In recent years, issues of terrorism and organized crime have gained an unprecedented profile, provoked significant social concern, and dominated both law-and-order and many wider social policy agendas. The University of Essex MA Organised Crime, Terrorism and Security course draws on state-of-the-art research to address key critical issues surrounding organized criminality and terrorism in contemporary society.

Essex involves multi-level analyses of organized crime as a concept, alongside the impacts of urbanization, migration and globalization upon both the practice of crime and the ways in which humans understand them. Students will address cutting-edge critical, conceptual and theoretical analyses of terrorism and counter-terrorism.

This course provides students with a strong grounding in the key theories, understandings and issues relating to organized crime and terrorism. Students explore topics including: globalization and organized crime; mafia, corruption and power; drug trafficking and illicit trades; security and the state; analysis, politics and prevention of terrorism; ethics of human rights; the hacker ethics.