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2019, The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology (2nd Edition)
The term “red mafia” has been increasingly used by researchers in the field of organized crime and corruption, but no consensus has been made on what it means. Russian criminologists use “red mafia” to refer to Russian organized crime groups in general or organized crime groups in the post- Soviet context. Chinese criminologists, however, define “red mafia” as groups or networks of cor- rupt Communist Party members who earn illicit profits, mainly from abusing public office and selling protection. Completely different under- standings of what the red mafia is and how it works hinders theoretical and empirical advance- ment. This entry discusses conceptual ambiguity and confusion in the literature and offers recom- mendations for future research directions.
‘Red Mafia’ is the collective term for corrupt public officials in mainland China, mainly from the criminal justice system, who attempt to monopolise the protection business in the criminal underworld by abusing power. In contemporary mainland China, the Red Mafia has developed into an alternative system of governance that can control organised crime groups, enable them to flourish, and protect them where strong government and effective self-protection associations are absent. The author examines organised crime and corruption by analysing the Wen Qiang case, one of the most famous and widely publicised cases in Chongqing’s latest crime crackdown campaign. Drawing on interview data and extensive published materials, this paper offers a tentative definition of ‘Red Mafia’, develops a typology of organised crime, describes the emergence of the Red Mafia in China, explores how gangsters developed relationships with public officials, suggests why organised crime groups chose the Red Mafia as their preferred protection and enforcement mechanism, examines patterns of services provided, and explores the differences between the Red Mafia and other Mafia groups.
Gambetta’s theoretical framework focuses on two important aspects directly relating to the birth and development of mafias, namely a demand for private protection and a supply of the same. In the Post-Mao era, China started its transition from a centrally controlled economy to a market-directed economy by adopting reform and opening-up policies. The widespread creation of property rights has exponentially enlarged the demand for protection. However, property rights are ambiguously defined in the Chinese legal system, and the state is unable and unwilling to provide efficient and sufficient law enforcement mechanisms for needy people because of the rampant corruption of government officials and the weak judicial system. In this case, the mafia that is interested in the private provision of protection developed into an alternative enforcement mechanism for ‘securing’ property rights in China’s economic transition. The most important service offered by the mafia in China is not only to assist business enterprises in monopolising the market, but also to assist local government in China’s economic reform.
British journal of Criminology
Extra-Legal Protection in China: How Guanxi Distorts China’s Legal System and Facilitates the Rise of Unlawful Protectors2014 •
This paper incorporates the concept of guanxi—a Chinese version of personal connections, networks or social capital—into the discussion of police corruption and the rise of extra-legal protectors. Using published materials and fieldwork data collected from two Chinese cities (Chongqing and Qufu), it demonstrates how guanxi distorts China’s legal system by facilitating the buying and selling of public offices and promoting the formation of corrupt networks between locally based criminals and government officials. China’s weak legal framework encourages individuals and entrepreneurs to employ guanxi networks to obtain private protection from alternative suppliers (e.g. corrupt government officials and street gangsters) in order to protect property rights, facilitate transactions and fend off government extortion.
2016 •
2015 •
This paper examines “thugs-for-hire” as a form of state coercion and everyday repression. Third-party violence is commonly deployed by the state to evict homeowners and to deal with petitioners and protestors in China. This study contributes to the state repression literature by elaborating the role of thugs and gangsters as a repressive measure. Violence is effective and efficient in implementing unpopular and illegal policies. Third-party violence as a form of privatized covert repression also allows the state to evade responsibility and to maintain a veneer of legitimacy. However, it comes at a cost to regime legitimacy and trust in government.
International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 2nd edition, Vol 14. Oxford: Elsevier. pp. 429–434.
Criminology of Mafias2015 •
The article gives an overview of academic writing on mafias. It provides a definition for this often sensationalized phenomenon which focuses on the governance functions mafias perform and their similarities to states. It contrasts mafias with other forms of organized crime. The article goes on to discuss how and why mafias emerge and exist in certain places in the world at certain times, what mafias do, how they organize, how they expand, and how finally they decline.
