Corruption As Power ― Criminal Governance in Peru During the Fujimori Era (1990-2000)

This book deals with the political corruption which infested Peru during the Fujimori years (1990-2000). The work is not about petty corruption, the small bribe paid to the underpaid police officer to avoid being booked for a minor traffic violation, but addresses the corruption of the powerful. Elites rely on corruption, and particularly in repressive regimes the practice is the most important tool of ‘criminal governance’. The author utilizes the concept of the protection racket developed by Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno from the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory to explain the links between political, economic, and societal elites in Fujimori’s Peru such as the military, political parties, multinational corporations, or conservative groups within the Catholic Church.

Alfredo Schulte-Bockholt works at the Department of Criminology and Sociology at Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, Canada. He teaches on state crime, and crime and corruption in developing societies, especially Latin America. Dr Schulte-Bockholt is a ‘political criminologist’ interested in the exploration of criminal power, while his academic efforts are largely informed by the works of Max Horkheimer.