- Lisboa, Portugal
- Sociology, Political Science, Legality and Illegality, Corruption, Political Corruption, Dicourse Analysis, and 11 moreDiscourse, América Latina, Latin American Studies, Violence, Political Violence and Terrorism, Sociology of Violence and Crime, Insecurity, Citizen Security, Social and Political Philosophy, Corruption in Sport, and Match-Fixing in Sportsedit
Latin America has experienced a series of recent corruption scandals, resulting in an unprecedented uncertainty in political leadership across the whole region. Within this context, we have conducted a survey study comprising nine... more
Latin America has experienced a series of recent corruption scandals, resulting in an unprecedented uncertainty in political leadership across the whole region. Within this context, we have conducted a survey study comprising nine countries in Latin America (<i>n</i> = 1,250) examining the stereotype content of politicians. We tested a dual effects model in which the stereotypes of politicians were predicted to shape perceptions of justice directly and indirectly through the activation of affect. Our findings revealed that politicians tended to be stereotyped with negative morality traits and with a certain degree of negativity across other stereotype dimensions. Results supported a positive direct effect of morality on perceived justice and a positive indirect effect through the activation of affect. We discuss the implications of these findings for the current political context in Latin America and also for our understanding of perceptions about politicians and their r...
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El trabajo analiza los imaginarios políticos en los discursos oficiales en torno a las reformas de la administración pública en Argentina, Chile y Uruguay, en la déca- da del noventa. Los conceptos técnicos en los que se basan los nuevos... more
El trabajo analiza los imaginarios políticos en los discursos oficiales en torno a las reformas de la administración pública en Argentina, Chile y Uruguay, en la déca- da del noventa. Los conceptos técnicos en los que se basan los nuevos modos de gestión no significan por sí mismos y dependen de sistemas de ideas más amplios, que incluyen el significado de la democracia y del Estado, sedimentado en cada caso particular. Conceptos derivados de la escuela del análisis de discursos, como hegemonía, puntos nodales y sedimentación, permiten ver las estrategias de cons- trucción de la realidad simbólica y determinar lo hacible y tolerable en cada cultura política. La elección de realidades limitadas, resumidas a las instituciones formales, es una constante en los casos analizados, lo que explica por qué las reformas fueron ineficaces para eliminar prácticas culturales habituales como el clientelismo.
El trabajo busca una reinterpretacion de lo politico a traves de la enumeracion de una serie de ideas axiomatizadas que podrian estar perpetuando el malestar social e impidiendo el pensar genuino en la ciencia politica. La retorica... more
El trabajo busca una reinterpretacion de lo politico a traves de la enumeracion de una serie de ideas axiomatizadas que podrian estar perpetuando el malestar social e impidiendo el pensar genuino en la ciencia politica. La retorica clasica junto al pensar complejo brindan herramientas utiles para educar al ciudadano dando cuenta de la naturaleza interna de la razon, analizando sus imaginarios y preparandolo para una vida politica que comienza con su propio autogobierno. La politica, desde aqui, se entiende no como una guerra constante, sino como la construccion contingente del vinculo social y la gestion de envidias, pesares, rencores y ambiciones desmedidas. La diferenciacion entre la racionalidad y la racionalizacion posibilita la (re)sedimentacion del juicio como virtud necesaria para la consolidacion de la democracia y de una mejor educacion politica ciudadana
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After its emergence in the sphere of international aid, it is still difficult to light upon a consensus about what exactly good governance is. Discussions on the concept have thrown up a succession of proposals regarding organizational... more
After its emergence in the sphere of international aid, it is still difficult to light upon a consensus about what exactly good governance is. Discussions on the concept have thrown up a succession of proposals regarding organizational and procedural structures, constraining theoretical-political debate. A genealogical deconstruction of the history of the word shows that its different discursive traditions only relate to technical issues and ideas, while the ideological background and political imperatives remain the same. Good Governance itself has a strong dose of vigilante underpinnings that restricts the intellectual and political debate to a narrow frame of general ideas: the recognition of the liberal/capitalist democracies focussing on economic goals as the be-all and end-all of good governance. It is necessary to determine if good governance acts as an ideological concept or as a theoretical political tool. This article suggests the need for rethinking good governance to bri...
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The massification of new technologies have radically changed the sports betting industry. Nowadays, millions of people bet online, and in real time, in a wide range of sport events worldwide. This global market has generated several... more
The massification of new technologies have radically changed the sports betting industry. Nowadays, millions of people bet online, and in real time, in a wide range of sport events worldwide. This global market has generated several opportunity structures for crime and fraud. In this current landscape, match-fixing has evolved from being a historical phenomenon in the world of sports to a global criminal problem involving transnational criminal syndicates, professional gamblers, businessmen, umpires, athletes, and intermediaries. Despite the fact that match-fixing has been placed on the public agenda as the greatest threat against the sustainability of the sport, the complexity and extension of the new betting market generates possibilities for fraud, cheating and crime that go beyond fixed matches or competitions. The article has the pedagogical and practical objective of explaining and systematizing the changes in the betting market and types of bets and describing the new opportu...
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En su ultimo informe sobre seguridad ciudadana en America Latina, el PNUD (2013) resalta que, a pesar de que la region mejoro indicadores socioeconomicos habitualmente relacionados con la propagacion de inseguridad, el problema no... more
En su ultimo informe sobre seguridad ciudadana en America Latina, el PNUD (2013) resalta que, a pesar de que la region mejoro indicadores socioeconomicos habitualmente relacionados con la propagacion de inseguridad, el problema no disminuyo. Por el contrario, el crimen empeoro. Para entender esta paradoja, este ensayo retoma la hipotesis de Ser violento (Moriconi, 2013) de que el verdadero problema es el colapso de la legalidad, y la violencia y el delito serian consecuencias logicas de este. Modificar el enfoque inicial permite diagnosticar nuevos problemas e introducir al debate variables alternativas. En este caso, se desarrolla una propuesta teorica sobre la imposibilidad de la Justicia institucional en un ambiente de alta percepcion de la ilegalidad. Posteriormente, se recuperar algunas consideraciones sobre la teoria de psicologia social de la Creencia en un Mundo Justo (CMJ) y se ofrece un analisis preliminar sobre como la naturalizacion de ilegalidades y las percepciones de ...
