Chinese Journal of Sociology ›› 2009, Vol. 29 ›› Issue (6): 85-106.

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SelfJustification of Bribery in Moral Terms and Entrapped Corruption： An Archive Study on the Municipal Supervisory Office in City H

Li Hui   

  • Online:2009-11-20 Published:2009-11-20

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Abstract:

This paper uses the stateindividual model to look into the practice of bribery based on the case interview records and minutes in the Municipal Supervisory Office in City H. This archive study has found that the traditional categorization of bribery as an immoral exchange does not accurately capture its essence； on the contrary， the bribers have displayed a very strong tendency to selfjustify bribebased exchanges in moral terms through all kinds of signs and symbolic behaviors in the process of such practice. From the angle of economics， bribe is described as a market conduct to trade power and money  this description is suspicious of getting the concept of bribery a bit too simplified. Bribery should bear a fundamental difference from pure market exchanges. The author tends to describe bribery as the briber’s performance of selfjustification in moral terms， which is entrapped in the special form of social exchanges between giftgiving in the tradition and trading in the modern market.

Key words: bribery, gift ,  self,  justification in moral terms , trapped corruption, cultural design ,  cultural consciousness ,  glocalization ,  field spirit ,  McDonald’s