Schedule, syllabus and examination date

Course content

This course addresses various forms of environmental crimes and harms as well as various forms of animal abuse, both those which are legal and those which are illegal, through examples of empirical research. Harms are i.e. those produced by, pollution, deforestation and illegal logging, wildlife trafficking and biopiracy. The course critically examines criminalization processes; the mechanisms which cause some of these harms to be legal while others are criminalized. The course further addresses the mechanisms which cause environmental crimes, such as consumerism and capitalism.

Concerns within the field are how crime is conceptualized, law enforcement and punishment, or lack of punishment, in relation to such harms, how they should be understood and how they should be addressed.

The course crosses disciplinary boundaries and emphasizes a variety of approaches to these issues, although with a criminological starting point. These approaches include perspectives which, for example, are lent from philosophy, such as moral rights and perspectives of justice.

Lectures will present and discuss the current status of research related to the given theme. Every lecture aims at presenting the forefront of research, and the course includes lectures from well-known scholars in the field.

Learning outcome

The students will learn how and why green criminology has become an important and fast expanding field in critical criminology, and about the topics and perspectives which are relevant in the field; for example it expands the understanding of what criminology is and what it should be by applying perspectives of justice, rather than limiting the focus to acts which are criminalized. The course provides insight into how environmental harms affect both human and nonhuman species.

Knowledge,?at the end of the course, students are expected to know:

  • How environmental crimes and harms affect human and nonhuman species, and examples of such harms.
  • What green criminology is and encompasses in relation to conventional criminology, and how it diverges from conventional criminology.
  • Central discussions and positions in contemporary research on green criminology.
  • Different theoretical perspectives in green criminology.

Skills, at the end of the course, students are expected to:

  • Be able to account for and apply central theoretical themes and empirical examples addressed during the course
  • Be able to identify why some environmental harms are criminalized while others are condoned.
  • Be able to discuss and provide independent analysis of various environmental crimes and their causes and effects, as well as of criminalization processes of the same harms.