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The birth of corruption and the politics of anti-corruption in Albania, 1991–2005

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2018

Blendi Kajsiu
Blendi Kajsiu*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, University of Tirana, Albania, Email: kajsiu@yahoo.com
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Abstract

This paper analyzes the transformation of the signifier “corruption” in the Albanian public sphere during the period 1991–2005 from a discourse analysis approach. The aim is not to trace corruption in its presence and consequences, but to show how different articulations of corruption supported different agendas. More specifically, this paper aims to show how the corruption discourse that dominated Albanian public discussion during the period 1998–2005 served to legitimize a neoliberal order by articulating corruption as inherent to the public sector and to state intervention in the economy. This meant that corruption could be eliminated through neoliberal policies such as privatization and deregulation. Through a discourse analysis of corruption it is possible to politicize the concept of corruption instead of reducing it to a static and inherent feature of Albanian culture and society.

Keywords

corruptionanti-corruptionneoliberalismdiscourseAlbania
Type
Articles
Information
Nationalities Papers , Volume 41 , Issue 6 , November 2013 , pp. 1008 - 1025
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 Association for the Study of Nationalities 

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