This course aims to introduce students to the varied ways of thinking about the crime problem and the consequences of the globalization of economic, political and cultural activities across the world. It introduces a number of key concepts in sociology, criminology and human rights that will help students develop a more inclusive and imaginative picture of how their lives are shaped by events and social institutions far removed from their local contexts and the range of harms that individuals and communities may be subjected to across the global North and South divide. Just as ‘global’ issues such as warfare, human trafficking, and environmental problems must be understood in an international context, so too must traditionally ‘local’ arenas of criminological interest be located within a comparative perspective, and understood as being shot-through with transnational and global dimensions. Overall, the course will examine whether and how globalization may bring various risks and new harms which challenge our conventional understanding of the problem of crime and justice. 

In this context, there is growing recognition of the importance of new geographical sites of knowledge production, in particular those beyond traditional Anglo-American bases of power. This course will therefore equip students with the theoretical and methodological tools to ‘reach for the global’ in their criminological imagination by drawing on a range of case-studies framed from the global and comparative perspective. 

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