Codes of Corruption

"Research on corruption has explored both macro and micro levels, but the depth and sufficiency of focus on micro aspects has tended to focus essentially on perceptions and attitudes towards corruption, neglecting the anatomy of corruption as a criminal offence. This book makes an outstanding contribution to this strand of literature by delving into the discursive and interactional efforts and actions individuals engage in during a corrupt exchange. Drawing from an original corpus of (publicly available) recordings of real-life corruption-related offences (bribery, extorsion, insider-trading, abuse of power, etc.) that took place in Mexico, this book offers an innovative in-depth description and theoretical analysis of several micro aspects of the phenomenon: the type of participants to the exchange, the context in which the corrupt approach takes place, the type of language and non-verbal cues used by the actors involved, the type of institutional power and resources mobilised, the nature of decisional goods at stake, to mention the most relevant. The book is not a mere recollection of real-life situations where “individuals negotiate rules, norms, and procedures fairly flexibly, and to some extent creatively”, but a theory-based explanation as to why individuals engage in corruption offences, including personal motivations and risk calculations, existing opportunity structures that constrain and incentivize corrupt behaviour and moral considerations that enable such interactions to develop and proceed smoothly and conform to social norms and expectations. Dissecting the anatomy of corruption through the lenses of critical realism not only enables to understand how corruption operates and affects various aspects of people’s everyday lives and work experiences, but it also offers important insights about the coping strategies and measures decision-makers, organisations and communities can develop to mitigate such illicit practices. The book is an essential reading for scholars, students entering the field, practitioners, teachers, journalists, and civil society organisations.”

Luís Macedo Pinto de Sousa, Ph.D., Principle Researcher at the Instituto de Ciências Sociais, Universidade de Lisboa, former founder and Chair of TI-Portugal and Chair of IPSA/RC20 on Political Finance and Political Corruption

"Corruption is everywhere, from third world countries to the American Supreme Court. To better understand this problem, Codes of Corruption adds what so far has been missing: Actual dialogues of illicit transactions. We get those dialogues furthermore from a critical realist perspective that embeds them in wider structural and cultural conditions. This book accordingly will go far to enhance our understanding of both corruption and the critical realist perspective."

Douglas V. Porpora, Professor of Sociology (Department of Communication, Drexel University, Philadelphia PA 19104, USA), President of IACR (International Association for Critical Realism)

"This book is about an extremely under-researched object of inquiry in Critical Discourse Studies–corruption. Drawing on an innovative methodology based on principles of Critical Realism, Karin Zotzmann focuses on the specific case of systemic corruption in Mexico. She deftly moves from an examination of the deep level mechanisms generating corruption and the institutions in which it emerges, to corrupt activity itself, highlighting especially how corruption is discursively constructed. Through her detailed analysis of audio and video recordings of individuals committing acts of corruption, she shows us new ways of seeing and understanding a phenomenon that has existed since time immemorial. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in corruption, both in the abstract and, importantly, in action."

David Martin Block Allen, Honorary Research Professor in Sociolinguistics, University Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain

"This book is a tour de force that will have cross-disciplinary appeal. Zotzmann addresses an important gap in the corruption studies literature by bringing to the fore a unique, original, and extremely rich corpus of audio and video recordings evidencing corruption in Mexico. The book offers a fascinating analysis of the idiosyncrasies of corruption in a democratic political system where social regulation has been left partly to market forces. Using Critical Realism Theory as the basis of her investigation, Zotzmann opens a new direction for the study of all forms of corruption ranging from the simple to more complex illicit transactions."

Marion Demossier, Professor of French and European Studies, University of Southampton