Latin American green criminology

Abstract

This article traces the trajectory of green criminology in Latin America from the 1960s’ liberation criminology to the current Southern green criminology. The purpose of this genealogical account is twofold: first, it uncovers the evolution of the Latin American criminological engagement with green crime, and second, politically it reclaims the epistemological power of the South by highlighting how critical thinkers on the continent anticipated ideas now in vogue in English-speaking criminology. The memory exercise that is this article builds on the premise that true decolonising projects must recall and build on the histories of endogenous thought of (neo)colonial locations. The article is based on an archaeological exploration of the engagements of Latin American intellectuals with the study of environmental crime and harm, combined with the author’s field observations.