State-corporate crime
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Criminology and penology |
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State-corporate crime is a concept in criminology for crimes that result from the relationship between the policies of the state and the policies and practices of commercial corporations. The term was coined by Kramer and Michalowski (1990), and redefined by Aulette and Michalowski (1993). These definitions were intended to include all "socially injurious acts" and not merely those that are defined by the local criminal jurisdiction as crime. This is not universally accepted as a valid definition so a less contentious version has been adopted here. As an academic classification, it is distinguished from:
- corporate crime, which studies deviance within the context of a corporation and by a corporation, or individuals representing the corporation;
- political crime, which is crime directed at the state; and
- state crime or "state-organised crime", which studies crimes committed by government organisations (Chambliss: 1989).
One of the assertions made by those involved in this work is that a focus on the actual relationship between the state and corporations dependent on the state for their profitability can expose a more complete range of criminal activity than might be provided by independent analyses of solely corporate or state-organised crimes.
Discussion
To be able to operate as a commercial
Harper and Israel (1999) comment:
- ...societies create crime because they construct the rules whose transgression constitutes crime. The state is a major player in this process.
i.e. the way in which crime is defined is dynamic and reflects each society's immediate needs and changing attitudes towards the local varieties of conduct. The process depends on the values underpinning the society, the mechanisms for resolving political conflict, the control over the discourse, and the exercise of power. Snider (1999) notes that capitalist states are often reluctant to pass laws to regulate large corporations, because this might threaten profitability, and that these states often use considerable sums to attract regional or national inward investment from large corporations. They offer new investors:
- preferential tax concessions not available to the ordinary citizen or local business if foreign investment is sought;
- loans, guarantees and other financial support on preferential terms;
- directly targeted grants and other subsidies; and
- a purpose-built infrastructure to subsidise the set-up costs.
Once the state is committed to this offer, it can be difficult to enforce local laws against
Examples of the research
Following the
See also
References
- Aulette, J.R. & Michaelowski, R. (1993). "Fire in Hamlet: a Case Study of State-Corporate Crime" in Political Crime in Contemporary America: a Critical Approach, (ed. Tunnell, K). New York: Garland (pp.171-206).
- Chambliss, W. 1989. "State Organised Crime", Criminology 27:183-208.
- Green, Penny & Ward, Tony. (2004). State Crime: Governments, Violence and Corruption. London: Pluto Press.
- Harper, Ainsley & Israel, Mark. (1999) "The killing of the Fly: State-corporate victimization in Papua New Guinea. [1]
- Kauzlarich, D. & Kramer, R. (1993). "State-Corporate Crime in the US Nuclear Weapons Production Complex". Journal of Human Justice 5:4-28.
- Kramer, R. (1985). "Defining the Concept of Crime: a Humanistic Perspective". Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 5:469-487.
- Kramer, R. (1992). "The Space Shuttle Challenger Explosion: A Case Study of State-Corporate Crime" in White-Collar Crime Reconsidered, (eds. Schlegel, K & Weisburd, D). Boston: Northeastern University Press (pp.214-243).
- Kramer R. & Michalowski, R. (1990). "State-Corporate Crime". Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology. November 7-12.
- Sharkansky, I. (1995). "A State Action may be Nasty but is not Likely to be a Crime" in Controlling State Crime: an Introduction, (ed. Ross, J.I.) London: Garland (pp.35-52).
- Snider, Laureen. (1993). "Theory and Politics in the Control of Corporate Crime" in Global Crime Connections: Dynamics and Control, (eds. F. Pearce and M. Woodiwiss). London: Macmillan, and Toronto: University of Toronto Press (pp212-40).
- Snider, Laureen. (2003). "Researching Corporate Crime" in Unmasking Crimes of the Powerful: Scrutinizing States and Corporations, (eds. S. Tombs and D. Whyte). London: Peter Lang (pp49-69).
- Snider, Laureen. (1999). "Relocating Law: Making Corporate Crime Disappear" in Locating Law: Race/Class/Gender Connections, (ed. Comack, E.) Halifax: Fernwood Publishing (pp.160-206).
Further reading
- Ruggiero, Vincenzo (2016). "Corporate War Crimes". The Palgrave Handbook of Criminology and War. Palgrave Macmillan UK. pp. 61–77. ISBN 978-1-137-43170-7.
- Stewart, James G. (1 January 2010). "Corporate War Crimes: Prosecuting Pillage of Natural Resources". pdc.ceu.hu. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
- Ruggiero, Vincenzo (2007). "Privatizing International Conflict: War as Corporate Crime". Social Justice. 34 (3/4 (109-110)): 132–147. JSTOR 29768468.
- ISBN 978-0-19-871602-0.