Interpreting Corruption: Elite Perspectives in India

Adopting a social constructivist perspective, author Vinod Pavarala examines corruption as a process through which the elites in society define the problem and negotiate solutions to it. Interpreting Corruption goes beyond the standard structural-functionalist approach that views corruption as a fact and as a dysfunction that can be observed, measured, and analyzed objectively. Based on intensive interviews with those belonging to five elite groups–bureaucrats, judges, politicians, industrialists, and journalists–combined with a survey of newspaper accounts and legal documents, this study provides a realistic understanding of the social problem of corruption in an underdeveloped nation such as India. With its rich insights into what is a major problem in India′s political, social, and economic life, this thought-provoking study will be of immense interest to students and scholars in the fields of political science, sociology, public administration, and the sociology of development. It will also attract the attention of politicians, policymakers, and industrialists.