Over the past ten years, the study of environmental harm and ‘crimes against nature’ has become an increasingly popular area of research amongst criminologists. This book represents the first international, comprehensive and introductory text for green criminology, offering a concise exposition of theory and concepts and providing extensive geographical coverage, diversity and depth to the many issues pertaining to environmental harm and crime. Divided into three sections, the book draws on a range of international case studies and examples, and looks at the conceptual and methodological foundations of green criminology, before examining in detail areas of environmental crime and harm, and how they are addressed, including: climate change and social conflict; abuse and harm to animals; threats to bio-diversity; pollution and toxic waste; environmental victims; environmental regulation, law enforcement and courts; environmental forensic studies; environmental crime prevention. Green Criminology is packed with pedagogical features, including dialogue boxes, case examples, discussion questions and lists of further reading and is perfect for students around the world engaged with green criminology and crime against the environment.

This article sketches out three broad philosophical frameworks relating to the human/environment nexus—the anthropocentric, biocentric and ecocentric perspectives. It is argued that acknowledgement of these different perspectives is essential in any analysis of environmental harm. To illustrate the importance of an `ecological imagination', each philosophy is considered in relation to the regulation and use of old-growth forest.

This article provides an exploration of how the criminological imagination can provide particular insights into the nature of environmental issues. To illustrate the contribution of criminology to such discussions, the article provides a case study of the social, political and economic dynamics surrounding the provision of drinking water. The article demonstrates the complexities in determining the character, extent and impact of environmental harm. It furthermore identifies diverse and at times competing approaches to environmental regulation and to the prevention of environmental harm.

This article explores the tensions and interplay between human and non-human environmental victims from the point of view of eco-justice. The article begins by sketching out the broad contours of green victimology as a newly emerging area of intellectual engagement. Human victims of environmental harm are not widely recognised as victims of ‘crime’. Moreover, within the category ‘victim’, the non-human environmental victim is seldom considered worthy of attention. From an eco-justice perspective, victimhood can be conceptualised in terms of environmental justice (the victim is human), ecological justice (the victim is specific environments) and species justice (the victim is animals, and plants). Hierarchies of victims between and within each of these categories can be identified. One response to these hierarchies is to assert the notion of ‘equal victimhood’ (based on the notion, for example, that all species should be considered equal or that the natural environment has its own intrinsic worth). However, the eco-justice approach adopted in this article argues that context (both social and ecological) is vital to understanding and responding to specific instances of environmental victimisation. Particular circumstances must be taken into account in the conceptualisations of victimisation and in the moral weighing up of interests and harms in any given situation.

Environmental justice is concerned with the health and wellbeing of individuals, groups and communities in regards to toxic environments. Within this framework, it has long been noted that oil, timber and minerals are extracted in ways that can devastate local ecosystems and destroy traditional cultures and livelihoods. Resource extraction is thus not socially and environmentally neutral but has a number of potential ramifications directly related to ecological wellbeing and human health. The aim of this paper is to explore the social injuries associated with the mining industry, especially as this pertains to vulnerable population groups. As the title indicates, a key concern is what resource extraction leaves behind and how this impacts upon local areas now and into the future.

This paper draws on ideas and research in youth studies in order to compare and con trast three approaches to the notion of social agency. The paper charts how youth stud ies commentators have generally relied upon either a 'deterministic' or a 'voluntaristic' conception of social action in explaining the life worlds of young people. It is argued that a 'contextual' understanding of youth experience provides a better appreciation of how youth agency is constructed by and interfaces with social structures.