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One of the main obstacles to detect undesirable conducts such as manipulation of games and competitions, and to combat corrupt behaviour in the sports world is the existence of the so-called “code of silence” among the sport’s actors.... more
One of the main obstacles to detect undesirable conducts such as manipulation of games and competitions, and to combat corrupt behaviour in the sports world is the existence of the so-called “code of silence” among the sport’s actors. Therefore, integrity educational campaigns, codes of conduct, ethics and disciplinary norms include the obligation to report any suspicion, approach, tentative or case of match-fixing. In some countries, such as Portugal, the obligation to denounce is incorporated into criminal law. Although several protected reporting channels have been implemented for sport institutions and federations to encourage whistle-blowing practices, the level of denouncement is still low. Through the analysis of official discourses, ethnography and interviews with key informants, this article demonstrates that despite the formal norms, reporting on corruption in sport, mainly match-fixing, is a dangerous practice that can have serious consequences for the athletes’ career. More than a code of silence within sports, what exist is a series of public secrecies that deliberately recognize the existence of informal institutions that create and materialize those dangers. However, while integrity actors show awareness of the situation, the official narrative and formal norms avoid considering these problems and, moreover, throw this evidence out of the integrity narrative framework. The result is a delegitimate and non-realistic narrative that pushes sports actors to keep quiet more than promoting ethical behaviours and whistle-blowing.
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The growth of the online sports betting market has generated new risk areas and threats to sport integrity, such as match-fixing. In recent years, institutional concern to fight against the phenomenon has been intensified and a set of... more
The growth of the online sports betting market has generated new risk areas and threats to sport integrity, such as match-fixing. In recent years, institutional concern to fight against the phenomenon has been intensified and a set of countermeasures has been adopted. One of the most widely implemented measures to protect integrity in sport is to ban athletes and sports players from betting on the competitions in which they are involved. In some countries, such as Portugal, this practice has become a crime under the new legislation. Despite the legal and sporting restrictions and the prevention programmes carried out for sport institutions to explain the gambling rules, there are many athletes who are putting bets on their own competitions and even in their own games. Through interviews with key informant actors and ethnographic fieldwork, this article describes betting patterns among sports actors in Portugal and explains the perceptions and incentives that lead them to bet in their own sports, competitions and games. The results show different conceptions of integrity between the normative discourse on legal and sport governance institutions and sports actors’ opinion, essentially, the premise that suggest a direct link between betting on one’s own games and manipulation of these games. In some cases, betting in one’s own games helps to strengthen fair play values. However, the spreading of online betting, together with the perception of inefficient controls in the implementation of sporting and legal regulations, creates opportunity structures for fixing matches and taking financial profit though gambling activities.
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A partir del análisis de los discursos oficiales, este artículo discute el imaginario político chileno durante1990 y 2000. Tras la reinstauración de la democracia, la clase política debió legitimar discursivamente su lugar y determinar... more
A partir del análisis de los discursos oficiales, este artículo discute el imaginario político chileno durante1990 y 2000. Tras la reinstauración de la democracia, la clase política debió legitimar discursivamente su lugar y determinar concepciones sobre el Estado, la democracia y lo político. En este marco, el trabajo muestra cómo el discurso a favor de reducir la pobreza –algo que la literatura académica ha relacionado habitualmente con cuestiones de eficiencia y buen gobierno– fue utilizado como variable de cohesión nacional y legitimación de la nueva clase política democrática. Esta particularidad generó la voluntad para actuar en consecuencia. Sin embargo, mientras la pobreza se redujo significativamente, los índices de desigualdad se mantuvieron estables.
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This article introduces a Crime, Law & Social Change special issue on rethinking organised crime, collective violence and insecurity in contemporary Latin America. The five contributions, which among them cover the cases of Argentina,... more
This article introduces a Crime, Law & Social Change special issue on rethinking organised crime, collective violence and insecurity in contemporary Latin America. The five contributions, which among them cover the cases of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico, address the puzzle of why and how in the midst of the world’s most serious crime and violence crisis ‘stability’ and ‘political order’ are nonetheless maintained. Taking a critical distance to conventional scholarship on these problems, the present collection of papers shifts the focus from one on how democratic regimes and formal institutions of the state are affected to a broader one that puts the spotlight on the ‘real politics’ and ‘real governance’ of crime and violence in the region. Cultural aspects of the ‘collapse of legality’, the holding power of informal institutions and the workings of ‘crimilegal orders’ and ‘criminalized electoral politics’ are explored through variegated conceptual and methodological approaches drawn from political science, criminology, sociology, social psychology, cultural studies and investigative journalism.
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The expansion and entrenchment of insecurity, organized crime and violence in Latin America has involved the participation of public officials. Without this participation, it would be impossible to create the necessary niches of impunity... more
The expansion and entrenchment of insecurity, organized crime and violence in Latin America has involved the participation of public officials. Without this participation, it would be impossible to create the necessary niches of impunity to enable the growth of organized crime and violence. Using a hermeneutic-interpretative approach, this essay shows how the norm of legality has lost its moral persuasive power as a categorical imperative while certain illegalities have acquired social and political legitimacy. The purpose of this article is to reflect on the under-examined impact of cultural values on criminality. It also describes how the dominant narratives surrounding illegality and policies designed to reduce criminality are limited by a lack of consideration of the way that broader cultural values are permissive of corrupt and illegal behaviour. This article considers current social norms, interests, values, ideas of success, and the lack of legitimate pathways to achieve prosperity and social recognition to provide a fresh perspective on the discourse surrounding illegality. For the purpose of illustration this essay uses examples, evidence, interviews and discourses drawn from the context of Argentina. Far from being an anomaly, illegality is a fundamental part of both social inter-relations and has become institutionalised as a part of the behaviour of state entities. Illegality has become not only the norm but is seen as an effective and legitimate means to gain social success and prestige.
