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Crimes of the Powerful: Corporations, the State and Human Rights

  • Module code: PO6013
  • Year: 2018/9
  • Level: 6
  • Credits: 30
  • Pre-requisites: Successful completion of Level 5 Politics or equivalent
  • Co-requisites: None

Summary

This module takes a critical look at the concepts of crime, power and class in the contemporary world, and the impact of 'crimes of the powerful' on the struggle for human rights and social justice. The gaze of many political scientists and criminologists tends to be focused firmly 'downwards', towards analysing the misdemeanours of the poor, the dispossessed, the underclass. This module, in contrast, will focus 'upwards', in an attempt to understand and explain deviant actions by states, corporations, and the ruling class more broadly. Through the use of case studies, presented by the teaching team but also generated by students, we will examine issues such as war crimes, torture, corruption, global supply chains, police abuses, and state terrorism.

Aims

  • To analyse the major academic debates relating to the study of ‘crimes of the powerful', and to identify competing positions within those debates;
  • To critically evaluate contesting interpretations and interventions in a range of case studies;
  • To engage students with competing theories of corporate crime, state crime, and associated concepts of impunity, accountability and redress;
  • To provide the skills and support for students to identify an important case study in the field, and to complete a piece of independent research relating to that case study.

Learning outcomes

  • articulate different theoretical approaches to corporate crime and state crime, together grouped as ‘crimes of the powerful';
  • critically evaluate a range of politically contested interpretations of crimes of the powerful and their human rights consequences;
  • analyse, evaluate and interpret complex abstract ideas and relate them to a range of specific case studies;
  • understand the process required to identify an area for independent research, to gather appropriate source material and to overcome barriers to the study of ‘crimes of the powerful';
  • complete a detailed piece of independent research relating to a student-selected case study.

Curriculum content

  • What are ‘crimes of the powerful'?
  • How can we study ‘crimes of the powerful'?
  • Class, capital and development
  • State crime, corporate crime, state-corporate crime
  • Selecting your case study
  • Researching your case study
  • Corruption
  • Corporate social responsibility
  • State terror
  • Outsourcing and global supply chains
  • Paramilitarism
  • Torture
  • Surveillance
  • Crimes of the powerful and ‘Empire'
  • Impunity, accountability and social justice

Teaching and learning strategy

The teaching and learning strategy for this module is based around three key elements.

The three-hour workshops will allow space for lecture-type material which will provide a theoretical, historical, or thematic overview of an aspect of 'crimes of the powerful', and will frame all of the other activities. The format will be interactive, testing the level of students' awareness of the subject as class proceeds.

There will be further opportunity for some broad discussions as well as more formal presentation of ideas. Alongside lecture material, the workshops will include a range of focused exercises which provide a forum for debate and discussion, and for consolidation of the learning achieved via completing the reading and attending the sessions. Students will come to class having completed reading each week, and classes will be designed to discuss the issues and the reading in particular. Attention will be given to introducing and giving space for students to engage with criminology theories and critical social science from related disciplines relevant in this field, that is political and political-economic theories concerning state power, corporate power and their interaction, leading on to questions of accountability and social control.

Individual study

Much of the module will revolve around individual study, with students working on their own or in small groups to explore the key literature and concepts.

Breakdown of Teaching and Learning Hours

Definitive UNISTATS Category Indicative Description Hours
Scheduled learning and teaching Workshop 66
Guided independent study 234
Total (number of credits x 10) 300

Assessment strategy

The learning objectives for this module will be formally assessed through the submission of three pieces of work:

A 1,000 word "position paper", where students will be invited to engage in one of the theoretical and conceptual debates introduced in class, and to position themselves within that debate.

A 800 word "literature review", where students will outline the theoretical argument and concepts of one key source, positioning them in the literature

A 2,200 word "case study essay", where students will complete a longer piece of independent research on their chosen case study.

In addition, the module will have a formative assessment early in Teaching Block 2, a "case study proposal", where students will outline their choice of case study, and their proposed method of research so that students have guidance and early feedback before their main summative assessment. Other formative assessment will be in-class discussions and student presentations.

Mapping of Learning Outcomes to Assessment Strategy (Indicative)

Learning Outcome Assessment Strategy
Articulate different theoretical approaches to corporate crime and state crime, together grouped as 'crimes of the powerful'. Position paper, case study essay, in-class discussions, student presentations
Critically evaluate a range of politically contested interpretations of crimes of the powerful and their human rights consequences. Position paper, in-class discussions, student presentations
Analyse, evaluate and interpret complex abstract ideas and relate them to a range of specific case studies. Position paper, case study essay, in-class discussions, student presentations
Understand the process required to identify an area for independent research, to gather appropriate source material and to overcome barriers to the study of 'crimes of the powerful'. Case study proposal, in-class discussions, student presentations.
complete a detailed piece of independent research relating to a student-selected case study Case study essay.

Elements of Assessment

Description of Assessment Definitive UNISTATS Categories Percentage
Coursework 1000 word position paper 30%
Coursework 800 word case study rationale 20%
Coursework 2200 word case study essay 50%
Total (to equal 100%) 100%

Achieving a pass

It IS NOT a requirement that any major assessment category is passed separately in order to achieve an overall pass for the module.

Bibliography core texts

Cohen, S. (2001) States of Denial: Knowing About Atrocities and Suffering

Green, P. and T. Ward (2004) State Crime: Governments, Violence and Corruption

Michalowski, R.  and R. Kramer (2006) State-Corporate Crime: Wrongdoing at the Intersection of Business and Government 

Sutherland, E. (1983 [1949]) White Collar Crime: The Uncut Version

Bibliography recommended reading

Barton, A. et al (eds) (2007) Expanding The Criminological Imagination: Critical Readings in Criminology

Beirne, P. and South, N. (2013) Issues in Green Criminology

Blakeley, R. (2009) State Terrorism and Neoliberalism: The North in the South

Coleman, R.; Sim,J.; Tombs, S. and Whyte, D (2009) State, Power, Crime

Hillyard, P. et al (eds) (2004) Beyond Criminology: Taking Harm Seriously

Tombs, S. And Whyte, D. (2016) The Corporate Criminal

Whyte, D. (2015) How Corrupt is Britain?

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