Using violence or threat of violence, " thugs-for-hire " (TFH) is a form of privatized coercion that helps states subjugate a recalcitrant population. I lay out three scope conditions under which TFH is the preferred strategy: when state actions are illegal or policies are unpopular; when evasion of state responsibility is highly desirable; and when states are weak in their capacity or are less strong than their societies. Weak states relative to strong ones are more likely to deploy TFH, mostly for the purpose of bolstering their coercive capacity; strong states use TFH for evasion of responsibility. Yet the state-TFH relationship is functional only if the state is able to maintain the upper hand over the violent agents. Focusing on China, a seemingly paradoxical case due to its traditional perception of being a strong state, I examine how local states frequently deploy TFH to evict homeowners, enforce the one-child policy, collect exorbitant exactions, and deal with petitioners and protestors. However, the increasing prevalence of " local mafia states " suggests that some of the thuggish groups have grown to usurp local governments' autonomy. This points to the cost of relying upon TFH as a repressive strategy.
The RUSI Journal
The Increasing Threat of Chinese Organized Crime: National, Regional and International Perspectives2013 •
"With the growing global importance of China, Chinese organised crime has become a growing non-military threat to national and international security. Peng Wang focuses on the three dimensions of Chinese organised crime: the resurgence of the criminal underworld and rampant police corruption in mainland China; cross-border crime in Greater China; and Chinese organised crime overseas, including in the UK. The national, regional and international threats posed by ethnic-Chinese criminal groups require the law-enforcement agencies of both China and those countries hosting Chinese communities to improve their response strategies as a matter of urgency.
In March 2017, a criminal case called “kill the mother-insulter” (辱母杀人案) went viral on Chinese media. The 22-year-old offender, Yu Huan, received a life sentence for killing a debt collector and injuring three others when his mother, an entrepreneur who had failed to pay a loan shark, was illegally detained and sexually humiliated in front of Yu by 11 debt collectors but received no help from the police. Many citizens questioned the rationale of the heavy sentence, while others criticized the ineffective police work. The case incidentally provided a glimpse into China’s booming loan-shark industry and criminal organizations that specialize in debt collection. The past four decades have witnessed the evolution of Chinese organized crime from street gangsters to criminal organizations that participate in violence mainly for profit, as described in fact-based fiction such as Old Days in the Northeast—Two Decades of the Black Societies (东北往事—黑道风云20年). What is less known, both in the mass media and academia, is the emergence of a new type of organized crime—a Chinese mafia that goes beyond participating in traditional illegal activities such as gambling, organizing prostitution, and drug trafficking to also specializing in selling protection. PengWang’s book is the first in English to explore the rise of extralegal protection in China.
Dermokratizatsiya and Prikhvatizatsiya: the Russian Kleptocracy and Rise of Organized Crime. Demokratizatsiya 11(3): 449-457
The Russian Kleptocracy and Rise of Organized Crime2003 •
Law & Society Review
No Country for Made Men: The Decline of the Mafia in Post‐Soviet Georgia2012 •
2018 •
Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency
State Failure, Economic Failure, and Predatory Organized Crime: A Comparative Analysis2004 •
Theoretical Criminology
Policing following political and social transitions: Russia, Brazil, and China compared2015 •
Communist and Post-Communist Studies
Reform, corruption, and growth: Why corruption is more devastating in Russia than in China2006 •
Think India Journal
Corruption And Black Money In India: Administrative Dilemma and Judicial Responses2019 •
Trends in Organized Crime
The interdisciplinary dimensions of the study of organized crime2006 •
Chapter in book: Transnational Organized Crime: An Overview from Six Continents, Jay Albanese and Philip Reichel, (eds.) Sage Publications.
Transnational Organized Crime in North America2014 •
1997 •
Fan zui yan jiu (Chinese Criminology Review)
Recent Trends in the Study of Transnational Organized CrimeRationality and Society
Cooperation in criminal organizations: Kinship and violence as credible commitments2007 •
Estudos De Sociologia
As dimensões interdisciplinares do estudo do crime organizado2012 •