Skip to main content

Crime, justice and capitalism: Justifying violence on moral grounds


By Bhabani Shankar Nayak*
The right-wing henchmen and their liberal brethren provide moral justifications for extra judicial deaths during colonial plunders and imperialist wars. From Iraq wars to the killing of Osama Bin Laden, and from honour killings to domestic violence, police encounters, and custodial deaths around the world are part of the same genealogy, that justifies violence on moral grounds. Colonialism as civilising mission, imperialist wars for democracy and human rights are products of unfounded moral discourses shaped by the ruling class propaganda. The moral arguments continue to provide justifications to institutionalise violence and patronise it in the name of nationalism, religion, community and caste honour. The masses fall into such false intellectual narrative and celebrate such extra judicial, structural and institutionalised violence as justice. It has shaped the Orwellian proverbial expression.“Those who live by the sword die by the sword. Those who do not die by the sword die of smelly diseases”. Such a violent social formulation derives its cultural legitimacy from Christian theology. The Gospel of Matthew echoes it by saying “sword shall perish with the sword”. The patronage of violence is an integral part of most of the world religions. The idea of god and religions will perish without cherishing the ideals of violence and fear in the name of justice. In this way, normalisation and naturalisation of violence as justice derives its legitimacy from religious and moral discourses, which is antithetical to ideals of justice.
The moral foundation of extra judicial killing as justice is not new in the world. The modified version of the Hammurabian code and Anglo-Saxon culture of crime, evidence, punishment and justice continues to resonate in the 21st century judicial praxis. The origin and growth of crime and its moral foundation is intrinsically linked with ascendancy of private property from feudalism to finance capital. The economic construction of society and transformation of individual as a mere producer and consumer in support of capitalism both in its old and new forms led to the rise of crime. The culture of consumerism has promoted a culture of competition, where realisation of one’s own self-interest is supreme goal. The capitalist transformation of need-based culture to a desire-based culture with the help of advertisement industry, which has destroyed collective foundations of society. The ascendancy of capitalism has increased wealth without diminishing miseries. It has led to the concentration of wealth in the hands of few, and growth of huge social and economic in inequalities in the society.
The rotten capitalist system continues to produce miseries for many and prosperity for the few. Laws are made by the capitalist classes to protect their own interests. The Corn Laws were made to uphold the interests of landed aristocracies, mercantile classes and industrial bourgeoisie in early 19th century England. The legacies of such laws continue to exist today in different parts of the world. The special economic zones, industrial zones, agricultural zones, export and import zones are classic examples of policies, working conditions and labour laws, which disempower the working-class masses and empowers capitalist classes. The strong-security state and conformist bourgeois judiciary is important to provide protection to the private properties of capitalist classes. The capitalist system not only produces crime, it also uses organised criminal gangs to promote its regimes of capitalist profit accumulation.
Historically, alienating capitalist system is an organic incubator for crime and criminals. There is nothing new in the criminogenic character of capitalism. The law is used and interpreted differently to different classes of people. As a result of which American prisons are over flowing with black, ethnic minority and working-class population whereas Indian prisons packed with lower caste, tribal and poor population. The criminals have their classes. The punishments and prison cells are different according to their class location of the criminals. If criminals are rich and powerful; the law takes a different course whereas law takes its own course with poor and vulnerable. The unequal availability and accessibility to police, law and judiciary did not help society to grow in an egalitarian way. The police, law firms, solicitors, judiciary and prisons did not deliver justice. These judicial institutions of law and order did not help to eradicate social and economic problems of our times. It has rather helped to consolidate the power of the capitalist elites while the masses continue to suffer in different forms of miseries.
The contemporary capitalism is organised around ideals of illiberal and undemocratic governance of the society in which citizens are free consumers and wage labours. The ideals of individual liberty, freedom and rights are cosmetic covers to criminogenic face of capitalism. The capitalist societies do not overcome the problem of crime but it opens up in frontiers of crime every day in different stages of its development. The culture of crime and punishment is an integral part of the proportional retributive judicial system with bourgeois spirit in which ‘popular/elite consciousness and an element of desire for revenge’ plays key role shaping laws to regulate crime and criminals. The capitalist judicial system is based on the perceived notion of ‘good’ and ‘bad’. Such a system disciplines the citizens and does not destroy the crime and criminals. It does not reform the criminals or did not provide the environment for the criminals to develop their abilities to reform themselves. It normalises and naturalises the culture of crime within retributive judicial system that complements capitalism. The moral foundations of retributive justice derive its legitimacy from major religions of the world. There is nothing modern about it. It is feudal, medieval and barbaric in letter and spirit. The social, economic, religious and cultural conditions that produce crime and promotes criminals continue to thrive under capitalist patronage. Such a system moves the society into unending darkness of injustice.
It is time to understand and unravel the innate goodness and human values in human beings, which are destroyed by capitalist cultures. Crimes and capitalisms are unnatural whereas love and peace is natural to all human beings in all societies. The cosmetic vicissitudes of capitalism and its actuarial justice cannot solve the problems of crime. The world needs new language of penology by addressing the alienating capitalist conditions that produces and patronises crime and criminals. The establishment of a crime free society is possible and inevitable. It depends on our abilities to struggle for an egalitarian economy, democratic society and non-discriminatory governance based on progressive politics of peace and prosperity. Such decriminalised transformations depend on unwavering commitment of people’s struggles to ideals of liberty, equality, fraternity and justice for all. These ideals are indivisible to establish a crime free, punishment free and prison free society based on harmony and love for each other.
—
*Coventry University, UK

