Governance of the Illegal Trade in E-Waste and Tropical Timber : Case Studies on Transnational Environmental Crime

This book investigates the illegal trade in electronic waste and tropical timber, major forms of transnational environmental crime. The author employs a qualitative multi-method research approach combining document analysis, interviews with key informants and field visits, and focusses on the flows that pass through the research setting of the Port of Antwerp in Belgium and those between Europe and West and Central Africa. The study examines the emergence and social organization of these flows, the range of factors that together provide the motivations and opportunities, and their governance.

This book responds to the call for more research on transnational environmental crime and its governance by investigating the illegal trade in electronic waste (e-waste) and tropical timber, major forms of transnational environmental crime. The book is based on a qualitative multi-method research combining document analysis, interviews with key informants and field visits. Bisschop focuses on the flows that pass through the research setting of the Port of Antwerp (Belgium) and those between Europe and West and Central Africa. The study examines the emergence and social organization of these transnational environmental flows, illustrating that although profit or lure play a very important role, a range of factors on individual, organizational and societal levels together provide the motivations and opportunities. Building on these insights, the book addresses the governance of these two cases. The responsive regulatory pyramid and networked governance are used as theoretical frameworks for this analysis. This book is essential reading for scholars and academics interested in transnational environmental crime and corporate crime, as well as governance studies.