Corruption between public and private moralities: The Albanian case in a comparative perspective

What is it about?

- Originally published in 2013 in Human Affairs (vol. 23, No. 2) - Re-published in 2017 in the Special Section: On the Anthropology of Corruption" of the journal "URBANITIES-Journal of Urban Ethnography", Vol.7, No.1. - Open access, peer-reviewed Journal - The article can be downloaded free from Urbanities's website: http://www.anthrojournal-urbanities.com/vol-7-no-1-may-2017/ ABSTRACT: This essay draws on comparative ethnographic material from Albania and Italy. It addresses different forms of corruption, arguing that in order to understand the way in which phenomena such as corruption occur and are experienced in any given society, we should contextualize them in the historical and cultural traditions of that specific society. In doing so, however, we should be alert in avoiding falling into the trap of either moral relativism or cultural determinism. The essay suggests that an anthropological analysis of corruption should distinguish between legal rules and social norms. In particular, the empirical study of such norms helps to understand the meanings — both individual and inter-subjective — that actors give to the social and political situation in which they operate. Keywords: Albania, Italy, party rule, regime change, social norms, informal networks.

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