The Threat of the Thief: Who Has Normative Influence in Georgian Society?

Gavin Slade

Global Crime, 2007, vol. 8, issue 2, 172-179

Abstract: This piece gives an account of the Georgian government's recent attempts to crackdown on the institution of thieves-in-law [ vory-v-zakone ] within Georgian society. The events surrounding the problematisation of the thieves-in-law are examined and different answers are offered to the underlying question of the article: what threat does this subversive group pose to the government? It is argued that the vory do not represent a potential criminal revolution but are victims of a resurgent state producing a politics of law that seeks to stamp out subverting influences within society. The thieves' world represents an alternative moral order which is attractive in a country which suffers from acute alienated statehood. Thus the fight against the vory should be understood as a battle to win back the hearts of the Georgian people for the state and for the law.

Date: 2007
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DOI: 10.1080/17440570701362398

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