Globalisation, green crime, human rights & state crime Flashcards
(25 cards)
1
Q
What is meant by the global criminal economy and examples?
A
Held et al> a globalisation of crime across national borders
- globalisation has created new opportunities for crime, new ways of committing crime & new offences e.g. cyber crime
- this includes various forms of transnational crime:
- such as arm trafficking (supplying weapons to terrorists)
- human trafficking of women & children (prostitution or slavery)
- cyber crime (identity theft & child pornography)
- this economy exist because of a supply demand relationship > the demand for drugs, sex workers etc. come from largely the West
2
Q
What is meant by a global risk consciousness?
A
- globalisation has increased anxieties about crime, particularly around immigration & terrorism > which produces a new mentality of ‘risk consciousness’ in which risk is seen as global
- the media exaggerates these threats creating a moral panic about migrants & criminals> politicians then exploit these fears to justify tougher border controls & surveillance > leading to hate crimes against ethnic minorities in many European countries
- e.g. the 9/11 attacks > many western nations introduced harsh immigration laws & expanded counter-terrorism measures
3
Q
Evaluation of a global risk consciousness
A
- not all reactions are uniform > postmodernist argue that people interpret global risks differently
4
Q
How do Marxist link globalisation and crime?
A
- Taylor > argues that globalisation has led to greater inequality & crime by allowing big corporations to relocate production into low wage countries resulting in:
- job losses & increased unemployment
- exploitation of workers in developing countries
- marketisation > encouraging people to see themselves as consumers
- materialistic culture promoted by the global media
- all these factors create insecurity & widen inequalities which encourage the poor to turn to crime as they lack legitimate job opportunities turning to illegitimate means to survive
- for example in Los Angeles , de industrialisation has led to the growth of drug gangs
- Moreover, Rothe & Friedrichs > examined how global financial institutions like the international monetary fund (IMF) & world bank contribute to crime > they argue that the enforcement of ‘structural adjustment programmes’ forced poor countries to cut welfare spending leading to increased poverty & crime
- e.g. the IMF imposed policies that contributed to the economic crisis preceding the 1994 Rwandan genocide
5
Q
Evaluation of the Marxist view on globalisation & crime
A
- exposes state- corporate crime often ignored in mainstream criminology
- does not explain why some wealthy areas have high crime rates despite lack of economic hardship
- difficult to define these harms as a crime under traditional law
6
Q
How has globalisation and de-industrialisation created new criminal opportunities?
A
- Hobbs & Dunnigham > the way crime is organised is linked to globalisation
- postmodern criminal networks are no longer hierarchical mafias but loose entrepreneurial ‘hubs’ operating like businesses > these networks blend illegitimate & legitimate activity > making crime more flexible
- these new forms of organsisations have **international links especially in drugs & human trafficking **
- they call this a glocal system (it is still locally based but with global connections) e.g. London gangs using Columbian drug routes
7
Q
What is another example of the relationship between criminal organsisations & globalisation?
A
- Glenny> coined the term McMafia to describe how globalisation has changed organised crimes particularly in post soviet states
- the collapse of communism led to rapid privatisation enabling KGB and oligarchs to buy state assets for cheap such as oil, gas etc. and sell them abroad for a large profit
- to protect wealth, these capitalists turned into mafias and began to spring up rapidly > one example is the Chenchen mafia
- they used capitalism logic > branding, global expansion to run criminal enterprises > sold their brand name around the world to make money
8
Q
What is green crime?
A
- refers to crime against the environment
- linked to globalisation as the planet is a single ecosystem meaning environmental damage in one country affects others globally
9
Q
What is meant by a global risk society in terms of the environment?
A
- Beck argues that in late modernity, we increasingly face manufactured risks > threats caused by human activity
- unlike natural disasters these are man made and global > creating a global risk society where people become more aware of global threats which leads to fear, insecurity and conflict
10
Q
How does traditional criminology differ from green criminology?
A
- traditional criminology only studies acts that break the law
- green criminologists argue that this is too narrow as laws often reflect the interests of powerful groups & many harmful acts go unpunished
- they study any act that harms the physical environment or the human even if no law is broken
- green criminology is transgressive > goes beyond legal definitions to include new issues > approach is known as zemiology (study of harms)
- Two views on harm
- anthropocentric > human centered, nature is only important when it affects humans
- ecocentric > nature centred, aims to protect all forms of life animals, ecosystems
11
Q
What is the difference between primary green crimes and secondary green crimes?
