David Rodríguez Goyes

The Injustices of Policing, Law and Multinational Monopolization in the Privatization of Natural Diversity: Cases from Colombia and Latin America

The important part of the massacre [of indigenous leaders] was that it showed that the State, the Army, one of the traditional political parties, the merchants and the paramilitaries were all involved. It was an alliance between all of them. Ultimately the only difference between the army and the paramilitaries is that they dress differently at night.

Animal abuse, biotechnology and species justice

Generally, in the modern, western world, conceptualizations of the natural environment are associated with what nature can offer us—an anthropocentric perspective whereby humans treat nature and all its biotic components as ‘natural resources’. When nature and the beings within it are regarded purely in utilitarian terms, humans lose sight of the fact that ecosystems and nonhuman animals have intrinsic value. Most biotechnological use of nonhuman animals is informed by an instrumental view of nature. In this article, we endeavour to broaden the field of animal abuse studies by including in it the exploration of biotechnological abuse of animals. We analyse the issue by discussing it in relation to differing philosophical starting points and, in particular, the rights and justice theory developed within green criminology.

Green Criminology as Decolonial Tool: A Stereoscope of Environmental Harm

While green criminology has grown in its scope and orientation, the field is still limited, being primarily practiced by Northern, and with publications written almost exclusively in English. In this chapter, I argue that because of its ability to study instances of environmental degradation, green criminology could be used as decolonial tool by identifying, exposing and confronting cases of colonial environmental discrimination, marginalization and exploitation. Using the example of Colombia, I argue that one way green criminology could aid the decolonial project of Southern criminology is by being a ‘stereoscopic tool’. This approach, while allowing for the recognition of colonial dynamics, also facilitates combining Western and Southern knowledge, ideally resulting in deeper analyses of both environmentally harmful practices and the potential and actual responses to them.

Introduction: The Theft of Nature and the Poisoning of the Land in Latin America

Over the last 25 years, Green Criminology has developed into a fertile area of study that now attracts scholars from around the world with a wide range of research interests and theoretical orientations. It spans the micro to the macro–from work on individual-level environmental harms to business/corporate crimes to state transgressions–and includes research conducted from both mainstream and critical theoretical perspectives, as well as arising from interdisciplinary efforts. Nonetheless—and in line with the proposal for a Southern Criminology put forward by Carrington and colleagues (2016)—it is still the case that much work needs to be done to ensure that the environmental crimes and harms affecting the lands and peoples of the Global South are brought to the forefront of a truly transnational Green Criminology. This volume makes a contribution to this process as the first text to focus specifically on examples from Latin America.