Crime, Harm and the State

Why are some harms defined as crimes while others are not? This pioneering collection disrupts the boundaries of criminology, offering a bold, innovative exploration of crime, state power and social harm across historical and global contexts.

Bridging zemiology, governmentality studies, and decolonial theory, this book offers a fresh perspective on how the colonial roots and ongoing dynamics of global capitalism perpetuate harm, particularly in the Global South. Through compelling case studies on topics such as tourism, drugs, non-human animals, food, ecology, minoritized groups and migration, it reveals how colonial legacies and structural injustices shape who experiences harm, whose experiences are acknowledged – and how harm may be resisted.

Author Biography

Steve Tombs is Professor of Criminology at the Open University. He has a long-standing interest in the incidence, nature and regulation of corporate and state crime, and has published widely on these matters. He works closely with the Hazards movement in the UK, was a founding member and Chair of the Centre for Corporate Accountability, and is on the Board of Inquest.