Anticipating the Anthropocene and greening criminology

Abstract

Responding to Clifford Shearing’s discussion of the criminological significance of ‘the Anthropocene’, this article elaborates on the development of a ‘green criminology’ and the concept of ‘environmental (in)security’. It then begins a debate with Shearing about the extent to which the insurance industry, itself a cornerstone of the finance sector, can effectively regulate corporate risk-takers as a means of reducing environmental harm. The article argues that consumerism and insurance both encourage ‘de-responsibilization’ and hence risk-taking and anthropogenic damage to the environment.