SOC 356LEC—Green Criminology

This course examines the relationship between the environment and the law, focusing on what are now being called ?environmental crimes.? Broadly construed, an environmental crime is an illegal act by a state, corporation, or individual that ?harms? an ecosystem to the detriment of another population. In this class we will ask exactly what it means to commit such an act, explore the different ways in which people have treated environmental crimes across societies and historical periods, and interrogate the social structural and cultural foundations involved in defining, prosecuting, and officially sanctioning environmental crime. Through the lens of green criminology, we will examine environmental law and justice, explore social scientific tools for understanding environmental crimes including databases that track ecological harm and socio-environmental theories, and dig deeper into special topics, such as global warming, land use change, and both endangered and invasive species management.