Economies of Violence
ALVARADO Arturo, BAUER Alain, CANNATACI Joseph, HUSSAIN Nazia, MIGNONE Mara, RADU Aitana, SHELLEY Louise , and WEINBERGER David
International Journal on Criminology, Vol 9, Number 2, Spring 2022
Abstract (link to abstract)
Recent trends reveal a significant increase in the use of violence to generate profit as illustrated during the sanitary crisis. The Economies of Violence, understood as the actions or behaviors leading to a financial benefit to the detriment of another person, organization, or institution, are therefore detrimental to better apprehend as a concept and phenomenon. Hence, addressing this violence requires an examination of the multiple forms it may take in all fields of the economy and their evolution across time and space. Through the identification of actors in the Economies of Violence, this piece shows that legal and illegal spheres interact and overlap. Manifestations of violence in the legitimate economic system may take insidious forms, thus further complicating the task for those who seek to combat it. The report ultimately argues that the economic system is inherently generating and sustaining Economies of Violence, underlining the need for academics and decision-makers to apprehend these phenomena outside the legal-illegal opposition.