Comments

Post a Comment

TRENDING

Grueling summer ahead: Cuttack’s alarming health trends and what they mean for Odisha

By Sudhansu R Das  The preparation to face the summer should begin early in Odisha. People in the state endure long, grueling summer months starting from mid-February and extending until the end of October. This prolonged heat adversely affects productivity, causes deaths and diseases, and impacts agriculture, tourism and the unorganized sector. The social, economic and cultural life of the state remains severely disrupted during the peak heat months.
Post a Comment
»

Stronger India–Russia partnership highlights a missed energy breakthrough

By N.S. Venkataraman*  The recent visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to India was widely publicized across several countries and has attracted significant global attention. The warmth with which Mr. Putin was received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was particularly noted, prompting policy planners worldwide to examine the implications of this cordial relationship for the global economy and political climate. India–Russia relations have stood on a strong foundation for decades and have consistently withstood geopolitical shifts. This is in marked contrast to India’s ties with the United States, which have experienced fluctuations under different U.S. administrations.
Post a Comment
»

From natural farming to fair prices: Young entrepreneurs show a new path

By Bharat Dogra   There have been frequent debates on agro-business companies not showing adequate concern for the livelihoods of small farmers. Farmers’ unions have often protested—generally with good reason—that while they do not receive fair returns despite high risks and hard work, corporate interests that merely process the crops produced by farmers earn disproportionately high profits. Hence, there is a growing demand for alternative models of agro-business development that demonstrate genuine commitment to protecting farmer livelihoods.
Post a Comment
»

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor*  This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.
Post a Comment
»

The Vande Mataram debate and the politics of manufactured controversy

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  The recent Vande Mataram debate in Parliament was never meant to foster genuine dialogue. Each political party spoke past the other, addressing its own constituency, ensuring that clips went viral rather than contributing to meaningful deliberation. The objective was clear: to construct a Hindutva narrative ahead of the Bengal elections. Predictably, the Lok Sabha will likely expunge the opposition’s “controversial” remarks while retaining blatant inaccuracies voiced by ministers and ruling-party members. The BJP has mastered the art of inserting distortions into parliamentary records to provide them with a veneer of historical legitimacy.
Post a Comment
»

Concerns raised over move to rename MGNREGA, critics call it politically motivated

By A Representative   Concerns have been raised over the Union government’s reported move to rename the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), with critics describing it as a politically motivated step rather than an administrative reform. They argue that the proposed change undermines the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi and seeks to appropriate credit for a programme whose relevance has been repeatedly demonstrated, particularly during times of crisis.
Post a Comment
»

Why India must urgently strengthen its policies for an ageing population

By Bharat Dogra   A quiet but far-reaching demographic transformation is reshaping much of the world. As life expectancy rises and birth rates fall, societies are witnessing a rapid increase in the proportion of older people. This shift has profound implications for public policy, and the need to strengthen frameworks for healthy and secure ageing has never been more urgent. India is among the countries where these pressures will intensify most sharply in the coming decades.
Post a Comment
»

Thota Sitaramaiah: An internal pillar of an underground organisation

By Harsh Thakor*  Thota Sitaramaiah was regarded within his circles as an example of the many individuals whose work in various underground movements remained largely unknown to the wider public. While some leaders become visible through organisational roles or media attention, many others contribute quietly, without public recognition. Sitaramaiah was considered one such figure. He passed away on December 8, 2025, at the age of 65.
Post a Comment
»

School job scam and the future of university degree holders in West Bengal

By Harasankar Adhikari  The school recruitment controversy in West Bengal has emerged as one of the most serious governance challenges in recent years, raising concerns about transparency, institutional accountability, and the broader impact on society. Allegations that school jobs were obtained through irregular means have led to prolonged legal scrutiny, involving both the Calcutta High Court and the Supreme Court of India. In one instance, a panel for high school teacher recruitment was ultimately cancelled after several years of service, following extended judicial proceedings and debate.
Post a Comment
»