International Political Economy and the Directionality of Global Crime Control Mobilities

• In Event: Future Directions in Global Criminology

Abstract

This paper uses ideas from different schools of thought within international political economy (IPE) to develop a macro-structural characterization of the global asymmetries and power imbalances that characterize the directionality of international crime control policy flows. The liberal internationalist school of IPE provides an important framework for understanding the hegemonic influence of neoliberal globalization as a driver of most policy diffusions that occur from ‘North’ to ‘South’ and ‘West’ to ‘East’ while the realist school of IPE remains useful for understanding how and why powerful states with questionable liberal credentials (i.e. Russia and China) continue to resist international pressures for penal harmonization and promoting alternative policy models internationally. We argue that whilst these two frameworks are helpful for understanding the directionality of international policy mobilities at a global level, the domestic influence of neoliberal globalization in any context remains moderated by a combination of cultural, economic and political factors. Drawing from the post-colonial school of IPE, this paper concludes that understanding the capacity of ‘Southern’ nations to resist the globalizing influence of liberal internationalism necessitates further research on ‘South-South’ policy mobilities, and is itself vital in advancing the case against the primacy of Northern crime control models, mentalities and practices.

Authors

• Jarrett Blaustein, Monash University

• Trevor Jones, Cardiff University

• Tim Newburn, London School of Economics