Globalisation and Crime in a Global Age
Globalisation, the increasing interconnectedness of economies, cultures and communication across national borders, has reshaped the scale and nature of crime. Held et al describe globalisation as intensifying worldwide social relations so distant events and actors increasingly affect one another, and sociologists apply this to what Castells calls the 'global criminal economy': the trafficking of drugs, firearms and people (including for sexual exploitation), the smuggling of goods, and cybercrime, all of which exploit weak border controls, uneven law enforcement between countries, and instant global communication and finance. Glenny's study of transnational organised crime, popularised as 'McMafia', shows how criminal networks emerged and expanded rapidly by exploiting the political and economic instability of the post-Soviet transition, forming globally connected criminal enterprises that operate much like legitimate multinational businesses. Hobbs and Dunnighan describe much organised crime as 'glocal': locally rooted criminal groups and relationships that are simultaneously plugged into wider global networks and markets, rather than crime being either purely local or purely global. Beck's concept of 'risk society' argues that globalisation produces new, often invisible, manufactured risks, such as cybercrime and transnational terrorism, that cross borders easily and are difficult for any single nation state to control alone.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Define globalisation precisely before applying it to crime: the increasing economic, cultural and communication interconnectedness between countries, which changes both the scale (crime can now span many countries) and the nature (new crime types, such as cybercrime, become possible) of criminal activity.
- Explain Castells's global criminal economy as a list of specific activities rather than a vague reference to 'international crime': drug, arms and human trafficking, migrant smuggling, and cybercrime, each exploiting weak or uneven border and law enforcement.
- Use Glenny's 'McMafia' study to give a concrete historical case: the collapse of Soviet-era state control created conditions for organised crime networks to grow rapidly and then expand internationally, functioning much like legitimate global businesses in structure and reach.
- Explain Hobbs and Dunnighan's 'glocal' concept precisely, since it is often misused: it does not mean crime is either local or global, but that the same criminal groups and relationships are rooted in a specific local context while also being connected into wider global networks and markets.
- Use Beck's risk society to explain why globalised crime is particularly hard to police: manufactured risks like cybercrime and transnational terrorism are often invisible until they materialise, cross borders instantly, and outstrip the capacity of any single national police force or legal system acting alone.
- If the item describes a specific type of cross-border crime or criminal network, identify whether it best illustrates Castells's global criminal economy, Glenny's organised-crime expansion, Hobbs and Dunnighan's glocal concept, or Beck's risk society before generalising.
- For an evaluative answer, note that globalisation theories can overstate how new these crimes are (smuggling and trafficking existed before modern globalisation) and that responses remain heavily dependent on international cooperation between states with different laws, resources and priorities.
- For a 30-mark essay, plan a paragraph on the global criminal economy, a paragraph on organised crime's global-local structure, an evaluation paragraph on policing difficulties and the limits of the globalisation argument, and a conclusion answering the specific question set.
Worked example
Item A: Investigators found that a criminal network based in one city was coordinating drug shipments sourced from several different countries, using online communication to arrange deals and international bank transfers to move profits, while still relying on trusted local contacts to distribute the drugs on the ground. Applying material from Item A and your knowledge, analyse two ways globalisation has changed the organisation of crime. (10 marks)
- Identify the item's two levels of activity: cross-border sourcing, communication and finance, alongside reliance on trusted local, on-the-ground contacts.
- Way 1: use Castells's global criminal economy to explain the cross-border elements, drug sourcing from multiple countries and international bank transfers show how criminal enterprises now exploit global trade and financial networks much as legitimate businesses do.
- Develop way 1: note that online communication, referenced in the item, allows coordination across countries that would previously have required much slower, riskier physical contact, speeding up and expanding the network's reach.
- Way 2: use Hobbs and Dunnighan's 'glocal' concept for the item's local distribution detail, the network still depends on trusted local contacts for distribution, showing organised crime is not purely global but combines a global structure with local, relationship-based roots.
- Add a brief point using Beck's risk society: this kind of network, invisible until investigators uncovered it, illustrates how globalised crime can operate largely undetected across borders until it materialises as a discovered risk.
- Check both ways are tied explicitly to the item's specific detail about sourcing/finance and local distribution, not a generic account of globalisation and crime.
Practice questions
Try each question, then tap to reveal the answer.
Q1According to Castells, what activities make up the 'global criminal economy'?Show answer
Answer: The trafficking of drugs, firearms and people (including for sexual exploitation), the smuggling of goods, and cybercrime, all exploiting weak border controls and global communication and finance.
Q2What did Glenny's 'McMafia' study show about the origins of major transnational organised crime networks?Show answer
Answer: That they expanded rapidly by exploiting the political and economic instability of the post-Soviet transition, growing into globally connected criminal enterprises structured much like legitimate multinational businesses.
Q3Explain Hobbs and Dunnighan's concept of 'glocal' crime.Show answer
Answer: The idea that organised crime groups are rooted in specific local relationships and territory while simultaneously being connected into wider global criminal networks and markets, rather than being purely local or purely global.
Q4What does Beck mean by 'risk society' and how does it apply to globalised crime?Show answer
Answer: The idea that modern societies increasingly face manufactured, often invisible risks, such as cybercrime and transnational terrorism, that cross borders easily and are difficult for any single nation state to control alone.
Q5Give one reason cybercrime is harder to police than traditional local crime.Show answer
Answer: It can be committed from anywhere in the world against a victim in another country, crossing legal jurisdictions and making it difficult for any single national police force to investigate or prosecute alone.
Q6State one criticism of the claim that globalisation has fundamentally changed the nature of crime.Show answer
Answer: Trafficking and cross-border smuggling existed well before modern globalisation, so critics argue globalisation theory can overstate how genuinely new these crimes are, rather than seeing them as an intensification of older patterns.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a A Level Sociology exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Outline two features of the global criminal economy.
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Item B: A cybercrime unit reported that a single fraud operation had targeted victims in over a dozen countries simultaneously, with the perpetrators based in a country whose laws made prosecution difficult, and with money moved through several international accounts before investigators lost track of it. Applying material from Item B and your knowledge, analyse two reasons globalisation makes some crimes harder for national governments to control. (10 marks)
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Item C: A transnational organised crime group is reported to source products in one country, process and package them in a second, and sell them through local, community-based distributors in a third, while using encrypted global communication to coordinate the entire operation and international banking to launder its profits. Applying material from Item C and your knowledge, evaluate the claim that globalisation has transformed the scale and nature of crime. (30 marks)
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See real A Level Sociology past-paper questions, with official mark schemes →
Free printable worksheet
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