Ecofeminist and decolonial contributions to the debate of the crimes of the powerful

• In Event: Theoretical Advances in Critical Criminology

Abstract

The paradox between the insatiable search for profits in the capitalist system and the limits of reproduction of nature has been addressed by many authors from a Marxian perspective when researching on environmental harm and crime. This work intends to contribute with this debate from a decolonial and feminist perspective. For doing that, we analyse the case of the chemical industry, especially the use of pesticides and herbicides in Brazil, and its relationship with the double patterns of safety used by global North companies in global South territories. The role attributed to peripheral economies to provide commodities at low cost to industrial nations is also discussed. Subsequently, the relationship between structural violence, human rights violations, and the destruction of nature by transnational corporations are studied in a political sense, examining the support of authoritarian governments in the Global South by Northern companies and States. The chapter presents data demonstrating that these corporations have historically been active in political persecutions, disputes for territory, and collusion with local massacres. Beyond the economic perspective, the global flows of toxic substances are discussed through the concepts of coloniality and racism. Moreover, the poisoning of the land is studied from a southern eco-feminist perspective, mostly when we address the resistance and activism of indigenous, black and peasant women’s movements in Brazil.

Author

• Marília de Nardin Budó, Federal University of Santa Catarina (Brazil)