We are a network of corruption researchers from different disciplinary, national and cultural backgrounds. We believe that exchange and collaboration is paramount to foster the understanding of the complex and socially harmful phenomenon of corruption.

The vision of the Interdisciplinary Corruption Research Network is to reconcile

varying perspectives into a constructive outlet for the progression of scientific research

on corruption.

Last June the Interdisciplinary Corruption Research Network organized its third Forum. This time we met at the Quality of Government Institute of the University of Gothenburg. The forum took place from the 7th - 9th June 2018, with the help of  financial support  from Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (https://www.rj.se).

The ICRForum 2018 offered a platform for presenting research and exchanging new ideas on how corruption works in practice and how the mechanisms of corruption, e.g. norms, vary across regions and cultures.

These discussions combined theoretical and empirical efforts to identify context-specific patterns of corruption and respective anti-corruption policies.

For the first time, the Forum hosted three types of workshops:

1 Presentation of completed projects. Participants presented their completed work or work near completion
2 Presentation of the work in progress. Participants presented their research projects in their initial or intermediary phases.
3 Co-Creation. Topics of the Co-Creation workshops were defined just before the start of the workshop session or developed during its course. Using the topics collectively agreed upon, participants engaged in brainstorming, thinking “outside the box”, to identify common interests within the group to initiate collaboration.  Through open collaboration, each group aimed to produce a cross-disciplinary research product, such as joint publication, teaching activities, or conference/panel organization, but also more innovative ideas that may advance corruption research and policy prescriptions.

This years' keynote speakers at the Forum were:

Richard Messick (World Bank) with the talk "The Battle Against Corruption: report from the Frontline."

Associate Professor Anna Persson (University of Gothenburg) with the talk "Why Corruption Persists: Insights from Sub-Saharan Africa."

Professor Anastasia Piliavsky (University of Cambridge) with the talk "Understanding corruption in other cultures."

Associate Professor Victor Lapuente Gine (University of Gothenburg) with the talk "The Uncorrupted Leviathan."

The Forum closed with a panel debate on the topic “Why has academia failed in raising awareness about corruption compared to journalism?” and “How can academia and journalism cooperate in disseminating knowledge about corruption?” The panelists included investigative journalists, academics, and practitioners, namely:

Omar Waraich, Deputy South Asia Director at Amnesty International

Ilya Lozovsky, Managing editor of OCCRP (Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project)

Nils Hanson, investigative journalist from Swedish public service television company

as well as the keynote speakers

It was great fun meeting all you and discuss (anti-)corruption!

A big thanks to the volunteers:
Dorde Milosav
Margot Mandula
Peter Vervolet
Beatrice Stefania Comoli
Ramin Shirali

See you next year at the next Forum!

The Organizors:

Ketevan Bolkvadze

Annika Engelbert

Steven Gawthorpe

Oksana Huss

Ina Kubbe

Nils Köbis

Anna Schwickerath

Marina Povitkina

Aiysha Varraich

Sofia Wickberg