Neoliberal Globalization And Poverty

The argument thus far has been that the neoliberal globalization has contributed to the poverty in the developing regions through the means of neoliberal policy prescription and inadequate representation of the developing countries' interests on the global stage. Poverty rates on the other hand, seem to be correlated with crime rates. It was argued by Webster and Kingston (2014) that the weaker economy seems to correlate with higher criminal activity “A weaker economy usually quickly leads to more unemployed and underemployed people who may seek criminal opportunities as alternatives to poor or non-existent work.” (p. 24). By impoverishing the developing countries, neoliberal globalization creates perfect conditions for crime to thrive in as
a major recession leading to a sudden 5 percent drop in GDP would produce an instantaneous 50 percent increase in the robbery rate.” (p. 186). There certainly seems to be a connection between the economic performance of the country and property crime, but a connection between poverty and crime is yet to be established. Let’s turn to homicide rates in the developing countries. According to Bourguignon (2009) increase to poverty leads to a greater number of homicides “... a 1 percent point increase in the population of poor people would produce, on average, an instantaneous 2.5 percent increase in the number of homicides.” (p. 186). Furthermore, it was argued by Webster and Kingston (2014) that crime can also reinforce poverty and higher levels of crime “At the same time, people are more likely to be at home rather than at work protecting their homes from burglary and yet, motivation to seek other avenues to material gain like criminality opens up.” (p. 24). Although it is not certain whether crime causes poverty or the other way around, it seems convincing that there is a connection between these two
Organized crime was defined by Jan Van Dijk (2007) as “...criminal activities for material benefit by groups that engage in extreme violence, corruption of public officials, including law enforcement and judicial officers, penetration of the legitimate economy (e.g. through racketeering and money-laundering)and interference in the political process.” (p. 40). According Van Dijk (2007) organized crime thrives in vulnerable states “Organized crime is more prevalent in countries where the rule of law is less well assured and vice versa.” (p. 46). As it was previously discussed, neoliberal globalization makes the states of the developing countries weaker that in turn weakens the public services such as law enforcement. According to Sung (2004) vulnerability of the state makes it easier for organized criminal groups to pursue their interests and to recruit people “Extortion is a core predatory activity of mafia power: it creates jobs for the lower cadres, offers a lucrative source of cash to the organization and, crucially, allows for the exercise of economic and political influence over a given territory.” (p. 115). Overall, although the connection is not definite between organized crime and neoliberal globalization, it explains the increasing crime rates, especially property crimes and homicides in the developing regions such as