The Crime of Maldevelopment: Economic Deregulation and Violence in the Global South

253 Pages·2018·5.625 MB·English

by  María Laura Böhm

The Crime of Maldevelopment
This book explores the causal relationship between the deregulation of international
economic interests and the forms of violence that prevail in a large part of the
Global South. More specifically, this book tells the story of how transnational
corporations benefiting from increasing deregulation of their international
economic interests, account for severe harm, the unrelenting violation of human
rights, and maldevelopment in Latin America. Dependent on the structural
deficiencies of the Latin American region, this book tests the examples of the
extractive industries and multinational expansionism and the link between
deregulated economies at the international level and the damaging local effects
that increase what is here called maldevelopment.
Introducing the conceptual category of maldevelopment to criminology, the
author makes recommendations for further research and outlines a network
of possible mechanisms for its prevention and sanction – and for the work of
reparation and construction toward the satisfaction of the needs of the victim
or victimizable populations. This provocative and original text will be essential
reading for those concerned with white-collar crime and crimes of the powerful,
and for researchers in criminology, sociology, law, political science, development
studies and international political economy.
María Laura Böhm is an Argentine-German lawyer at the University of
Buenos Aires and a criminologist at both the National University of Lomas de
Zamora in Argentina and the University of Hamburg in Germany. She obtained
her PhD in Social Sciences from the University of Hamburg (with the support
of a scholarship from the Konrad Adenauer Foundation) and was Post-Doc
Researcher (with a grant from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation) at
Georg-August-Universität Göttingen. Starting in 2015, she became a fulltime
DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) Long-Term Guest Professor at
the Law School of the University of Buenos Aires. Her main research interests are
the link between criminogenic conditions, economy, transnational corporations
and human rights in Latin America, violence and maldevelopment and criminal
and security policies.
Crimes of the Powerful
Gregg Barak, Eastern Michigan University, USA
Penny Green, Queen Mary University of London, UK
Tony Ward, Northumbria University, UK
Crimes of the Powerful encompasses the harmful, injurious and victimizing
behaviors perpetrated by privately or publicly operated businesses, corporations
and organizations as well as the state mediated administrative, legalistic and
political responses to these crimes.
The series draws attention to the commonalities of the theories, practices and
controls of the crimes of the powerful. It focuses on the overlapping spheres and
interrelated worlds of a wide array of existing and recently developing areas of
social, historical and behavioral inquiry into the wrongdoings of multinational
organizations, nation-states, stateless regimes, illegal networks, financialization,
globalization and securitization.
These examinations of the crimes of the powerful straddle a variety of related
disciplines and areas of academic interest, including studies in criminology and
criminal justice; law and human rights; conflict, peace and security; economic
change, environmental decay, and global sustainability.
Torture as State Crime
A Criminological Analysis of the Transnational Institutional Torturer
Melanie Collard
Natural Resources, Extraction and Indigenous Rights in Latin
America
Exploring the Boundaries of Environmental and State-Corporate Crime
in Bolivia, Peru and Mexico
Marcela Torres Wong
The Crime of Maldevelopment
Economic Deregulation and Violence in the Global South
María Laura Böhm
For more information about this series, please visit: w ww.routledge.com/
Crimes-of-the-Powerful/book-series/COTP
The Crime of
Maldevelopment
Economic Deregulation and Violence
in the Global South
María Laura Böhm
First published 2019
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2019 María Laura Böhm
The right of María Laura Böhm to be identified as author of this
work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77
and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted
or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publishers.
Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN: 978-0-815-35377-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-351-13547-4 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
To all young researchers in all disciplines, who aim to go
beyond science, to understand life and to improve lives.

Contents
Acknowledgments xii
Preface xiii
Introduction 1
Some introductory concepts 5
Structure of the book 7
Note 9
References 9
PART I 11
1 The Latin American economy and the political and criminal-
political context 13
The political and economic features of the current Latin American
context 13
Resources, deregulation, neoliberalism and development 17
The impact at the social domestic level 25
Criminal policy in times of deregulation and neoliberalism 27
Free economy, exclusion and violence 32
As a kind of conclusion 33
Notes 34
References 35
Filmography 39
2 Visible and invisible violence according to Johan Galtung 40
The interrelationship between physical, structural and cultural violence 42
Invisible structures of violence in Latin America 45
A historical perspective 45
viii Contents
A simple proposal for analysis 51
Basic needs 51
Non-satisfaction 52
Physical and/or organizational obstacles 53
Avoidability 54
Structural and physical violent relationships between local and
foreign actors 55
The visibilization and action against invisible violence 57
Notes 59
References 60
Filmography 62
PART II 63
3 Seeing invisible violence – case studies from Mexico, Ecuador,
Chile and Argentina 65
The cases and how they will be presented 66
The Salaverna and El Peñasquito cases in Mexico 68
i. The case 68
ii. Relevance of the specific business area or activity 68
iii. Cultural violence in the region “before” 70
iv. Structural violence in the region “before” 71
v. Business, people and the economic situation in the area “during”
and “after” 72
vi. Structural violence in the region “during” and “after” 73
vii. Physical violence in the region “during” and “after” 76
viii. Cultural violence in the region “after” 77
The Texaco/Chevron case in Ecuador 78
i. The case 78
ii. Relevance of the specific business area or activity 78
iii. Invisible violence in the region “before” (cultural and structural) 79
iv. Business, people and the economic situation in the area
“during” and “after” 80
v. Structural violence in the region “during” and “after” 81
vi. Physical violence in the region “during” and “after” 84
vii. Cultural violence in the region “during” and “after” 85
The Ralco case in Chile 87
i. The case 87
ii. Relevance of the specific business area or activity 88
iii. Cultural violence in the region “before” 89
Contents ix
iv. Structural violence in the region “before” 91
v. Business, people and economic situation in the area “during” and
“after” 94
vi. Structural violence in the region “during” and “after” 95
vii. Physical violence in the region “after” 96
viii. Cultural violence in the region “after” 97
The MOCASE case in Argentina 99
i . The case 99
ii. Relevance of the specific business area or activity 101
iii. Cultural violence in the region 104
iv. Structural violence in the region 105
v. Physical violence until today 107
vi. Cultural violence in the region today 110
Violent economy and culture 111
Notes 113
References 115
Filmography 118
4 Linking economy and visible violence – case studies from
Guatemala, Brazil, Peru and Honduras 119
The cases and how they will be presented 120
The Indigenous Women of Lote 8 case in Guatemala 121
The case 121
Indigenous women and their especial situation in the face of the mining
industry 122
Physical violence against women who defend human rights 123
Sexual violence in Lote 8 125
The Matopiba case in Brazil 127
The case 127
The interest of the Matopiba project for economic development 127
The structural and physical negative impact – water and agro-toxics 130
Physical violence 131
The Baguazo case in Peru 133
The case 133
The free trade agreement with the USA 133
Unchecked physical violence 135
In the aftermath 137
The Valle de Siria case in Honduras 138
The case 138
The promise: regulatory simplification to achieve development 139
Death in slow motion 140