4. Corporate Environmental Crime and Capitalism

About this Lecture

Lecture

In this lecture, we think about why corporations commit environmental crimes and how the environment is protected against corporate activity, focusing in particulate on: (i) “upset incidents” like oil spills, which result from accidents, negligence or equipment breakdowns; (ii) capitalism as a driver of environmental crime which pushes corporations to subvert regulations in order to increase profits; (iii) approaches to policing and punishing corporate crime, such as the use of restorative rather than criminal penalties.

Course

In this course, Dr Angus Nurse (Nottingham Trent University) explores green criminology and crimes against wildlife and the environment. In the first lecture, we introduce some key definitions, concepts and areas of interest within green criminology. In the second lecture, we focus on wildlife crime, illegal animal trafficking, and how the use of animals is legally regulated. In the third lecture, we consider climate change and pollution as areas of criminological interest. Next, we turn to environmental crimes and harms committed by corporations. In the fifth and final lecture, we look at how green crime is policed and whether regular police forces and justice systems are equipped to handle wildlife and environmental crimes.

Lecturer

Dr Angus Nurse is Head of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Nottingham Trent University. His research focuses on crimes against wildlife and the environment, corporate crime and criminal justice. His recent publications include Wildlife Criminology (2020) (co-authored with Tanya Wyatt), The Citizen and the State: Criminal Justice and Civil Liberties in Conflict (2020) and An Introduction to Green Criminology and Environmental Justice (2016).