Overview

This book takes a radical look at organizational crime and deviance through the prism of Cultural Theory derived from anthropology. It does so through case studies and by introducing new concepts such as 'organizational perversion', 'tyranny' and 'organizational capture'. Exploring the effects of change and environmental influences such as globalization, new technologies and trade-cycles on the nature and potency of criminogenic communities such as ports and holiday resorts, the book gives special attention to the justification of ethics and to the analysis of behaviours that have contributed to the current economic downturn. The Appendix offers a practical guide to the ethnographic assessment of links between organizations and varying types of crime and deviancy using a Cultural Theory framework.

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9780367601492

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Reviews

'Gerald Mars is an analyst in the classical traditions of social anthropology and urban ethnography. He is concerned to first understand and then describe, using classification schemes solidly based in the how of crime and deviance rather than by jumping mindlessly into the knee-jerk political reflexes of the why do bad things happen? and how shall society punish what it cannot cope with? questions. This book is essential reading for those, including most operational managers, who want to take a mental step back and ask fundamental questions about what kind of society are we, that these unplanned outcomes occur? and how is it that we are all implicated in organizations that co-create deviance?.' David Weir, University Campus Suffolk, UK, and ESC Rennes, France 'This volume displays and also integrates Mars' major contributions over several decades to general social theory, anthropology and criminology. Combining subtle and meticulous ethnography with historically-informed innovation in theory, these studies provide master classes in using empirical work for the most ambitious theoretical arguments. In showing how deviance is central to social organization, he elegantly turns Durkheim's aphorism about the normality of crime into a strategy of general social inquiry into institutional dynamics.' Perri 6, Queen Mary College, University of London, UK 'Gerald Mars again demonstrates how, using anthropology's concepts and sensitive participant observation, he illumines areas other disciplines find difficult to reach. Via detailed case studies he uncovers the keys to organizational criminality that should appeal to criminologists, anthropologists and managers alike. Easy to read, essentially practical, its final chapter - charting the cultural bases of deviance in the financial service industries - is a tour de force.' Tom Selwyn, SOAS, University of London, UK 'Gerald Mars has been a lifelong student of human behavior as i

’Gerald Mars is an analyst in the classical traditions of social anthropology and urban ethnography. He is concerned to first understand and then describe, using classification schemes solidly based in the how of crime and deviance rather than by jumping mindlessly into the knee-jerk political reflexes of the why do bad things happen? and how shall society punish what it cannot cope with? questions. This book is essential reading for those, including most operational managers, who want to take a mental step back and ask fundamental questions about what kind of society are we, that these unplanned outcomes occur? and how is it that we are all implicated in organizations that co-create deviance?.’ David Weir, University Campus Suffolk, UK, and ESC Rennes, France ’This volume displays and also integrates Mars' major contributions over several decades to general social theory, anthropology and criminology. Combining subtle and meticulous ethnography with historically-informed innovation in theory, these studies provide master classes in using empirical work for the most ambitious theoretical arguments. In showing how deviance is central to social organization, he elegantly turns Durkheim's aphorism about the normality of crime into a strategy of general social inquiry into institutional dynamics.’ Perri 6, Queen Mary College, University of London, UK ’Gerald Mars again demonstrates how, using anthropology's concepts and sensitive participant observation, he illumines areas other disciplines find difficult to reach. Via detailed case studies he uncovers the keys to organizational criminality that should appeal to criminologists, anthropologists and managers alike. Easy to read, essentially practical, its final chapter - charting the cultural bases of deviance in the financial service industries - is a tour de force.’ Tom Selwyn, SOAS, University of London, UK ’Gerald Mars has been a lifelong student of human behavior as i

Author Information

Gerald Mars left school at 16 and worked in over thirty jobs before going to Cambridge at twenty-six to read anthropology and Economics followed by a Ph.D. at the LSE. In 2003 The Royal Anthropological Institute awarded him the Lucy Mair Medal in Applied Anthropology 'for consistent excellence in applied anthropology'. He is currently Hon. Professor of Anthropology at University College, London and Visiting Professor at University Campus Suffolk.

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