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Resumen: La crisis contemporánea ha contradicho las ideas que, a lo largo de las últimas décadas, se erigieron como hegemónicas en torno al rol del Estado, sus funciones y el alcance de lo administrativo. Si antes se abogó desde los... more
Resumen: La crisis contemporánea ha contradicho las ideas que, a lo largo de las últimas décadas, se erigieron como hegemónicas en torno al rol del Estado, sus funciones y el alcance de lo administrativo. Si antes se abogó desde los gobiernos centrales por el Estado mínimo y su desvinculación del mercado, hoy el Estado es presentado como el necesario garante del sistema financiero. Sin embargo, esto que pareciera ser una contradicción, puede ser entendido como una continuidad narrativa de la política contemporánea. Un recorrido genealógico por las distintas tradiciones discursivas que signan el meta-discurso de la administración demuestra que, en medio de la pluralidad de ideas sobre los que se asienta cada tradición, los puntos nodales del discurso general se mantuvieron estables: la consolidación del capitalismo, la naturalización de la democracia liberal como única posibilidad de buen gobierno, la legitimación del mercado como agente político de primer orden, al que hay que prote...
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Insecurity has become one of the main problems in Latin America, which is considered the most violent regions in the World. However, studies focusing on citizen security typically address this problem from a technical perspective and do... more
Insecurity has become one of the main problems in Latin America, which is considered the most violent regions in the World. However, studies focusing on citizen security typically address this problem from a technical perspective and do not analyse and understand the phenomenon through a holistic view. They try to provide linear and universal cause-consequence schemes to explain insecurity and the prevention of crime and violent actions’ materialization. For this discursive logic, the problem is the violent act, and if this is not consummated all then seems to be perfect in societies in conflict. Due to car theft, coded keys and other devices for immobilization were created in order to prevent these robberies. The result was not the elimination of the problem, but the change of the modus operandi of the theft, which now should include the presence of the owner or the driver with the original coded key. New more violent techniques appeared and car theft became one of the most importa...
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The paper includes a revision of the role of ideas and good judgement in the social and political imaginaries construction. It proposes the use of complex thinking to examine the symbolic reality. It seeks to settle a meaning of politics... more
The paper includes a revision of the role of ideas and good judgement in the social and political imaginaries construction. It proposes the use of complex thinking to examine the symbolic reality. It seeks to settle a meaning of politics that goes beyond the institutional system and reaches the daily action of participation, by action or omission, in the legitimization of the ideas that determine what is do-able and what is just within a hegemonic social order. Tragic realism and the victim-accomplice logic come up as a proposition for rethinking the social unrest and its reproduction. An analysis of the contemporaneous social order narrative, and its fundamental axioms, shows that some social situations considered as unrest focus may be taken as inherent consequences of legitimated ideas. El trabajo presenta una revisión del papel de las ideas y el buen pensar en la construcción de los imaginarios sociales y políticos y propone un acercamiento a la realidad simbólica desde el pensa...
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espanolEl trabajo presenta una revision del papel de las ideas y el buen pensar en la construccion de los imaginarios sociales y politicos y propone un acercamiento a la realidad simbolica desde el pensamiento complejo. El articulo busca... more
espanolEl trabajo presenta una revision del papel de las ideas y el buen pensar en la construccion de los imaginarios sociales y politicos y propone un acercamiento a la realidad simbolica desde el pensamiento complejo. El articulo busca sedimentar un concepto de lo politico que trascienda lo institucional y alcance la accion diaria de participar, por accion u omision, de la legitimacion de las ideas que determinan lo hacible y lo justo dentro de un orden social hegemonico. En este marco, surgen el realismo tragico y la logica de la victima-complice como proposicion para repensar el malestar social y su reproduccion. Un analisis por la narrativa del orden social contemporaneo y sus axiomas fundamentales demuestra que muchas situaciones consideradas focos de malestar pueden ser, al mismo tiempo, consecuencia inherente a las ideas legitimadas. EnglishThe paper includes a revision of the role of ideas and good judgement in the social and political imaginaries construction. It proposes ...
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espanolLa crisis contemporanea ha contradicho las ideas que, a lo largo de las ultimas decadas, se erigieron como hegemonicas en torno al rol del Estado, sus funciones y el alcance de lo administrativo. Si antes se abogo desde los... more
espanolLa crisis contemporanea ha contradicho las ideas que, a lo largo de las ultimas decadas, se erigieron como hegemonicas en torno al rol del Estado, sus funciones y el alcance de lo administrativo. Si antes se abogo desde los gobiernos centrales por el Estado minimo y su desvinculacion del mercado, hoy el es presentado como el necesario garante del sistema financiero. Sin embargo, esto, que pareciera ser una contradiccion, puede ser entendido como una continuidad narrativa de la politica contemporanea. Un recorrido genealogico por las distintas tradiciones discursivas que signan el meta-discurso de la administracion demuestra que, en medio de la pluralidad de ideas sobre los que asienta cada tradicion, los puntos nodales del discurso general se mantuvieron estables: la consolidacion del capitalismo, la naturalizacion de la democracia liberal como unica posibilidad de buen gobierno, la legitimacion del mercado como agente politico de primer orden, al que hay que proteger. Asi, e...
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Resumen es: El trabajo busca repensar la inseguridad desde una teoria de reproduccion del malestar social que analice las ideas y actividades paralelas y complementa...
