Detailed ethnographic work (Bourgois 1998, Wakeman, 2015) has shown the rich, complex set of reciprocal obligations and responsibilities by which heroin users in marginal social and economic circumstances maintain a moral economy. The moral economy is instrumental and emotionally bound, locking users into norms of reciprocity and sharing, distributing resources …
The purpose of the exercise is to help you work out your ontological positioning. The reason I have done it this way is to provokes reflection which is easier when faced with a distinct proposition. Say if you agree/disagree with the following statements, and why. Show what the implications of …
The researcher stance should be one of polite but informed puzzlement and a willingness to learn from the world. A few of the posts I have been writing are about different ways to spark your curiosity. It is that willingness to push beyond face value answers and assumptions that is …
This month was mainly spent reviewing references for a paper on darknet markets and illicit drug diffusion. It’s a fine thing to see the academic discussion developing alongside the maturing practices of this illicit market segment. Informative recent paper on where things have been and where it looks like they …
The field of crime and public policy is at a critical turning point. There are new threats such as the rise and commodification of disinformation in the public square, the emergence of distributed criminal infrastructures and organisations that drive cybercrime, and new technologies and platforms that facilitate criminal activity. New …
Thinking about Apple’s travails running its iCloud service in China. As a condition of operating in China the Chinese government insists on physical control over the iCloud servers, meaning users have little protection against state intrusion and Apple are reduced to being a remote manager of the service. One of …
Introduction This paper theorises drug markets through the concept of digital territory. I hypothesis that territorialisation is a critical process involving onshoring and binding the market as a virtual, bounded place. The availability of controlled substances is mediated through two broad and interrelated distribution types. Social supply between friends and …
… and unlike 99% of press releases these actually tell you something and are worth reading DarkSide is a Russian based ransomware group which on May 7th 2021 shut down the East Coast US fuel pipeline network owned by Colonial Pipeline. The group’s ransomware was used to lock up the …
Markets embed a specific kind of illicit drug culture I wanted to think through how the specific configuration of digital illicit markets shape subjectivity. The purpose is to outline how a specific type of online drug focused marketplace produces drug dealer and user subjectivities. Typically, illicit drug distribution can be …
Surveillance has been the big idea of criminology for some time. It appears to be a ubiquitous fact of life in modern societies and an organising principle present in most walks of life. It is present in the lives of call centre workers and bus passengers. It is the go …
