Corruption and the Secret of Law

Monique Nuijten, Associate Professor, Rural Development Sociology, Wageningen University and Research Centre, The Netherlands and Gerhard Anders, Senior Lecturer, Institute of Social Anthropology, University of Zurich, Switzerland.

• Contents: Corruption and the secret of law: an introduction, Gerhard Anders and Monique Nuijten. Part 1 Systemic Corruption and Bureaucratic Itineraries: Hidden acts, open talks. How anthropology can 'observe' and describe corruption, Giorgio Blundo; Deep corruption in Indonesia: discourses, practices, histories, Heinzpeter Znoj. Part 2 The Indeterminacy of the Law and the Legal Profession: Corruption judgments in pre-war Japan: locating the influence of tradition, morality, and trust on criminal justice, Andrew MacNaughton and Kam Bill Wong; Corrupted files: cross-fading defense strategies of a Vesuvian lawyer, Livia Holden and Giovanni Tortora. Part 3 Corruption Accusations and Political Imaginaries: Corruption narratives and the power of concealment: the case of Burundi's civil war, Simon Turner; The orchestration of corruption and excess enjoyment in Western Mexico, Pieter de Vries. Part 4 State Officials in the Twilight Zone: Corruption or social capital? Tact and the performance of guanxi in market socialist China, Alan Smart and Carolyn L. Hsu; Corruption in the US borderlands with Mexico: the 'purity' of society and the 'perversity' of borders, Josiah McC. Heyman and Howard Campbell; Index.

'Through rich ethnographic studies, this groundbreaking volume considers new ways to think and theorise about "corruption", the law and (im)morality. It will redefine and productively reshape what we think we know about "corruption" in our world today.' Todd Sanders, University of Toronto, Canada 'This volume represents a theoretically sophisticated and ethnographically well-grounded exploration of the vernacular meanings of practices that may be termed "corrupt". The book shows that corruption is the obscene underside of the law, and that the moral outrage which corruption generates reflect a desire for "the law" to be more real and firm.' Thomas Blom Hansen, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands