Overview

This book offers a comprehensive analysis of economic crimes and market irregularities, including matters of trickery, illicit trade, parallel economy, economies of violence and criminalisation of the poor in neoliberal Africa. It interrogates economic crime as a product of neoliberal reform and transformation (as well as of historical structures). It unpacks crime as a social – and particularly as a political-economic – phenomenon of cap­italism. The book brings together a collection of research articles, briefings and blog posts that were published over a period of nearly 40 years (1986–2023), in the acclaimed journal Review of African Political Economy (ROAPE) and on its website roape.net. Featuring contributions from leading experts in the field, including a foreword by Yusuf K. Serunkuma and an afterword by Laureen Snider, the volume explores what these eco­nomic crimes have to do with, and can tell us about power, class, accumulation, depend­ency, (under)development, state–business relations and capitalist transformation on the continent. In so doing, it sheds new light on the co-production of these crimes by a range of actors from the realms of economy, politics and international development, including international financial institutions and other donors. It responds to the imperative to advance the analysis of the link between capitalism and crime in Africa as more countries across the continent become fully capitalist societies. Illustrating the relevance of African cases to debates in and across various disciplines – concerning, for example, corporate and white-collar crimes, state crimes, crimes of the powerful, (il)legality, regulation and social harm – this volume engages with a variety of literature to explain economic crimes as phenomena of global and local capitalism. It provides readers from academia, government, business, media, civil society and education with a striking source of information and analysis.

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9780367472139

Table of Contents

Reviews

“In this critical, conceptually rich, and thought-provoking collection, Jörg Wiegratz has put together a unique and balanced combination of different types of previously published analyses - in combination with a number of new and updated texts - which are seamlessly intertwined. The collection, by focusing on a wide range of manifestations of crime, illegal markets, fraud and corruption, turns the criminological spotlight on an extremely interesting but largely neglected context. Capitalism and Economic Crime in Africa: The Neoliberal Period will most certainly prompt a fruitful debate as it offers a convincing case about how neoliberalism has acted as a major enabler of criminality through deregulation and restructuring programmes that have been introduced by supranational actors. This is a mandatory reading for academics, law enforcement, and policy makers”. - Professor Georgios A. Antonopoulos, Northumbria University at Newcastle, UK “Capitalism and Economic Crime in Africa brings a unique perspective to understanding the intricate operation of capitalist forces in Africa. The papers in this collection, written by a combination of senior and younger scholars studying capitalist dynamics in Africa, give readers a rare opportunity to encounter the often-concealed side of African capitalism. Written through the unfiltered lens of radical political economy, the essays have laid bare the different economic crimes, from the fixing of commodity prices (the famous London Fix), illicit capital flows, fake drugs to the fronting of conservation as an instrument for looting of natural resources and accumulation. The volume challenges the conventional explanations of the sources and causes of Africa’s economic challenges by exposing and centring economic crime as an integral part of capitalist formation on the continent. Being the first analysis of a wide range of economic crime, the collection offers an illuminating exposition of the inner mechanisms of Africa’s encounter with capitalism. This is a timely intervention and valuable contribution to the study of Africa's economic challenges.” - Professor Horman Chitonge, Centre for African Studies, University of Cape Town, South Africa “Fraud and corruption in the majority world have been central to the predatory project of capitalism and colonialism. Sometimes used as a legitimating narrative for intervention, but often used simply to expropriate and extract value, fraud is a core technique of power over the Global South. Jörg Wiegratz has put together a definitive collection of essays that helps us understand how fraud and corruption sustain economic domination by the richest states and the richest corporations over the people. Nowhere is this technique of colonisation more enduring than it is in Africa. This is why Capitalism and Economic Crime in Africa is a major contribution to our understanding of contemporary capitalism and colonialism.” - Professor David Whyte, Queen Mary University of London, UK

“In this critical, conceptually rich, and thought-provoking collection, Jörg Wiegratz has put together a unique and balanced combination of different types of previously published analyses - in combination with a number of new and updated texts - which are seamlessly intertwined. The collection, by focusing on a wide range of manifestations of crime, illegal markets, fraud and corruption, turns the criminological spotlight on an extremely interesting but largely neglected context. Capitalism and Economic Crime in Africa: The Neoliberal Period will most certainly prompt a fruitful debate as it offers a convincing case about how neoliberalism has acted as a major enabler of criminality through deregulation and restructuring programmes that have been introduced by supranational actors. This is a mandatory reading for academics, law enforcement, and policy makers”. - Professor Georgios A. Antonopoulos, Northumbria University at Newcastle, UK “Capitalism and Economic Crime in Africa brings a unique perspective to understanding the intricate operation of capitalist forces in Africa. The papers in this collection, written by a combination of senior and younger scholars studying capitalist dynamics in Africa, give readers a rare opportunity to encounter the often-concealed side of African capitalism. Written through the unfiltered lens of radical political economy, the essays have laid bare the different economic crimes, from the fixing of commodity prices (the famous London Fix), illicit capital flows, fake drugs to the fronting of conservation as an instrument for looting of natural resources and accumulation. The volume challenges the conventional explanations of the sources and causes of Africa’s economic challenges by exposing and centring economic crime as an integral part of capitalist formation on the continent. Being the first analysis of a wide range of economic crime, the collection offers an illuminating exposition of the inner mechanisms of Africa’s encounter with capitalism. This is a timely intervention and valuable contribution to the study of African economic challenges.” - Professor Horman Chitonge, Centre for African Studies, University of Cape Town, South Africa “Fraud and corruption in the majority world have been central to the predatory project of capitalism and colonialism. Sometimes used as a legitimating narrative for intervention, but often used simply to expropriate and extract value, fraud is a core technique of power over the Global South. Jörg Wiegratz has put together a definitive collection of essays that helps us understand how fraud and corruption sustain economic domination by the richest states and the richest corporations over the people. Nowhere is this technique of colonisation more enduring than it is in Africa. This is why Capitalism and Economic Crime in Africa is a major contribution to our understanding of contemporary capitalism and colonialism.” - Professor David Whyte, Queen Mary University of London, UK

“In this critical, conceptually rich, and thought-provoking collection, Jörg Wiegratz has put together a unique and balanced combination of different types of previously published analyses - in combination with a number of new and updated texts - which are seamlessly intertwined. The collection, by focusing on a wide range of manifestations of crime, illegal markets, fraud and corruption, turns the criminological spotlight on an extremely interesting but largely neglected context. Capitalism and Economic Crime in Africa: The Neoliberal Period will most certainly prompt a fruitful debate as it offers a convincing case about how neoliberalism has acted as a major enabler of criminality through deregulation and restructuring programmes that have been introduced by supranational actors. This is a mandatory reading for academics, law enforcement, and policy makers”. Professor Georgios A. Antonopoulos, Northumbria University at Newcastle “Capitalism and Economic Crime in Africa brings a unique perspective to understanding the intricate operation of capitalist forces in Africa. The papers in this collection, written by a combination of senior and younger scholars studying capitalist dynamics in Africa, give readers a rare opportunity to encounter the often-concealed side of African capitalism. Written through the unfiltered lens of radical political economy, the essays have laid bare the different economic crimes, from the fixing of commodity prices (the famous London Fix), illicit capital flows, fake drugs to the fronting of conservation as an instrument for looting of natural resources and accumulation. The volume challenges the conventional explanations of the sources and causes of Africa’s economic challenges by exposing and centring economic crime as an integral part of capitalist formation on the continent. Being the first analysis of a wide range of economic crime, the collection offers an illuminating exposition of the inner mechanisms of Africa’s encounter with capitalism. This is a timely intervention and valuable contribution to the study of Africa economic challenges.” Professor Horman Chitonge, Centre for African Studies, University of Cape Town “Fraud and corruption in the majority world have been central to the predatory project of capitalism and colonialism. Sometimes used as a legitimating narrative for intervention, but often used simply to expropriate and extract value, fraud is a core technique of power over the Global South. Jörg Wiegratz has put together a definitive collection of essays that helps us understand how fraud and corruption sustain economic domination by the richest states and the richest corporations over the people. Nowhere is this technique of colonisation more enduring than it is in Africa. This is why Capitalism and Economic Crime in Africa is a major contribution to our understanding of contemporary capitalism and colonialism.” Professor David Whyte, Queen Mary University of London

Author Information

Jörg Wiegratz is Lecturer in Political Economy of Global Development at the University of Leeds, School of Politics and International Studies. He is Senior Research Associate, Department of Sociology, University of Johannesburg, and Research Associate at the Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs, United States International University-Africa, Nairobi. He specializes in neoliberalism, fraud and anti-fraud measures, commercialisation and economic pressure and related aspects of moral and political economy, with a focus on Uganda and Kenya. He is member of the editorial working group of Review of African Political Economy (ROAPE). His books include Neoliberal Moral Economy: Capitalism, Socio‑Cultural Change and Fraud in Uganda, Neoliberalism and the Moral Economy of Fraud (co-edited with David Whyte) and Uganda: The Dynamics of Neoliberal Transformation (co-edited with Giuliano Martiniello and Elisa Greco). Wiegratz is editor of the blog series Economic trickery, fraud and crime in Africa and Capitalism in Africa (roape.net) and co-editor of Pressure in the City (with Catherine Dolan and Mario Schmidt, developingeconomics.org).

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