Despite the devastation caused by environmental catastrophes, these phenomena have yet
to garner significant attention as a subject of criminological inquiry. This thesis is framed
by the following question: How can we problematize the notion of “natural” disaster to
arrive at a criminological understanding of human culpability in the production of harm?
I argue that the degree of human suffering caused by natural disasters is aggravated by
imperialistic state crimes, which predispose populations to conditions of vulnerability and
dependency. I substantiate this argument with an analysis of Haiti and demonstrate how
its history of imperialistic exploitation by the US amounted to a pattern of state crime
victimization that marginalized Haitians and, consequently, shaped their suffering from
the 2010 earthquake. The story of Haiti exemplifies the relationship between the
contemporary hardships of a natural disaster and the historical injustices of state crime,
thus illuminating the relevance of a criminology of catastrophe. / UOIT
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:OOSHDU.10155/170 |
| Date | 01 July 2011 |
| Creators | San Antonio, Jaclyn Tricia |
| Contributors | Perry, Barbara, Ammar, Nawal, Alvi, Shahid |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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