Critical Criminology 18(4)

Critical Criminology and Crimes Against the Environment
Vincenzo Ruggiero & Nigel South

Green Criminology and Dirty Collar Crime
Vincenzo Ruggiero & Nigel South

As a contribution to literature drawing together green criminology and studies of organised and corporate crime, this paper provides a case study of crimes and public health harms linked to the Naples garbage disposal crisis. The context is the inability of modern consumer society to cope with the problem of mass production of waste. In turn this leads to opportunities for both legal and criminal entrepreneurs to offer services that promise but fail to ‘dispose’ of the problem. The analysis draws upon environmental law and classic studies of organised crime.

Deforestation Crimes and Conflicts in the Amazon
Tim Boekhout van Solinge

This article explores and explains deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon rainforest. It primarily takes a green criminological perspective and looks at the harm that is inflicted on many of the Amazon’s inhabitants, including indigenous populations such as ‘uncontacted’ tribes of hunters-gatherers, the oldest human societies. The green criminological perspective also implies that the definition of victimisation is being enlarged: not only (future) humans, but also non-humans can be considered victims. Being the most biodiverse place on the planet, deforestation of the Amazon leads to threats and extinctions of animal and plant species. The main causes of deforestation in the Amazon are land conversion for agriculture (mainly cattle, also soy), practices that are mostly illegal. As the products of the (illegally) deforested rainforest in the Brazilian Amazon are mainly for export markets, western societies with large ecological footprints could be held responsible for deforestation of the Amazon.

Criminalizing Ecological Harm: Crimes Against Carrying Capacity and the Criminalization of Eco-Sinners
Dennis Mares

This article examines how a broader class of environmentally harmful behavior can be examined from a criminological frame of reference. By using examples of soil degradation and anthropogenic climate change, it is argued that environmentally damaging behavior is similar to many other types of crime. Particularly when taken from the standpoint that environmentally harmful behavior is ultimately detrimental to human social organizations by undermining ‘carrying capacity’, outright criminalization might strike many as a valid option. Nonetheless, there are also some fundamental differences that will ultimately prevent a strict legalistic perspective from being successful in minimizing ecological harm. Instead, this article argues that criminologists need to emphasize the importance of shaming and status rewards in pursuing a greener future.

The Corporate Crimes of Dow Chemical and the Failure to Regulate Environmental Pollution
Rebecca S. Katz

A case study of Dow Chemical Company using scholarly research, journalistic investigations, and government documents reveals the existence of the criminogenic corporate-state. The Corporate-State manages and regulates itself with limited interference from the Environmental Protection Agency and in the form of Dow Chemicals is responsible for numerous environmental crimes both nationally and globally all of which have been linked to numerous health, labor and economic problems. Future researchers are encouraged to undertake similar case studies to expose the Corporate-State and the criminal harms done to ordinary citizens for the sake of profit.

Toxic Atmospheres Air Pollution, Trade and the Politics of Regulation
Reece Walters

Air is an essential ingredient for all living things and its properties influence the quality and longevity of life. When polluted, it is estimated that it causes the annual premature death of millions of people and the world-wide damage and destruction of wildlife and natural habitats. This article examines human-made air pollution within a framework of ‘eco-crime’ and Green Criminology. Using original data on air pollution infringements, it critically examines the shortcomings with existing mechanisms of air pollution control, regulation and enforcement in the UK. In doing so, it identifies how Criminology must continue to push new boundaries and engage with emerging harmful acts of both local and global concern.

Critical Criminology, December 2010: Volume 18, Issue 4