Social Construction of Corruption in Europe

Dirk Tänzler, professor at the Department of History and Sociology of Konstanz University, Germany, coordinator of the EU-research projects 'Crime and Culture. Crime as a Cultural Problem' (2006-2009) and 'Promotion of Participation and Citizenship in Europe: Advocacy and Legal Advice Centres (ALACs). Analysis and Enhancement of an Anti-Corruption Tool to Enable Better Informed and Effective Citizen Participation' (2009-2012). Visiting Professor at Vienna University (2005, 2006), Zurich University 2007, Lucerne University 2008, publications in the field of cultural, visual, political, economic sociology, sociology of knowledge, sociology of corruption, social theory and methodology. Konstadinos Maras, research fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, Essen, Germany and research fellow in the EU-projects 'Crime and Culture' and 'ALACs'. Lecturer at the Faculty of Cultural Sciences of the University of Tübingen and research associate at the "European Centre for Scientific, Ecumenical and Cultural Co-operation" in Würzburg. Visiting Scholar at the Center for International and Area Studies at Yale University, USA (2004). He has published in critical theory, aesthetics, European identity and integration and political corruption. Angelos Giannakopoulos, Research and Teaching Associate at the Department of History and Sociology of Konstanz University, Germany, Head of Office of the EU-research projects 'Crime and Culture' and 'ALACs'. Visiting Professor at the Universities of Cyprus (2007, 2008), Galatasaray Istanbul (2007) and Budapest (2004), Visiting Scholar at the Centre for International and Area Studies at Yale University, USA (2004) and at Waseda University, Tokyo (2007). He has published in the fields of the sociology of culture, political sociology and European integration.

• Contents: Introduction; The social construction of corruption: theoretical reflections, Dirk Tänzler, Konstadinos Maras, Angelos Giannakopoulos and Ralf Rogowski. Part 1 Disenchanted Modernity: New public management and risks for corruption: the case of Sweden, Staffan Andersson and Gissur Ó Erlingsson; Integrity issues in the United Kingdom: an emerging debate, David Hine and Gillian Peele; The German myth of a corruption-free modern country, Dirk Tänzler, Konstadinos Maras and Angelos Giannakopoulos; Corruption in France: structural and contextual conditions, Hervé Rayner; When anti-corruption policy fails: the Italian case 18 years after mani pulite investigations, Donatella Della Porta and Alberto Vannucci. Part 2 Catch-Up Modernization: Diffusion of corruption in Poland, Grzegorz Makowski; Systemic factors of corruption in Romania: evidence from discourses on corruption, Iuliana Precupetu; Corruption in Bulgaria: contested perceptions, shared disappointment, Daniel Smilov and Rashko Dorosiev. Part 3 Semi-Modernity: 'Above the law, below ethics': some findings on Portuguese attitudes towards corruption, Luis de Sousa; Corruption discourse as a wild card: politics and media in Greece and the 'modern' triumphalism of anti-corruption, Effi Lambropoulou; Corruption in Turkey: a systemic problem, Zeynep Sarlak; Index.

’This book provides a comprehensive and timely argument that there is no clear correlation between democratization and a diminution of corruption, or consolidated democracy as its end game. The range of country perspectives and points along the developmental trajectory evidences the need for a more nuanced understanding of definitions, perceptions and the basis for reform.’ Alan Doig, University of Birmingham, UK