State Crime, Human Rights and Global Wrongs explores sociological and criminological approaches to the study of state deviance, crime, human rights and human rights violations in contemporary society.

You will develop the necessary analytical, theoretical and critical skills to examine a range of conceptual and theoretical issues around state crime, human rights, and human rights violations.

The module critically engages with a range of pertinent questions related to state crime and human rights including but not limited to: To what extent can the state be defined as criminal? What is the state’s role in promoting and aiding and abetting crime, deviance, and human rights violations? What is the impact of state criminality on the implementation and security of human rights? How successful are international legal instruments in promoting the protection and security of human rights? What impact does ‘a culture of human rights’ have on the extent to which human rights can be secured in practice?

Critically evaluating the above questions is achieved through an engagement with a range of historical and contemporary case studies which examine state complicity in crimes related to (including but not limited to) genocide, apartheid, terror and torture.