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State-Corporate Crime and Social Harm in the Spanish Crisis
Abstract
Since 2008, Spain has been facing a deep economic and financial crisis, which has generated significant levels of social harm among its inhabitants. This article highlights the destructive connections which exist between the financial crisis and state-corporate crimes; specifically, it focuses upon the criminal symbiosis between private banking and political power, in the contexts of both the state's financial crisis and in the participation of private banking in financing the Spanish military industry.
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Notes
The authors wish to thank Alejandro Piombo, Nanor Hajjar, Steve Tombs and the anonymous reviewers for their comments upon and help in the translation of this article.
For example, see this kind of debate in Cohen ( 1988).
Some authors also opt for this route, opting for a few larger studies that they would call Social Harm Studies. See Lasslett ( 2010b).
See Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca ( 2012). On November 2013, there were already a total of about 600,000 foreclosures. Video interview with David Fernandez on TV3, http://www.tv3.cat/videos/4760111/Fernandez-reafirma-que-Rato-es-un-gangster-i-responsable-impune-de-la-crisis.
When the Spanish Constitutional Court had the opportunity of expressing itself about this issue, it decided not to admit the matter of unconstitutionality and decreed that forced executions did not imply defencelessness.
See http://www.publico.es/espana/444422/un-hombre-is-suicide-in-Granada-hours-before-you-be-evicted; http://www.publico.es/espana/445135/una-mujer-se-suicidabarakaldoen-when-you-going-to-beevicted; http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2013/02/12/baleares/1360683950.html
According to PAH data, the Free Association of Lawyers criticized the measure, accusing the Government of “obeying the Troika” (García de Blas 2012).
A quick browse through the Press, beginning from 2010, will crudely show the occurrence of a dozen suicides due to economic reasons, especially when facing evictions.
Even though on 17 January 2013, the vice-president of the government very enthusiastically announced the creation of such a fund, there were, actually, only 6,000 available houses, when the number of evicted families exceed 200,000.
The popular pressure has also achieved a jurisprudential shift to accepting the nullity of certain high-risk financial-product contracts, such as the Preferential Participations or the so-called “swaps”, based upon the error of the manifested contract will.
Peaceful demonstrations from some citizens at the homes or workplaces of certain individuals, usually politicians, to denounce bank and mortgage law abuses with the aim of urging legislative reforms.
See El País , 13 April 2013: http://politica.elpais.com/politica/2013/04/13/actualidad/1365848717_144600.html.
Actually, they are “covert” operations. The authors argue that, for example, while there are arms embargos decreed over certain countries, sales can be made to other countries free of such embargos with the awareness that the arms will be then transferred to the state in which the embargo has been placed (Rothe and Collins 2011: 23).
Regarding Instalaza and the double discourse employed by the Spanish authorities with respect to the use of weapons and certain countries' political systems, it would be important to remember the finding of a cluster bomb cap manufactured by the mentioned company during the attacks of Gaddafi's regime over the population of Misrata during the Libyan war in 2011 (Calvo Rufanges et al. 2012).
By type of investment, these links include the following: (1) shareholdings, (2) loans, (3) investment funds, (4) issuance of bonds and stocks and (5) financing of exports. It was €45,460,963,985 altogether (Calvo Rufanges 2012).
The Spanish military companies that did direct business with the private banks are EADS Construcciones Aeronáuticas (EADS Casa, subsidiary of EADS), Eurocopter España (subsidiary of EADS), Indra, Maxam (including its subsidiaries Expal and Faex), Navantia, Santa Bárbara Sistemas (subsidiary of General Dynamics), Sapa Placencia, Tecnobit and Urovesa (Calvo Rufanges et al. 2012: 10).
As we completed the final draft of this article, the awful fact of the death of around 15 people who tried to cross one of the fences that divide the uncivilized form the civilized space (Ceuta) highlighted once again the criminogenic power of the defence policy from the Fortress Europe. Once again, is it only social harm or is it a massive interstate/regional crime?