BETWEEN MORALITY AND THE LAW: CORRUPTION, ANTHROPOLOGY AND COMPARATIVE SOCIETY; ED. BY ITALO PARDO

This book explores illegal forms of corruption and, more widely, moral and legal forms of corruption. The authors draw on detailed ethnographic accounts of corrupt practice at local, national and international levels. Coverage includes both Western and non-Western societies, from Italy to Latin America, to Albania, Africa and post-Soviet bureaucracy in Russia, Mongolia and Kazakhstan. There is also a chapter on corruption in the context of globalization. Key issues discussed include the problems caused by the inflated rhetoric of corruption and by the inadequacy of official definitions. The authors look at measures designed to bring corruption under some degree of control, discussing the level of legal intervention compatible with public expectations and with the dynamics of trust and responsibility. This fascinating book makes a significant contribution to our understanding of conflicting public and private moralities. - from publisher's website Drawing On Detailed Enthnographies, The Contributors Address Illegal Forms Of Corruption And More Widely, Moral And Legal Forms Of Corruption In Western And Non-western Societies. Based On Descriptive Analyses Of Corrupt Practices At And Beyoud The Local Level, It Stands As A Demonstration That Empirical Investigation Can Be Carried Out. The Work Draws On Long-term Research Based On A Combination Of Traditional Anthropological Methods, Background Knowledge And The Study Of Documentary Sources.--jacket. Interěs, Morality And Legality In Southern Spain / John Corbin -- Where It Hurts : An Italian Case Of Graded And Stratified Corruption / Italo Pardo -- Corruption Between Morality And Legitimacy In The Context Of Globalization / Arcibaldo Miller -- 'the Devil Is Not As Wicked As People Believe, Neither Is The Albanian' : Corruption Between Moral Discourses And National Identity / Giuliana B. Prato -- Shanghaied By The Bureaucracy : Bribery And Post-soviet Officialdom In Russia And Mongolia / Caroline Humphrey And David Sneath -- Corruption In Post-soviet Kazakhstan / Jacob Rigi -- Rotten Talk : Corruption As A Part Of Discourse In Contemporary Latvia / Klavs Sedlenieks -- The 'cancer Of Corruption' / Elizabeth Harrison -- Corruption As The Mirror Of The State In Latin America / John Gledhill. Edited By Italo Pardo. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Contents 6 List of Contributors 8 1 Introduction: Corruption, Morality and the Law 10 2 Interés, Morality and Legality in Southern Spain 28 3 Where it Hurts: An Italian Case of Graded and Stratified Corruption 42 4 Corruption Between Morality and Legitimacy in the Context of Globalization 62 5 ‘The Devil is not as Wicked as People Believe, Neither is the Albanian’: Corruption Between Moral Discourses and National Identity 78 6 Shanghaied by the Bureaucracy: Bribery and Post-Soviet Officialdom in Russia and Mongolia 94 7 Corruption in Post-Soviet Kazakhstan 110 8 Rotten Talk: Corruption as a Part of Discourse in Contemporary Latvia 128 9 The ‘Cancer of Corruption’ 144 10 Corruption as the Mirror of the State in Latin America 164 Index 190 Drawing on detailed ethnographies, the contributors to this volume address illegal forms of corruption and, more widely, moral and legal forms of corruption Abuses of power are almost certainly present in all systems where there are marked asymmetries of power.