Books & ideas

The Endless Corruption of the Powerful

Alizée Delpierre — 2024-01-23T08:30:00Z

Building on his research on corruption and white-collar crime among the ruling classes, Pierre Lascoumes takes us deep into the institutional mechanisms behind the fraud perpetrated by those who wield political and economic power in France.

A Journey into Eurocracy

Camille Herlin-Giret — 2017-02-06T08:00:00Z

Through an ethnographic investigation behind the closed doors of the European quarter in Brussels, Sylvain Laurens studies the relationships between the business community and European institutions, showing that their proximity derives less from ideological complicity than from a shared history.

White Collars, Dirty Hands and Clean Records

Jean Bérard — 2015-06-25T05:30:00Z

How do the elites manage to commit crimes without being seen, or seeing themselves, as criminals? This overview by P. Lascoumes and C. Nagels shows the means deployed by the powerful to define, use, sidestep, or avoid criminal law according to their interests.

Democracy, Urban Issues and Corruption in Contemporary Brazil

Alfredo Ramos — 2014-06-19T07:14:48Z

The June protests which shook Brazil in 2013 stunned the world. This dossier, published by Books&Ideas, discusses the main issues at the core of these protests, analyzing them in the light of previous mobilizations and explaining why they are essential to the understanding of contemporary Brazil.

From Community Police to Bureaucratic Police

Yann Philippe — 2014-04-28T07:30:00Z

How can the police force be reformed in a way that puts an end to corruption and localism without cutting ties with citizens or losing legitimacy? This was the dilemma faced by the municipal government of New York City at the beginning of the 20^th century, before community policing was established between the 1970s and the 1990s.

Hungary as a Mafia State?

Jean-Paul Herman & Lise Herman — 2014-03-06T08:30:00Z

Whereas the country was still considered 10 years ago as a model of post-communist transition, the political choices of Hungary are now disquieting to many. A group of Hungarian economists, sociologists, legal experts and former politicians analyzes the oligarchic system set up by Victor Orbán's party.

An Economic Analysis of the Ukrainian Crisis

Florent Guénard & Thomas Vendryes — 2014-02-17T09:31:33Z

According to Ukrainian economist V. Vakhitov, the analyses of the Ukrainian political crisis overstate the importance of the Russian tutelage. The country is not as divided as it is said to be, between Pro-European West and pro-Russian East. Today's revolts against authorities should be seen as a larger protest against a corrupt regime.

The Fight against Corruption

David Bornstein & Ivan Jablonka — 2012-04-06T16:06:57Z

Democracies must be able to promote economic innovation. In France, however, the media and the judicial system are not independent from the state and public policies are not evaluated. The economist Philippe Aghion proposes measures to stimulate the economy through democratic oversight. The lawyer William Bourdon explains why it is crucial that democracies implement more deterring sanctions.

The Autumn of the Patriarchs

Abdellah Tourabi — 2011-05-18T08:32:32Z

Two revolutions and two presidents deposed within a few weeks. Long presented as a region resistant to democratization and change, the Arab world has been shaken by the winds of rebellion, which could put an end to the myth of an Arab “authoritarian exception.”