Criminals Without Borders: Beyond the Hype on Illegal Migration, Sexual Trafficking, Small Arms, Blood Diamonds, and other ...
12/03/2008 - 20:00
... transnational pathologies of our times
12 March 2008
20.00 hrs
Lecture by Itty Abraham. Associate Professor of Asian Studies and Government, and Director, South Asia Institute, at University of Texas, Austin.
He is the co-editor (with Willem van Schendel) of Illicit Flows and Criminal Things: States, Borders and the other side of globalization (Indiana University Press, 2005).
Every day we are confronted with media stories of transnational crime ranging from smuggling endangered species to ozone-depleting chemicals and ‘snakeheads,' from opium and heroin to sexual trafficking and slavery. Often it seems as if international criminal gangs represent the epitome of journalist Thomas Friedman's "Flat World" - a dystopic vision of globalization turned on its head. No one knows how much of the world's gross national product is consumed by illegal activities, but, over a decade ago, the United Nations Conference on Global Organized Crime estimated the value of the world's trade in illegal drugs alone at US$500 billion. Adding the fear of global terrorism to this scale of transnational crime makes it appear as if the future of Western societies is in grave danger.
While no one doubts the seriousness of these matters, taken individually, it is vital to raise questions about their collective status. In particular, we need to be able to distinguish the work of crime networks from the individual actions of people working at the margins of international life, we need to interrogate the meaning of ‘crime' when we lack a common international standard for most activities falling under that label, and, most important, we need to understand far better how "criminal" practices are often intertwined with "non-criminal" activities on an everyday basis. Not making these distinctions may consign major multinational corporations to a world of criminality; worse still, not making these distinctions may offer legitimacy to immoral but official actions.
12 March 2008, in De Rode Hoed, Keizersgracht 102, 1015 CV Amsterdam
Start: 20.00 uur
Admission: 8,- / 7,- euro (CJP/65+/Stadspas)
Please make a reservation via www.rodehoed.nl, or by telephone (020) 638 56 06
Free admission with student card!!! But please make a reservation.
Lezingen en discussies over Mensen en grenzen
In de laatste decennia hebben globalisering en transnationalisme geleid tot wereldwijde bewegingen van kapitaal, goederen en mensen. Deze lezingenserie besteedt aandacht aan de verplaatsingen van mensen binnen en over internationale grenzen in Europa en Azië.
Locatie
De Rode Hoed
Keizersgracht 102
1015 CV Amsterdam
Tel.: 020 - 638 56 06
Toegangsprijs: €8,-/ €7,-
Passe-partout
zes lezingen €35,00
Reserveren is wenselijk
Informatie: www.rodehoed.nl
Research website: http://www.iias.nl/ibl