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Duas decadas decorreram desde que os paises latino-americanos incorporaram nas suas agendas politicas questoes destinadas a reformar, pelo menos do ponto de vista discursivo, a situacao da administracao publica. Apesar da abundante... more
Duas decadas decorreram desde que os paises latino-americanos incorporaram nas suas agendas politicas questoes destinadas a reformar, pelo menos do ponto de vista discursivo, a situacao da administracao publica. Apesar da abundante bibliografia, as administracoes publicas da regiao nao tem melhorado substancialmente e mantem-se vicios culturais e politicos como o clientelismo ou a corrupcao. Estes problemas nao se relacionam com a falta de legislacao senao com o seu descumprimento. E tambem de destacar que uma grande parte da narrativa sobre as reformas tem estado marcada por um discurso tecnico que trabalha sobre uma realidade limitada as instituicoes formais e a criacao de novos arranjos institucionais e pautas de motivacao dos quadros. Perante esta situacao e diante da necessidade de promover novos e melhores estudos, o trabalho apresenta um novo enfoque multidisciplinar para a investigacao sobre as reformas administrativas, ao incorporar ferramentas do pensamento complexo (Morin...
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To overcome the global crisis, Portugal sought to internationalize its economy. Latin America, a region that grew steadily for a decade, has become a region of interest for the Iberian country. This article analyses the changes to the... more
To overcome the global crisis, Portugal sought to internationalize its economy. Latin America, a region that grew steadily for a decade, has become a region of interest for the Iberian country. This article analyses the changes to the diplomatic and commercial schemes between both regions and explains how, when, by whom and through which strategies these relations have been modified. While Brazil continues to be the privileged partner, Portugal is strengthening its relationship with new strategic countries, primarily the components of the Pacific Alliance. As a result, the historical negative balance of trade became positive in 2012. The data show greater dynamism in commercial exchanges and political relations in recent years and the incorporation of new political actors designed to stimulate and deepen bilateral relations. Although several authors point to Portugal as a state that promotes economic diplomacy, this article suggests that what has prevailed in strengthening relations with Latin America is a commercial and business diplomacy, leaning heavily on key political actors and ‘anchor’ companies installed in the new markets. The ideological affinity of governments appears to be a determining factor in extending political and commercial ties. As other works have shown, this case study proves a positive correlation between trade/investment state agencies and diplomatic activities and the increase in bilateral trade flows.
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The paper presents data about opinions and perception of Portuguese football referees and supporters about manipulation of results, ones of the main problems of football worldwide. Analysts often link the problem with organized crime and... more
The paper presents data about opinions and perception of Portuguese football referees and supporters about manipulation of results, ones of the main problems of football worldwide. Analysts often link the problem with organized crime and sporting betting. In Portugal, however, recent scandals indicate that manipulation would be mostly connected with sporting interest, influence peddling and bribing from managers and officials. In the public opinion, referees appear as the most suspicious and denounced group. Through surveys of members of the Portuguese Football Referees Association (APAF) and supporters, the paper empirically confirms some assumptions of the official match-fixing narrative, like the existence of offers of prostitutes to referees. Nevertheless, it shows a wider perspective of the phenomenon that goes beyond the betting sphere and organized crime. In depth interviews to key informants were carried out to confirm and extend the results.
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Duas decadas decorreram desde que os paises latino-americanos incorporaram nas suas agendas politicas questoes destinadas a reformar, pelo menos do ponto de vista discursivo, a situacao da administracao publica. Apesar da abundante... more
Duas decadas decorreram desde que os paises latino-americanos incorporaram nas suas agendas politicas questoes destinadas a reformar, pelo menos do ponto de vista discursivo, a situacao da administracao publica. Apesar da abundante bibliografia, as administracoes publicas da regiao nao tem melhorado substancialmente e mantem-se vicios culturais e politicos como o clientelismo ou a corrupcao. Estes problemas nao se relacionam com a falta de legislacao senao com o seu descumprimento. E tambem de destacar que uma grande parte da narrativa sobre as reformas tem estado marcada por um discurso tecnico que trabalha sobre uma realidade limitada as instituicoes formais e a criacao de novos arranjos institucionais e pautas de motivacao dos quadros. Perante esta situacao e diante da necessidade de promover novos e melhores estudos, o trabalho apresenta um novo enfoque multidisciplinar para a investigacao sobre as reformas administrativas, ao incorporar ferramentas do pensamento complexo (Morin 1994), do juizo retorico (Roiz 2003), da analise do discurso e do papel das ideias na construcao de imaginarios politicos.
Resumen A partir del análisis de los discursos oficiales, este artículo discute el imaginario político chileno durante 1990 y 2000. Tras la reinstauración de la democracia, la clase política debió legitimar discursivamente su lugar y... more
Resumen A partir del análisis de los discursos oficiales, este artículo discute el imaginario político chileno durante 1990 y 2000. Tras la reinstauración de la democracia, la clase política debió legitimar discursivamente su lugar y determinar concepciones sobre el Estado, la democracia y lo político. En este marco, el trabajo muestra cómo el discurso a favor de reducir la pobreza –algo que la literatura académica ha relacionado habitualmente con cuestiones de eficiencia y buen gobierno– fue utilizado como variable de cohesión nacional y legitimación de la nueva clase política democrática. Esta particularidad generó la voluntad para actuar en consecuencia. Sin embargo, mientras la pobreza se redujo significativamente, los índices de desigualdad se mantuvieron estables. Abstract With the analysis of the official speeches as a starting point,, this article reviews the imaginary Chilean politician during the period 1990 and 2000. After the re-instauration of democracy, the political c...
After its emergence in the sphere of international aid, the widely accepted definition of good governance remains impossible to achieve. Discussions on this concept have turned into a succession of organizational and procedural structure... more
After its emergence in the sphere of international aid, the widely accepted definition of good governance remains impossible to achieve. Discussions on this concept have turned into a succession of organizational and procedural structure proposals that have been restricting the theoretical framework of politics. A genealogical deconstruction of the history of the word shows that its different discursive traditions only change with technical issues and ideas, but the ideological background and the must be of the politics remain the same. Good Governance itself has a limited vigilant thought that restricts the intellectual and political debate to a narrow frame of general ideas: the recognition of the liberal-capitalist-democracies centred on economic goals as the only possibility of good government. It is necessary to determine if good governance acts as an ideological concept or as theoretical political tool. This article suggests the need for rethinking good governance through good...
