Eco-crime and green activism

This chapter argues that the term 'eco-crime' is better able to encapsulate existing legal definitions of environmental crime as well as sociological analyses of those environmental harms not necessarily specified by law. It discusses green activists have formed important networks in environmental law enforcement and are increasingly drawn upon by official agencies for intelligence. Green activists also find themselves part of an emerging environmental crime prevention strategy. The chapter also argues that this occurs more often with eco-crimes committed within local municipalities by residents and small businesses in highly developed countries, and for the purposes of detecting and preventing transnational organized environmental crime, within developing and highly indebted countries. It examines the role of environmental activism in preventing, exposing, and regulating eco-crime. The chapter seeks to understand the dynamics of the environmental protest movement and why green activists are increasingly the targets of corporate and state intervention, while also being relied upon as quasi-state agents of environmental law enforcement.