Green Criminology and Environmental Crime: Criminology That Matters in the Age of Global Ecological Collapse

Abstract

An overview of green criminology (GC) is provided. That substantial literature is not easily summarized, and here, some core issues are reviewed: defining green crimes, the scope of GC, measuring green crimes, and empirical studies of green crimes. Special attention is paid to political economic approaches to GC, which was the foundation for GC. Connections are made to environmental sociology, theories of metabolic rift and unequal ecological exchange, and scientific evidence on planetary boundaries and ecological footprints. Examples of widespread human and nonhuman being green victimization are reviewed. In an era of anthropogenic-driven global ecological collapse, academic disciplines must pay increased attention to ecological disorganization, ecosystem destruction, and excessive production/consumption, which is the proper subject matter of GC.