This book examines the politics of harm in the context of palm oil
production in Colombia, with a primary focus on the Pacific coast
region. Globally, the palm oil industry is associated with practices
that fit the most conventional definitions and perceptions of crime, but
also crucially, forms of social and environmental harm that do not fit
strictly legalistic definitions and understandings of crime. Drawing on
rich field-based data from the region, Mol contributes empirically to an
awareness of the constructions, practices, and the lived and perceived
realities of harm related to palm oil production. She advances
criminological debate around 'harm' by putting forward a theoretical and
analytical approach that redirects the debate from a central concern
with the academic contestedness of harm within criminology, towards a
focus on the 'on-the-ground' contestedness of palm oil-related harm in
Colombia. Detailed analysis and arresting conclusions ensure this book
will be of great interest to students and scholars in the fields of
Green and Critical Criminology, Environmental Sociology, and
International and Critical Development Studies.