It takes two to tango: the state and organized crime in Russia

Stephenson, Svetlana (2016) It takes two to tango: the state and organized crime in Russia. Current Sociology, 65 (3). pp. 411-426. ISSN 1461-7064

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Abstract / Description

The article analyses the evolution of the state–organized crime relationship in Russia during the post-Soviet transition. Using a case study conducted in Tatarstan, which included interviews with criminal gang members and representatives of law enforcement agencies and analysis of secondary data, it argues that instead of a pattern of elimination or subjugation of Russian organized crime by the state, we see a mutually reinforcing ensemble which reproduces the existing social order. While both the strengthening of the state and organized crime actors’ own ambitions led to their increasing integration into political structures, a complex web of interdependencies emerged in which actors from criminal networks and political authorities collaborated using each other’s resources. This fusion and assimilation of members of the governing bureaucracy and members of an aspiring bourgeoisie coming from criminal backgrounds were as much the result of consensus and cooperation as of competition and confrontation.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Gangs, post-Soviet transition, Russian mafia, Russian organized crime, social order, state–crime relationship, violence, violent entrepreneurs
Subjects:	300 Social sciences > 360 Social problems & services; associations
Department:	School of Social Sciences (to June 2021) School of Social Sciences and Professions
Depositing User:	Svetlana Stephenson
Date Deposited:	08 Aug 2019 11:38
Last Modified:	08 Aug 2019 11:38
URI:	https://repository.londonmet.ac.uk/id/eprint/4331

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