Special issue of State Crime Journal on AI and State Crime – call for articles

Special Issue: AI and State Crime by Daragh Murray & Dimitri Van Den Meerssche

The State Crime Journal invites proposals for a special issue on ‘AI and State Crime’, to be coordinated by Dr. Daragh Murray and Dr. Dimitri Van Den Meerssche. AI is now established as a prominent field of academic study, attracting attention from disciplines as diverse as computer science, international law, and sociology. It is only recently, however, that prominent real-world examples involving the use of AI in the commission of State crime have emerged. Perhaps the most high-profile examples have been the rapid adoption of AI technologies for the planning and perpetuation of hostilities in Gaza, Lebanon and Ukraine. The use of AI in war is, however, only the tip of the iceberg. AI has been involved in practices of migration management and the commission and expansion of violence at the border, where it is used to target people on the move. Internally, AI technologies – including facial recognition, predictive policing and geo-fencing – have been implicated in the commission of State violence, miscarriages of justice, and the repression of racialized and minoritized communities. AI tools for social welfare fraud protection have also been used to target the poor with devastating consequences, as demonstrated by the SyRI and Robodebt scandals in the Netherlands and Australia.

In this special issue, we want to critically explore case studies where AI has been or is being deployed in the commission of State crimes. We are hereby adopting a deliberately broad understanding of State crime, and welcome contributions across a range of different AI use cases. We welcome contributions from any relevant disciplines, or inter-disciplinary pieces.

Scholars from marginalized groups are strongly encouraged to submit proposals. We also invite collaborative submissions between authors from the Global North and South, as well as partnerships between academics and activists.

If you have an questions, or wish to discuss a proposal, please contact both the editors at: d.murray@qmul.ac.uk and d.vandenmeerssche@qmul.ac.uk.

All submissions will be subject to initial review and sifting by the editors, with suitable papers sent for double blind peer review. The submission deadline is 1 September 2025. Full information on submission guidelines can be found here.