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The paper seeks to reinterpret politics by listing a series of axiomatized ideas that may be perpetuating the social discomfort and preventing a genuine thinking in political science. Classic rhetoric and complex thinking offer useful... more
The paper seeks to reinterpret politics by listing a series of axiomatized ideas that may be perpetuating the social discomfort and preventing a genuine thinking in political science. Classic rhetoric and complex thinking offer useful tools for educating the citizens, paying attention to the inner nature of human reason, analyzing their imaginaries, and preparing themselves for a political life that begins with their own self-government. Then, politics is understood not as a continuous war but as the contingent construction of the social bond and the management of envies, sorrows, grudges and excessive ambitions. The differentiation between rationality and rationalization enables the (re)sedimentation of judgment as a necessary virtue for the consolidation of democracy and a better political education for the citizenship.
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El trabajo presenta un análisis del discurso oficial y el imaginario político en torno a la comprensión de la democracia, el rol del Estado y la reforma de la administración pública en los gobiernos de Raúl Alfonsín (Unión Cívica... more
El trabajo presenta un análisis del discurso oficial y el imaginario político en torno a la comprensión de la democracia, el rol del Estado y la reforma de la administración pública en los gobiernos de Raúl Alfonsín (Unión Cívica Radical), Carlos Menem (Partido Justicialista) y Fernando de la Rúa (Alianza). Los debates sobre la reforma del Estado y la reorganización de la burocracia en Argentina se incorporan a la agenda política inmediatamente finalizada la dictadura militar. Desde entonces, los distintos gobiernos le han dado al tema un lugar destacado en sus estrategias de legitimación discursiva, con relativa independencia de que dichas propuestas e ideas se traduzcan o no en acciones concretas.
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One of the main obstacles to detect undesirable conducts such as manipulation of games and competitions, and to combat corrupt behaviour in the sports world is the existence of the so-called “code of silence” among the sport’s actors.... more
One of the main obstacles to detect undesirable conducts such as manipulation of games and competitions, and to combat corrupt behaviour in the sports world is the existence of the so-called “code of silence” among the sport’s actors. Therefore, integrity educational campaigns, codes of conduct, ethics and disciplinary norms include the obligation to report any suspicion, approach, tentative or case of match-fixing. In some countries, such as Portugal, the obligation to denounce is incorporated into criminal law. Although several protected reporting channels have been implemented for sport institutions and federations to encourage whistle-blowing practices, the level of denouncement is still low. Through the analysis of official discourses, ethnography and interviews with key informants, this article demonstrates that despite the formal norms, reporting on corruption in sport, mainly match-fixing, is a dangerous practice that can have serious consequences for the athletes’ career. More than a code of silence within sports, what exist is a series of public secrecies that deliberately recognize the existence of informal institutions that create and materialize those dangers. However, while integrity actors show awareness of the situation, the official narrative and formal norms avoid considering these problems and, moreover, throw this evidence out of the integrity narrative framework. The result is a delegitimate and non-realistic narrative that pushes sports actors to keep quiet more than promoting ethical behaviours and whistle-blowing.
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The growth of the online sports betting market has generated new risk areas and threats to sport integrity, such as match-fixing. In recent years, institutional concern to fight against the phenomenon has been intensified and a set of... more
The growth of the online sports betting market has generated new risk areas and threats to sport integrity, such as match-fixing. In recent years, institutional concern to fight against the phenomenon has been intensified and a set of countermeasures has been adopted. One of the most widely implemented measures to protect integrity in sport is to ban athletes and sports players from betting on the competitions in which they are involved. In some countries, such as Portugal, this practice has become a crime under the new legislation. Despite the legal and sporting restrictions and the prevention programmes carried out for sport institutions to explain the gambling rules, there are many athletes who are putting bets on their own competitions and even in their own games. Through interviews with key informant actors and ethnographic fieldwork, this article describes betting patterns among sports actors in Portugal and explains the perceptions and incentives that lead them to bet in their own sports, competitions and games. The results show different conceptions of integrity between the normative discourse on legal and sport governance institutions and sports actors’ opinion, essentially, the premise that suggest a direct link between betting on one’s own games and manipulation of these games. In some cases, betting in one’s own games helps to strengthen fair play values. However, the spreading of online betting, together with the perception of inefficient controls in the implementation of sporting and legal regulations, creates opportunity structures for fixing matches and taking financial profit though gambling activities.
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On the 1st of September 2019, the Council of Europe Convention against the Manipulation of Sports Competitions entered into force. This official mandate appears to confirm the significance of the issue on the political agenda. For sports... more
On the 1st of September 2019, the Council of Europe Convention against the Manipulation of Sports Competitions entered into force. This official mandate appears to confirm the significance of the issue on the political agenda. For sports governance bodies, the problem is one of the biggest threats against the integrity and sustainability of their industry. Despite this political-institutional situation, the phenomenon still remains under-studied in the academic world and several authors have emphasized the need for more and better empirical research to verify the premises (sometimes unfounded) on which the official preventive narrative of the problem is built. This special issue, Deconstructing Match-fixing, comes to light to address this issue. Systematizing the evidence presented along the contributions, this introductory article attempts to dispel some ‘myths’ in the official preventive narrative, offers some lessons for a better understanding of the phenomenon, and promotes recommendations for establishing more evidence-based public policies and educational campaigns.
