From business centres to hustle kingdoms: historical perspectives on innovative models of deviant education

Lazarus, Suleman ORCID: 0000-0003-1721-8519 and Soares, Adebayo Benedict (2025) From business centres to hustle kingdoms: historical perspectives on innovative models of deviant education. International Annals of Criminology. ISSN 0003-4452

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Abstract

The article pioneers the examination of “hustle kingdoms”: illegal cybercrime training academies in West Africa. It explores these entities as innovative and adaptive institutions that emerge in response to systemic socio-economic strain. This article provides a unique analysis of hustle kingdoms by situating their emergence within the region’s socio-economic, cultural and technological trajectories. It does so by assessing the contemporary manifestation of these cybercrime academies with history in mind to understand the past that created them. It highlights how these cybercrime training academies have evolved from earlier forms, thereby showcasing a unique form of deviant innovation. It contributes to existing literature by addressing the critical gap in the scholarly discourse surrounding these entities and their historical evolution. Drawing on Merton’s strain theory, this historical scholarly endeavour examines how systemic barriers to education and employment have fostered deviant innovation, transforming hustle kingdoms from early fraud enterprises into sophisticated, global cybercrime networks. The analysis highlights the structural disparities that sustain their operations by juxtaposing these academies with conventional educational frameworks. The findings offer novel insights into the intersection of inequality, cultural narratives and technological adaptation, positioning hustle kingdoms as both products and catalysts of systemic strain.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2025 International Society of Criminology
Divisions:	Mannheim Centre for Criminology
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology H Social Sciences > HM Sociology H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
Date Deposited:	31 Jan 2025 10:12
Last Modified:	17 Apr 2025 16:03
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/127137

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