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State-Corporate Environmental Harms and Paradoxical Interventions: Thoughts in Honour of Stanley Cohen

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Green Harms and Crimes

Part of the book series: Critical Criminological Perspectives ((CCRP))

Abstract

Stanley Cohen was concerned with the crimes and harms that are perpetrated by legitimate bodies, such as states and corporations, and with the way in which these acts and omissions, their impacts and consequences (discussed further below), have been routinely ignored, overlooked, excused or simply denied. In various influential works, such as his 1993 article, ‘Human rights and crimes of the state: The culture of denial’, his 1985 book, Visions of Social Control, and his 2001 book, States of Denial: Knowing about Atrocities and Suffering, Cohen appealed to us to open our eyes, see and acknowledge the hidden crimes, horrors and indignities inflicted by humans on others, and his work explored important themes of truth and deception: the distortion of the former and the ways in which we produce the latter individually and collectively. The victims of ignored or almost invisible crimes and harms can easily be overlooked when offenders seek to hide their actions and the injuries caused, and when these victims are already socially invisible, marginalized or forgotten (Davis et al., 2014; Hall, 2014). No great effort at camouflage or disguise is required if the perpetrators or conspirators can enlist the willing cooperation of many or most in buying into the cover-ups, the denials and the comfortable avoidance of challenge. Stealthy misdirection, misinformation and the power to pay for legal harassment and media control shape a socioeconomic landscape in which the crimes and harms for which the powerful are responsible continue much as ever (Brisman, 2012).

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Authors
  1. Avi Brisman
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  2. Nigel South
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Oslo, Norway

    Ragnhild Aslaug Sollund

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© 2015 Avi Brisman and Nigel South

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Brisman, A., South, N. (2015). State-Corporate Environmental Harms and Paradoxical Interventions: Thoughts in Honour of Stanley Cohen. In: Sollund, R.A. (eds) Green Harms and Crimes. Critical Criminological Perspectives. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137456267_2

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