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Las nuevas tecnologías han modificado radicalmente la industria de las apuestas deportivas. En la actualidad, millones de personas apuestan en línea y en tiempo real, en una amplia gama de eventos que se desarrollan por todo el mundo.... more
Las nuevas tecnologías han modificado radicalmente la industria de las apuestas deportivas. En la actualidad, millones de personas apuestan en línea y en tiempo real, en una amplia gama de eventos que se desarrollan por todo el mundo. Este mercado global ha generado diversas oportunidades para el crimen y el fraude. En el panorama actual, el amaño de partidos ha evolucionado de ser un fenómeno histórico dentro del mundo de los deportes a un problema criminal global que involucra a organizaciones criminales transnacionales, a jugadores profesionales, a empresarios, árbitros, deportistas e intermediarios. A pesar de que la manipulación de competiciones se ha posicionado en la agenda pública como la mayor amenaza contra la sustentabilidad del deporte, la complejidad y extensión del nuevo mercado de apuestas generan áreas de riesgo para el delito que van más allá del simple amaño de partidos. El artículo tiene el objetivo pedagógico y práctico de explicar los cambios en el mercado y tipos de apuestas deportivas y describir las nuevas estructuras de oportunidad para el delito y el fraude que surgen del nuevo marco comercial. Todas estas cuestiones, poco estudiadas, abren una ventana de oportunidad para nuevas líneas de investigación multidisciplinar sobre deporte, criminalidad, economía y políticas públicas.
Lo que hemos logrado identificar después de este largo estudio es que la violencia en América Latina es un fenómeno heterogéneo pero generalizado, pues no existe en realidad ningún país que pueda asegurar estar libre de la epidemia... more
Lo que hemos logrado identificar después de este largo estudio es que
la violencia en América Latina es un fenómeno heterogéneo pero generalizado, pues no existe en realidad ningún país que pueda asegurar estar libre de la epidemia homicida que corre en la región. Otros hallazgos que queremos destacar desde el comienzo es que la concentración poblacional y la proliferación de los mercados ilegales apuntan a ser variables que explican de manera más consistente la expansión de la violencia que vive la región. Ello remite a corroborar lo que cierta literatura sostiene que la violencia en América Latina es una cuestión de crecimiento urbano caótico que ha dado paso a lo que conocemos como megalópolis. Pero por otro lado, también refiere que la expansión de la violencia letal es producto de la escasa capacidad de los Estados nacionales de tener una presencia efectiva a lo largo de sus territorios, así como de hacer efectivo el Estado de Derecho. Estos hallazgos son más verificables a partir de la hipótesis nula que por el problema mismo. Es decir, es la paz, y no la propia violencia
letal, la que ofrece mayor diafanidad para comprender el fenómeno.
la violencia en América Latina es un fenómeno heterogéneo pero generalizado, pues no existe en realidad ningún país que pueda asegurar estar libre de la epidemia homicida que corre en la región. Otros hallazgos que queremos destacar desde el comienzo es que la concentración poblacional y la proliferación de los mercados ilegales apuntan a ser variables que explican de manera más consistente la expansión de la violencia que vive la región. Ello remite a corroborar lo que cierta literatura sostiene que la violencia en América Latina es una cuestión de crecimiento urbano caótico que ha dado paso a lo que conocemos como megalópolis. Pero por otro lado, también refiere que la expansión de la violencia letal es producto de la escasa capacidad de los Estados nacionales de tener una presencia efectiva a lo largo de sus territorios, así como de hacer efectivo el Estado de Derecho. Estos hallazgos son más verificables a partir de la hipótesis nula que por el problema mismo. Es decir, es la paz, y no la propia violencia
letal, la que ofrece mayor diafanidad para comprender el fenómeno.
Research Interests:
Insecurity has become one of the main problems in Latin America, which is considered the most violent regions in the World. However, studies focusing on citizen security typically address this problem from a technical perspective and do... more
Insecurity has become one of the main problems in Latin America, which is considered the most violent regions in the World. However, studies focusing on citizen security typically address this problem from a technical perspective and do not analyse and understand the phenomenon through a holistic view. They try to provide linear and universal cause-consequence schemes to explain insecurity and the prevention of crime and violent actions’ materialization. For this discursive logic, the problem is the violent act, and if this is not consummated all then seems to be perfect in societies in conflict.
Due to car theft, coded keys and other devices for immobilization were created in order to prevent these robberies. The result was not the elimination of the problem, but the change of the modus operandi of the theft, which now should include the presence of the owner or the driver with the original coded key. New more violent techniques appeared and car theft became one of the most important sources of murders. Given the insecurity, the upper classes moved into private-gated neighbourhoods to be safe and evade social reality. But logically, one day these closed spaces became unsafe as well. And there are much more examples like these.
Being Violent. The origins of insecurity and the victim-accomplice logic proposes a complex analysis of the situation. Focusing on the cases of Mexico and Argentina, the book starts from the assumption that violence and insecurity are not the core problem, but are instead the logical consequence of a main prior problem: the delegitimation and collapse of legality as a key value and effective principle of everyday social interactions.
In these societies it is not necessary to respect the law. Corruption is not a rotten apple anymore and it became the norm: bribes have become an effective tool for solving problems, tax evasions are useful and tolerated, meritocratic parameters do not work, salaries are devalued, and education limited.
The way of life promoted by formal institution discourse is no longer credible. Living together has become a perpetual unrest due to the ideas that determine what is fair, good, what we are able to do in society; patterns of recognition, insurmountable antagonisms, and extreme exclusion. Citizens are educated to pursuit social goals that are then denied or made impossible by society itself. On the way to success, legality appears as an obstacle.
In this context, violence emerges in social studies as a negative or bad question. However, violence is neither good nor bad, but must instead be understood in the context of its use, tolerance and efficacy as a tool, and as a mean to achieve social and political goals. When there is no legal framework and effective and inclusive institutions, violence emerges as a logical and effective matter. And here lies a new problem: violence is recognized and tolerated by different sectors of society as an effective tool in the symbolic and political struggles.
