Syllabus Information
Introduction to crimes of the powerful – concepts and context
This introductory session will indicate why crimes of the powerful are worthy of criminological attention and indicate the importance of the social harm approach in studying the powerful. It will introduce various conceptualisations and definitions of crimes of the powerful and draw distinctions and links between crime undertaken by powerful individuals and crimes carried out by organisations. It will also ask why criminology has largely ignored crimes of the powerful and mostly continues to do so.
State crime, colonialism and human rights
Military conquest, terrorism and war crimes committed by apparently legitimate modern states have killed, injured, robbed and raped innumerably more people than non-state crime and terrorism, and they continue to do so. This session introduces and traces the concept of state crime while presenting various examples of it. It considers how European colonialism forms a foundation for later crimes of states and corporations, considers how powerful states avoid criminalisation, and looks at the legal systems enacted to prevent and repair mass atrocity.
Genocide and mass murder of civilians in the 20th and 21st Centuries
In the 20th Century, civilian deaths increased from around 5 per cent of war-related deaths to 90 per cent, and a number of heinous genocides occurred including the killing of 6 million Jews in the Holocaust. These forms of mass murder involve not only the actions of those in positions of power but institutional processes that encourage populations of 'normal' civilians to engage in and assist mass murder. This session will consider state-organisation of killing and examine how usually law-abiding people come to take part in such atrocities.
Mass sexual violence in conflict
Widespread sexual violence and mass rape are common features of state conflicts and integral to genocides. This session considers why sexual violence is so common in conflict and examines how states and their leaders direct and encourage it.
Corporate crime, capitalism and the global financial order
This session will sketch a short history of the corporation and its relation to modern states and capitalism. It will examine Edwin Sutherland's landmark work on US corporate crimes and provide examples of different types of corporate crimes and harms. It will also look at the role of shareholders, boards and corporate immunity, and outline the regulation and legislation (or lack of it) surrounding corporate malfeasance.
Focus on the assignment
This week will focus on how to approach the end of term assignment where students are asked to identify, contextualise and theorise a specific crime or harm of the powerful of their choosing. It will provide guidance to researching crimes of the powerful using secondary materials and it will introduce various sources that highlight corporate and state crimes. This session will be especially active and interactive encouraging in-class research.
Financial crime and the 2008 Financial Crisis
Banks and accountancy firms are the major players in the global economy and present themselves as prudent, moral and trustworthy. However, as illustrated by the 2008 financial crisis, major banks and accountancy firms colluded in investments and trading that massively enriched them but which led to financial collapse which was only resolved through public money 'bailing out' the failing global banking system. This session looks at the shady trading, lack regulation, and institutional denials that underpinned the crisis and considers what has been done to prevent it happening again.
State-corporate crime and the destruction of the planet
Illuminating the concept of state-corporate crime and the importance of a focus on harms in criminology, this session outlines how the destruction of the planet is lead by states and corporations working in conjunction to support a largely 'business as usual' approach that denies deleterious harm to the environment and regularly fails to criminalize it.
Neo-liberal colonialism and the 'war on terror'
The 'war on terror' has been arguably 'more criminal' than the activities of the groups it was aimed to counter, and it has certainly caused much more death and destruction of human life. This session looks at the 'allied' military and security service response to 21st century Islamist terrorism and examines claims that significant aspects of this response represent serious breaches of international law and are part of a new type of Western imperialism.
State-corporate crime and the Grenfell Tower fire disaster
The Grenfell fire disaster that occurred in a London social housing block in 2017 killed 72 people and injured and traumatised many more. This session examines the organizational processes and intersections of both the UK state and private companies involved in constructing, administrating and maintaining the property, and considers how this facilitated the severe negligence and cover-up that surrounded the fire and the serious harms that resulted.