrating its foreign aid on impoverished areas - to bribe them to vote against the ban
- also, international law focuses largely on war crimes + crimes against humanity, rather than other state crimes such as corruption
3
outline the authoritarian personality as an explanation of state crime
- Adorno: identifies an 'authoritarian personality' that includes a willingness to obey orders of superiors W/O question
- during WW2, many Germans had authoritarian personalities due to the disciplined socialization patterns that were common of this time
- its often thought that people who carry out torture + genocides must be psychopaths - but research shows how there is little difference between them and 'normal' people
- Arendt's study of the Nazi war criminal Eichmann showed him to be relatively normal + not particularly anti-Semitic
3
outline crimes of obedience as an explanation of state crime
- crime is usually defined as deviance from social norms, however state crimes are crimes of conformity, as they require obedience to higher authority (the state/ its representatives)
- research shows how many people are willing to obey authority even if it means harming others - this is due to socialization + acceptance of hierarchy
- Green + Ward: the only solution to this obedience is re-socialisation
3
outline explaining state crime + name the 3 explanations
- while genocides may be ordered + organized by leaders of states, this cant happen without the cooperation of ordinary soldiers, police + civilians
- e.g. Nazi Germany - genocide needed the involvement of a large proportion of the population
- why + how do large numbers of normally law-abiding citizens become involved in atrocities?
- the 3 explanations: the authoritarian personality, crimes of obedience, modernity
3
outline modernity as an explanation of state crime
- Bauman: that key features of modern society made the Holocaust possible;
- division of labour: each person was responsible for a step - no one felt personally responsible for the atrocity
- bureaucratisation: this normalised the killings by making it a repetitive, rule-governed and routine 'job' + further dehumanised victims by viewing them as numbers
- science + technology: e.g. railways transporting victims to death camps + industrially produced gas used to kill them
- the Holocaust was a modern, industrialised mass production 'factory' system, where the product was mass murder
- Bauman argues the H was the result of a breakdown of modern, rational-bureaucratic civilisation
3
what are Hamilton's 3 features that produce crimes of obedience (explaining state crime)
- Hamilton: there are 3 features that produce crimes of obedience
1) authorization: acts being ordered/ approved by authorities - moral principles are replaced by duty to obey
2) routinization: once crime has been committed, there's a strong pressure to turn the act into a routine that individuals can perform in a detached manner
3) dehumanization: when the enemy is portrayed as sub-human, normal principles of morality don't apply
3
outline AO3 evaluations of modernity as an explanation of state crime
- not all genocides occur through a highly organised division of labour that allows participants to distance themselves from the killing
- ideological factors are also important - Nazi ideology + propaganda stressed a single Aryan German racial identity that excluded minorities like Jews who were viewed as sub-human - excused peoples moral objection to the genocide
3
(culture of denial) outline Cohen's application of Sykes and Matza's 5 neutralisation techniques
- Sykes + Matza's 5 neutralisation techniques are used to justify delinquency - but Cohen applies them to state's justification of human rights violations;
1) denial of victim: 'they exaggerate, they are terrorists'
2) denial of injury: 'we are the real victims, not them'
3) denial of responsibility: 'i was only obeying orders, doing my duty' - often used by policemen, death camp guards etc
4) condemning the condemners: 'they are condemning us only because of their antisemitism (from Israelis), their hostility to Islam (from Arabs), their racism'
5) appeal of a higher loyalty: justifications that claim to serve a higher cause, whether the nation - e.g. Zionism, Islam
- these techniques don't deny that the event has occurred, but impose a different construction of the event
3
outline Cohen's view on the culture of denial
- Cohen: states now have to make a greater effort to conceal/ justify their human rights crimes, or to re-label them
- while dictators deny any human rights abuses, democratic states try to legitimate their actions in a complex way - their justifications follow a 3 step stage 'spiral of state denial'
4
_: the global criminal economy is worth _ per annum
- Castells: the global criminal economy is worth £1 trillion per annum
5
define the 2 types of views of green crime
- anthropocentric: human centred - humans have the right to dominate nature for their own ends - econ growth is more important than the environment regardless of harm
- eco-centric: humans + the environment are interdependent - environmental harm hurts humans, thus we should be concerned about it
5
outline the AO2 example of the Bhopal disaster
- in 1980s Bhopal, India, a US-owned pesticide plant leaked toxic gas which led to 22,000 immediate + long term deaths, injuries, environmental damage
- it still has long terms effects 30yrs later - local drinking water is still hazardous
- 93% of those affected are put in the category of non-gas related injuries
- the US plant was using equipment below the safety standard + ignored safety warnings + worker concerns
- they didnt care about the effects of this - profit is key + would only affect WC Indians
- was a settlement of $470 million which is seen as insufficient for the scale of harm
6
outline the 4 types of green harm/ crime
1) natural: harm that cant be controlled - e.g. drought, natural disasters - in the past these were the only worries people had for green harm
2) human made: Beck: 'manufactured risks' made by humans - e.g. global warming, nuclear weapons - these risks are global
3) primary: any direct harm to the environment regardless of law - e.g. deforestation, dumping toxic waste, animal poaching
4) secondary: any green crime that comes from state, corporations breaking law/ regulations - e.g. Bhopal disaster, Flint water crisis
7
outline the AO2 example of the Flint water crisis
- in 2016, in Flint, Michigan, the Govt allowed water infused with lead to be used in resident's homes - this caused illnesses among many people in Michigan
- the Michigan Govt were aware of the harmfulness of the water + allowed it to be used to cut corners + save money
- this links to 'environmental racism' (disproportionate burden of environmental hazards, e.g. pollution, on EM communities) as Detroit is 83% Black + the most polluted zip code in Michigan - Black people are most likely to be affected by environmental crime
8
outline the AO2 case study of Caribbeans in the UK
- after WW2, Caribbeans were invited to the UK to help rebuild the economy
- approx 500,000 Cs came, + some with their families
- later, the Conservative Govt has cracked down on immigration + those Caribbeans are being deported/ having their UK citizenship restricted after helping rebuild the UK
- this isnt a state crime as it is legal in the eyes of the law, but the Govt as the 'source of the law' are able to change the law to their benefit + act within the legal framework, even if their actions are morally wrong + unfair
8
outline the AO2 case study of the Equatorial Guinea
- Equatorial Guinea has been under President/ dictator Obiang, since 1979 + has been accused of widespread human rights violations, e.g. torture, political repression, + corruption
- despite the country's oil wealth, 70% of the population lives in poverty + EG is one of the poorest countries - this is due to the mismanagement of oil funds + abuse of power
- in contrast, Obiang + his family have enormous personal fortunes - he is one of the wealthiest heads of state w/ a net worth of $600m
- this shows how state officials can use their positions to commit crimes w/o punishment, reflecting how the state itself becomes the perpetrator of harm against its own citizens
9
outline Cohen's 3 stages of the culture of denial
- stage 1: 'it didn't happen'; e.g. the state claims there was no massacre - but then human rights organisations, victims + media shows proof - e.g. photos of mass graves
- stage 2: 'if it did happen, 'it' was something else'; e.g. the state claims self-defence - not murder
- stage 3: 'even if it is what you say it is, its justified'; e.g. to fight the 'war on terror'