A number of people use violent groups for political, labour, social, and sports goals. Threats, assaults, impositions, beatings, and vandalism are recurrent actions of political and social life of these societies because their effectiveness in achieving goals is recognized and accepted. In Argentina, for example, it was decided to incorporate the teaching of escrache (protests that target powerful individuals in their private, rather than public, lives) in High School educational programs. In Mexico, many self-called armed groups take guns for protection and understand that the best way to combat insecurity (in a situation like that) is taking up arms and also resort to violence. Moreover, the book shows how multiple demands of specific social sectors have only entered the political agenda through a violent context or as a result of the expansion and increased perceptions of insecurity in all social strata.
“Who is more guilty, those who let others do or those who do?” Latin-American common sense asks.
Being Violent starts with a complex analysis that examines crime from the parallel and complementary activities that give it sense and symbolic value. There are a number of complementary activities, many legal, without which crime would lose its raison d'être. Street markets with second hand products, a demand for low-price merchandises regardless their origin, patterns of social recognition with a focus on consumption, endless possibilities of money laundering, opportunity structures for corruption, and off-shores. In this context the logic of victim-accomplice arises. In order to persist, a negative social practice requires a tacit consensus among the population, what Gramsci considered the natural acceptance of suffering: the hegemony expands its values and makes them axiomatic, transforming submission into something seemingly natural. The process of legitimation of a focus of malaise should count, somehow, with the consensus of the majority. In the discussion of social change it is important to understand how a harmful practice for a sector of the population acquires its legitimacy and thus its continuity. Those who are considered victims of a social practice may be participating and/or tolerating ideas that naturalise and legitimate this practice and, in this way, give it symbolic and real value and make its continuity possible. There is no crime without consumers of criminals. Guilt is not only matter of criminals. Social imaginary, and its ideas about what is fair, good, and tolerated within a legitimate social order, has a key influence on the socialization of individuals and the potential materialization (or not) of a violent society. Narratives and stereotypes of success are essential in this process.
A critical problem is the misunderstanding between means and ends. The meta-discourse of citizen security supports the idea that criminals seek crime and the objective of crime is obtaining money and/or power. But crime – as money or power- is a mean, not and end. Who robs a car does not want the car, not even the money of selling that car. In reality individuals want to achieve something with that money, they seek recognition. In this sense, the book explores in detail the understanding of the human being from its vulnerability and social character instead of seeing it from a rationality that is not true.
Some authors consider that poverty and inequalities are the cause of crime and violence. There is a criminalization of poverty: only the hungry poor should be those that steal. But crime and violence have no social status. However, it is true that different social classes have different structures of opportunity to intervene and make different types of crimes. Not everyone can be part of white collar corruption. Illegality is spread in all social strata.
Contemporary societies promote a social recognition that is focused on materialism. We see people in a different way depending on what they can have or not. And our predisposition with this people is different depending in our materialist prejudices. Tell me what you have and I'll tell you how much advantage I can take of you. The axiomatized ideas that determine the patterns of social recognition of our societies generate conflict, hatred, resentment and ... violence.
Two concepts have been recurrent in programs to combat violence and insecurity: Iron Fist and Zero tolerance. It is important to firm up Iron Fist and/or Zero Tolerance against what: against specific crimes or against a system of social interaction where legality has neither hierarchy nor utility. Zero tolerance to crime or to a way of life that has degenerated integration values, has expanded exclusion and misery (not only economic, it is also psychological), and generates ideas about what is interesting and worthwhile to be recognized that do not help to improve the general quality of life.
Being Violent is a book that using example of Latin America talks about the contemporary world. It warns about sources of unrest that, being more or less developed in a society than another, affect all western societies. It is a book that, depending on where you read it, it may be a normative, educational, and preventive reading. It is a book that crosses boundaries and reaches Europe to warn about how the current crisis can become a snowball that spreads and naturalizes new social problems and violent behaviors. It offers an analysis that can be extrapolated to different latitudes and is helpful to various communities.
Due to car theft, coded keys and other devices for immobilization were created in order to prevent these robberies. The result was not the elimination of the problem, but the change of the modus operandi of the theft, which now should include the presence of the owner or the driver with the original coded key. New more violent techniques appeared and car theft became one of the most important sources of murders. Given the insecurity, the upper classes moved into private-gated neighbourhoods to be safe and evade social reality. But logically, one day these closed spaces became unsafe as well. And there are much more examples like these.
Being Violent. The origins of insecurity and the victim-accomplice logic proposes a complex analysis of the situation. Focusing on the cases of Mexico and Argentina, the book starts from the assumption that violence and insecurity are not the core problem, but are instead the logical consequence of a main prior problem: the delegitimation and collapse of legality as a key value and effective principle of everyday social interactions.
In these societies it is not necessary to respect the law. Corruption is not a rotten apple anymore and it became the norm: bribes have become an effective tool for solving problems, tax evasions are useful and tolerated, meritocratic parameters do not work, salaries are devalued, and education limited.
The way of life promoted by formal institution discourse is no longer credible. Living together has become a perpetual unrest due to the ideas that determine what is fair, good, what we are able to do in society; patterns of recognition, insurmountable antagonisms, and extreme exclusion. Citizens are educated to pursuit social goals that are then denied or made impossible by society itself. On the way to success, legality appears as an obstacle.
In this context, violence emerges in social studies as a negative or bad question. However, violence is neither good nor bad, but must instead be understood in the context of its use, tolerance and efficacy as a tool, and as a mean to achieve social and political goals. When there is no legal framework and effective and inclusive institutions, violence emerges as a logical and effective matter. And here lies a new problem: violence is recognized and tolerated by different sectors of society as an effective tool in the symbolic and political struggles.
A number of people use violent groups for political, labour, social, and sports goals. Threats, assaults, impositions, beatings, and vandalism are recurrent actions of political and social life of these societies because their effectiveness in achieving goals is recognized and accepted. In Argentina, for example, it was decided to incorporate the teaching of escrache (protests that target powerful individuals in their private, rather than public, lives) in High School educational programs. In Mexico, many self-called armed groups take guns for protection and understand that the best way to combat insecurity (in a situation like that) is taking up arms and also resort to violence. Moreover, the book shows how multiple demands of specific social sectors have only entered the political agenda through a violent context or as a result of the expansion and increased perceptions of insecurity in all social strata.
