Normative and Material Imperatives in Informal Transactions

• In Event: 477 - Section on Crime, Law, and Deviance Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 16. Culture, Media, and Socialization 2

Abstract

In terms of actors’ motivations, the mainstream literature about illicit informal transactions distinguishes two main types: collusion or extortion. The first occurs when partners participate in illicit deals because they seek some illegal benefits. In the second type, clients are constrained to participate because they face extortion from agents. In several former communist European countries the majority of people report that extorting bribes is a widespread practice by “street level bureaucrats”. However the findings of this study suggest that extortion is only one form of social constraint in such transactions. Based on 50 in-depth qualitative interviews this paper provides a systematic analysis of external imperatives in informal exchanges. We identify two different patterns, institutional and material structural forces that ordinary citizens face in post-socialist Hungary. Moreover there are numerous themes within each pattern constraints at societal as well as organizational levels.

Author

• David Jancsics, City University of New York-Graduate Center