Unraveling the Crime-Development Nexus

• In Event: Future Directions in Global Criminology

Abstract

This paper contends that debates surrounding the modernization, underdevelopment, and crime relationship need revisiting. The current era of neoliberal globalization is accelerating economic, political, and cultural interdependence, and is also reshaping inequalities globally. Due largely to a legacy of structural adjustment policies, free trade agreements and the hegemonic influence of global liberal institutions, national governments of what have historically (and problematically in our view) been referred to as ‘developing countries’ have less autonomy to manage their economies, but have exerted increased control over their citizens via militarized policing, surveillance, and other tactics. At the same time, various forms of security such as corrections, policing, and home security have been privatized, rendering security more of a commodity than a public good and a right of all citizens in this context. These trends, to varying degrees, are also evident within wealthier countries in the global North. Through a critical review of the early criminological literature on modernization and a positive appraisal of more recent scholarly developments in the field of critical development studies, this chapter considers the effects of these societal transformations on various forms of crime and insecurity throughout the global South.

Authors

• Nathan W. Pino, Texas State University

• Graham Ellison, Queens University Belfast

• Jarrett Blaustein, Monash University