A
- primary green crimes > direct environmental harm from destruction of worlds earthly resources e.g. air pollution (burning fossil fuels), deforestation, water pollution
- secondary green crimes > governments breaking their own regulations & causing environmental harms e.g. state violence against oppositional groups, illegal waste disposal
11
Q
Evaluation of green criminology
A
- draws attention to invisible victims of capitalism like animals, ecosystems
- lacks objective boundaries > hard to define the boundaries of its field clearly making research & policymaking difficult
- critics argue that it reflects western values and may impose definitions of crime onto cultures with differnt environmental norms
12
Q
What are the three explanations for state crimes
A
13
Q
Two case studies of state crime
A
- Rwanda experienced one of the fastest genocides of the 20th century
- Hutu & Tutsi were not separate ethnic groups but were treated differently by Belgian colonial rules who gave power to the Tutsi minority > after they gain independence, the Hutu majority took power and used propaganda to justify killing Tutsis
- demonstrates how state power and propaganda can be used to incite mass killings
- War crimes > Kramer & Michalowski
Iraq war: US and UK used false claims about weapons of mass destruction to justify their 2003 invasion > example of illegal war framed as self defence > Kramer notes how bombing of civilians has become normalised
14
Q
What are 6 ways in which sociologist define state crime?
A
- domestic law
- social harms and zemiolgy
- labelling and societal reaction
- international law
- human rights
- crimes of obedience
15
Q
How does domestic law define crime?
A
- Chambliss defines state crime as acts defined by the law as criminal and committed by state officials acting in their official capacity
- e.g. corruption or police brutality when the act violates the nations own criminal code
EVAL > states can avoid defining harmful actions as crimes and can make laws allowing them to carry out harmful acts
also leads to inconsistencies what is criminal in one country may be legal in another
16
Q
How do zemiologists define state crime?
A
- Zemiolgy suggests sociologists should define state crime based on harm caused, not whether the act is legally criminal e.g. state facilitated poverty
EVAL > prevents states from ruling themselves out creating a single standard that can be applied to differnt states
vague > difficult to measure because who defines harm, and how much harm is required to label something a crime
17
Q
How do the labelling theory define state crime?
A
- they see state crime as socially constructed through media/public reaction
- a state action becomes a crime if a social audience defines it as such
EVAL > ignores victims of crimes, ignores that audiences definitions may be manipulated by ruling class ideology
implies there’s no universal wrongdoing, genocide might not be a state crime if no one labels it > too relativist
18
Q
How does international law define state crime?
A
- Defines state crime as violations of legal agreements between states > violates international law
EVAL > globally agreed definitions of state crime - focuses on war crimes and overlooks other state crimes
19
Q
How do sociologists human right to define state crime?
A
- Defines state crime as any violation of basic human rights e.g. natural rights (right to life, speech) and civil rights (right to vote, privacy etc.)
EVAL > not all societies agree on what counts as a human right e.g. gay rights
definition makes states susceptible to shaming as these rights are now global norms
20
Q
What are the three explanations for state crime?
A
- authoritarian personality
- crimes of obedience
- modernity
21
Q
How does the AP explain state crime?
A
- Adorno et al argued that some individuals have an authoritarian personality > overly obedient and submissive to authority
- this personality type was common in Nazi Germany due to strict, punitive parenting and socialisation
- people with this trait are more likely to follow orders unquestioningly even if it involves committing atrocities
EVAL > supported by Milgram’s obedience study - too deterministic as assumes personality inevitably leads to atrocities ignore free will
22
Q
How does crimes of obedience explain state crime?
A
- crimes are acts of conformity not deviance, people obey the state or military authority even when actions are immoral
- sociologists argue that people are socialised into roles where obedience overrides morality
- Kelman & Hamilton identify three general features that produce crimes of obedience
- authorisation > when acts are ordered or approved by those in authority > moral principles are replaced by the duty to obey
- Routinisation > actions become a routine that individuals can perform in a detached manner
- Dehumanisation > victims are seen as subhuman so morality doesn’t apply
EVAL > risk excusing responsibility, and doesn’t explain why some refuse to obey such as whistleblower
23
Q
How does modernity explain state crime?
A
- Bauman > argues the holocaust was made possible by features of modernity
- A DOL > small roles mean individuals feel less responsible
- Bureaucratisation > normalised killing by making it a routine rule-governed job
- science and tech > enabled mass murder efficiently > transportations to death camps
EVAL > individuals beliefs are underplayed
and doesn’t explain the ideological motivations
24
How do states conceal and justify their crimes according to Cohen?
- using a spiral state of denial , stage 1 (denying crime that occurred), stage 2 ( claim self defence)
stage 3 (actions are justified e.g. fighting terrorism)
- Cohen also identifies neutralisation techniques used by states to justify torture such as denial of injury, denial of victim, denial of responsibility etc.