“Who is more guilty, those who let others do or those who do?” Latin-American common sense asks.
Being Violent starts with a complex analysis that examines crime from the parallel and complementary activities that give it sense and symbolic value. There are a number of complementary activities, many legal, without which crime would lose its raison d'être. Street markets with second hand products, a demand for low-price merchandises regardless their origin, patterns of social recognition with a focus on consumption, endless possibilities of money laundering, opportunity structures for corruption, and off-shores. In this context the logic of victim-accomplice arises. In order to persist, a negative social practice requires a tacit consensus among the population, what Gramsci considered the natural acceptance of suffering: the hegemony expands its values and makes them axiomatic, transforming submission into something seemingly natural. The process of legitimation of a focus of malaise should count, somehow, with the consensus of the majority. In the discussion of social change it is important to understand how a harmful practice for a sector of the population acquires its legitimacy and thus its continuity. Those who are considered victims of a social practice may be participating and/or tolerating ideas that naturalise and legitimate this practice and, in this way, give it symbolic and real value and make its continuity possible. There is no crime without consumers of criminals. Guilt is not only matter of criminals. Social imaginary, and its ideas about what is fair, good, and tolerated within a legitimate social order, has a key influence on the socialization of individuals and the potential materialization (or not) of a violent society. Narratives and stereotypes of success are essential in this process.
A critical problem is the misunderstanding between means and ends. The meta-discourse of citizen security supports the idea that criminals seek crime and the objective of crime is obtaining money and/or power. But crime – as money or power- is a mean, not and end. Who robs a car does not want the car, not even the money of selling that car. In reality individuals want to achieve something with that money, they seek recognition. In this sense, the book explores in detail the understanding of the human being from its vulnerability and social character instead of seeing it from a rationality that is not true.
Some authors consider that poverty and inequalities are the cause of crime and violence. There is a criminalization of poverty: only the hungry poor should be those that steal. But crime and violence have no social status. However, it is true that different social classes have different structures of opportunity to intervene and make different types of crimes. Not everyone can be part of white collar corruption. Illegality is spread in all social strata.
Contemporary societies promote a social recognition that is focused on materialism. We see people in a different way depending on what they can have or not. And our predisposition with this people is different depending in our materialist prejudices. Tell me what you have and I'll tell you how much advantage I can take of you. The axiomatized ideas that determine the patterns of social recognition of our societies generate conflict, hatred, resentment and ... violence.
Two concepts have been recurrent in programs to combat violence and insecurity: Iron Fist and Zero tolerance. It is important to firm up Iron Fist and/or Zero Tolerance against what: against specific crimes or against a system of social interaction where legality has neither hierarchy nor utility. Zero tolerance to crime or to a way of life that has degenerated integration values, has expanded exclusion and misery (not only economic, it is also psychological), and generates ideas about what is interesting and worthwhile to be recognized that do not help to improve the general quality of life.
Being Violent is a book that using example of Latin America talks about the contemporary world. It warns about sources of unrest that, being more or less developed in a society than another, affect all western societies. It is a book that, depending on where you read it, it may be a normative, educational, and preventive reading. It is a book that crosses boundaries and reaches Europe to warn about how the current crisis can become a snowball that spreads and naturalizes new social problems and violent behaviors. It offers an analysis that can be extrapolated to different latitudes and is helpful to various communities.
Research Interests:
La violencia letal en América Latina no tiene un patrón definido o predominante que permita extraer afirmaciones concluyentes. A pesar de la heterogeneidad interna, todos los países analizados tienen por lo menos una provincia con más de... more
La violencia letal en América Latina no tiene un patrón definido o predominante que permita extraer afirmaciones concluyentes. A pesar de la heterogeneidad interna, todos los países analizados tienen por lo menos una provincia con más de 10 homicidios por cada 100 mil habitantes, lo que se considera una epidemia. La geografía, relacionada con los mercados ilegales, es una de las explicaciones más sólidas para entender las diferencias entre las regiones nacionales más violentas y más pacíficas. De la misma manera, se confirma que la epidemia de violencia homicida en la región es un fenómeno predominantemente urbano que tiene un correlato significativo con la geografía de los territorios, en especial si estos son fronterizos o tienen salida al mar. Por el contrario, la pobreza, la desigualdad, el desempleo o los bajos niveles educativos no son factores que sirvan para explicar los altos índices de violencia.
Research Interests:
Resumen: La piratería, el contrabando y la producción de marihuana en Paraguay, marcaron su actividad dentro de lo ilícito. Uno de los casos más extremos sucede en la ciudad de Pedro Juan Caballero, fronteriza con Ponta Porã, Brasil.... more
Resumen: La piratería, el contrabando y la producción de marihuana en Paraguay, marcaron su actividad dentro de lo ilícito. Uno de los casos más extremos sucede en la ciudad de Pedro Juan Caballero, fronteriza con Ponta Porã, Brasil. Aquella localidad se impuso como un claro ejemplo de coexistencia de la racionalidad legal, las reglas neo-patrimonialistas y la rivalidad entre grupos internacionales del narcotráfico. Lejos de tratarse de un problema de ausencia de Estado, la expansión del tráfico de drogas estuvo enmarcada en un tipo de orden clandestino, propiciado desde la legalidad –politicos, policias, funcionarios públicos–, que produjo roles y normas de convivencia social. A través de entrevistas cualitativas con cuatro informantes clave –un politico nacional, una autoridad local y dos exagentes antidrogas– se investigó la lógica de dicho orden, realizando un análisis del surgimiento y la consolidación del narcotráfico en Pedro Juan Caballero.
Palabras clave: Narcotráfico; Orden Clandestino; Estado; Legalidad; Paraguay
Palabras clave: Narcotráfico; Orden Clandestino; Estado; Legalidad; Paraguay