Legitimacy matters

Falko Ernst

Journal of Money Laundering Control, 2015, vol. 18, issue 2, 137-152

Abstract: Purpose - – This paper aims to revisit paradigmatic depictions of organized criminal behavior. Unveiling shortcomings, it asks how contingent manifestations of organized crime can be better grasped by borrowing analytical tools from organizational scholarship. Design/methodology/approach - – The potential for cross-disciplinary fertilization is showcased by reflecting recent transformations of Mexican organized crime. Over a year of close-proximity fieldwork, exclusive first-hand empirical data were gathered on Los Caballeros Templarios, one of Mexico’s principal criminal organizations. Interviews with its leaders were carried out and participant observation conducted amongst local communities. Findings - – Criminal organizations have turned to the local to generate resources vital for their survival. Emerging as forces of alternative governance, the strategic use of organizational legitimacy has gained unprecedented prominence. It acts as an interface for reciprocal criminal-organization–environment influences. Largely neglected, it has driven the mutation of Mexican organized crime and the country’s armed conflict altogether. Research limitations/implications - – The reported findings are of limited scope insofar as they are derived from in-depth data on a single case. Future research would ideally generate such data on further cases, enabling greater theorization qua cross-comparison. Originality/value - – Informed by rare first-hand empirical data, this paper offers exclusive insights into the on-the-ground realities of Mexican organized crime and its role in the fragmentation of social order and governance. This is of interest for scholars, the wider public and policymakers alike. The innovative conceptual approach is easily replicable so as to support similar enquiries.

Keywords: Mexico; Criminal governance; Empirical field study; Los Caballeros Templarios; Organizational theory; Organized crime (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (text/html)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:jmlcpp:jmlc-10-2014-0037

DOI: 10.1108/JMLC-10-2014-0037

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Money Laundering Control is currently edited by Dr Li Hong Xing and Prof Barry Rider

More articles in Journal of Money Laundering Control from Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Emerald Support ().