The Social Harm Project

Exploring the world through a zemiological lens. Understanding the social, economic,
environmental, and political harms that shape everyday life.

What is Zemiology?

Zemiology, often called the study of social harm, asks an important question:
What harms people and communities, regardless of whether those harms are considered crimes?

Traditional criminology focuses on violations of criminal law. Zemiology goes further,
examining poverty, environmental degradation, unsafe workplaces, public health crises,
discrimination, state violence, and other forms of social harm that may never appear in a criminal court.

This website serves as an educational resource for students, educators, and anyone interested
in understanding how social harms are created, experienced, and addressed across contemporary society.

Featured Sections

📚 What is Zemiology?

Learn the foundations of social harm theory and how zemiology differs from traditional criminology.

🏭 Corporate Harm

Examine labor exploitation, environmental damage, financial misconduct, and corporate accountability.

🌎 Environmental Harm

Explore climate change, pollution, ecological destruction, and environmental justice.

⚖ State Harm

Investigate state violence, surveillance, incarceration, and policy-driven harms.

🏥 Public Health

Study health inequalities, pharmaceutical misconduct, pandemics, and access to care.

📊 Inequality

Understand how poverty, housing insecurity, education disparities, and social exclusion create harm.

Featured Article

Why Study Harm Instead of Crime?

Consider two situations. A teenager steals a pair of shoes and is arrested. Meanwhile,
thousands of workers experience wage theft costing far more money collectively than many property crimes.
One act is heavily criminalized. The other frequently receives limited attention.

Zemiology encourages us to think critically about why some harms are treated as major social problems
while others remain hidden or normalized.

#Read the Full Article →

Start Exploring

📖 Recommended Reading

Books, articles, and open-access resources introducing social harm theory.

🎥 Documentary Spotlight

Films examining environmental destruction, inequality, corporate power, and social justice.

🗺 Interactive Harm Map

Visualize environmental, economic, and political harms across the globe.

“The study of social harm challenges us to ask not merely what is criminal,
but what causes unnecessary suffering.”

The Social Harm Project | Educational Resource on Zemiology and Social Harm