Green criminology is an expanding and evolving field that presents multiple debates on how best to define, explain and research the connections between environmental damage and crime. The course first outlines those debates and then introduces the wide range of actors involved. These include offenders – individuals and communities, organized criminal groups, corporations and governments – , the collectivities whose health and livelihoods are damaged, and the actors tasked with formulating and enforcing environmental laws and regulations. It explores the community-level and larger-scale political and economic factors that drive people to carry out environmentally harmful and illegal activities. Lectures then present an overview of the international agreements and common patterns in national legal frameworks governing environmental protection and damage. The discussion emphasizes their evolving nature, highlights cases of best practice and analyzes various challenges to effective implementation.

The second part of the course then takes a thematic approach, covering some of the most widespread and environmentally harmful criminal activities. Two classes are dedicated to each topic in this section. During the first, the professor explains the major debates, patterns and consequences associated with the crime. In the following class, students present specific case-studies that apply the broader debates to empirical examples and use these to make concrete recommendations for future deterrence and legal reform where appropriate.

The final section broadens the scope of the discussion to include the perspectives of environmental activists and scholars arguing for more holistic approaches to preventing crimes and repairing the damage already done to ecosystems and human communities. 

Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:

·       Identify and summarize the core theoretical and methodological debates in contemporary Green Criminology

·       Conceptualize the macro-level political and economic forces driving illegal environmental activity as well as the formulation      and implementation of relevant laws and regulations

·       Explain the local-level social and cultural circumstances that contribute to illegal environmental practices

·       Describe the current state of international and select domestic laws regulating environmental activity

·       Critically analyze the strengths and weaknesses of legislative norms, administrative regulations and judicial case law pertaining to specific typologies of environmental crime and harm

·       Draw on quantitative and qualitative data from multiple sources to conduct research on criminological case-studies

·       Use theoretical debates and empirical data to recommend ethically sound and realistic improvements to the formulation and enforcement of policy, law and administrative regulations

There is no mandatory textbook. Students will be given access to journal articles, academic book chapters and institutional reports to read in preparation for each class. See the schedule and core bibliographic works listed below.

ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS AND EXAMINATION POLICY

Attendance is mandatory for this class and you are expected to not miss any classes. A maximum of 2 unexcused absences are accepted, after which 2% of the final grade will be deducted for each class missed.

You cannot make-up a major exam (midterm or final) without the permission of the Dean’s Office. The Dean’s Office will grant such permission only when the absence was caused by a serious impediment, such as a documented illness, hospitalization or death in the immediate family (in which you must attend the funeral) or other situations of similar gravity. Absences due to other meaningful conflicts, such as job interviews, family celebrations, travel difficulties, student misunderstandings or personal convenience, will not be excused. Students who will be absent from a major exam must notify the Dean’s Office prior to that exam. Absences from class due to the observance of a religious holiday will normally be excused. Individual students who will have to miss class to observe a religious holiday should notify the instructor by the end of the Add/Drop period to make prior arrangements for making up any work that will be missed. The final exam period runs until 3 May 2024.

Grade scale. (This scale follows standard university policy)

A      =      94- 100%                    B      =      84-86%                          C-          =          70-73%

A-     =      90-93%                        B-     =      80-83%                          D+         =          67-69%

B+    =      87-89%                        C+    =      77-79%                          D           =          60-66%

                                                      C      =      74-76%                          F           =          0-59%