Organized Crime: Uncertainties and Dilemmas  

Einstein, Stanley, and Menachem Amir (eds.)

Chicago: Office of International Criminal Justice, 1999, 550 p.

 ISBN: 0942511891

Price: $39.00

This anthology comprises 18 papers on various aspects of international organised crime. G.O.W. Mueller discusses the concept of "transnational crime" as applied by the United Nations, Phil Williams explores the influence of globalisation on crime, other authors investigate organized crime in Eastern Europe, South Africa, China, Japan, Italy, Israel, Austria, the U.S. and Columbia, or certain areas of crime (prostitution, art and antiques theft, money laundering and state crime). David Nelken provides a concluding chapter on the globalisation of crime and criminal justice.

 

The volume compiled by Stanley Einstein and Menachem Amir is remarkable for the wide range of issues addressed and the unusual list of authors which not only comprises some of the big names in the field but also some graduate students from the Ridgway Center for International Security Studies in Pittsburgh.

As is the case with most anthologies, the quality of the papers is mixed. Still, a lot of valuable information is provided. What lends itself to criticism is the fixation most authors demonstrate on ethnically defined criminal organizations as the supposed structural backbone of international organised crime.

Phil Williams sets the tone in his introductory article by maintaining that globalisation has fundamentally improved the basic conditions for criminal networks, especially those rooted in ethnic minority communities and in countries that serve as safe havens for criminals, most notably Russia. Williams goes on to hypothesize "that criminal organizations might well move from corruption and co-option of political elites to more direct control of political power". In the end "the main fissures in international politics would be that between 'outlaw states' and law-abiding states" (p. 51).

 

With this line of reasoning, it seems, the danger lies in a simplistic transfer of concepts, particularly the Mafia paradigm and the Cold War concept of good countries vs. evil countries.

 

There is only one author who dares to adopt a different perspective. David Nelken argues that globalisation not only creates criminal opportunities, but also undermines some of them. He also points out research findings indicating an increasing overlap between organised crime, corporate crime and ordinary business. Though Nelken assumes that there are differences in culture between criminals and businessmen, he nonetheless advocates a much broader frame of reference for analysing the negative effects of globalisation than that comprising simply the alleged threat posed by stereotypical crime groups.

 

David Nelken addresses a crucial deficiency in the global debate on organised crime: Insofar as globalisation means diminished state control, criminal organisations are not the only actors who profit. There is a whole variety of individual, collective or corporate actors pursuing personal gain on expense of the common good. It is probably this murky sphere of crime, corporate misconduct and negligence where the dilemmas and uncertainties of the debate on organised crime become most apparent.

 

In sum, Einstein and Amir have compiled an informative collection of papers. Particularly the contributions by Phil Williams and David Nelken, when directly confronted, highlight the broad scope of the problem of international organised crime and the uncertainties and dilemmas characterizing the scientific debate on this issue.

 

 

Klaus von Lampe