Eric Breit (Work Research Institute, Norway), Thomas Taro Lennerfors (Uppsala University, Sweden) & Daniel Jardim Pardini (Fumec University, Belo Horizonte, Brazil) 

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The phenomenon of corruption is often described as a “cancer”, “virus”, or an “evil” that is haunting contemporary private, public, and third sector organizations. Corruption is by many regarded as an obstacle, or perhaps the obstacle, to achieving social, economic and ecological balance. Such views are not restricted to specific national, regional or organizational settings, but are by and large prevalent across the far corners of the globe. 

There is also widespread agreement across the globe that corruption has to be fought and, ideally, eradicated, among others by using a ‘‘wide range of strategies, networked in an integrated fashion over a long period of time’’. It is not uncommon to hear of a global “war” that is waged on corruption. This war includes a range of actors, not only on the international level but also on national and local levels. 

In recent years, the literature on corruption and anti-corruption has flourished, and it now includes important contributions from a range of disciplines. However, most, if not all, of the focus seems to be rooted in Western contexts and perspectives. For instance, the global anti-corruption movement has been critiqued for its neoliberal, Western, and colonialist drive towards positing corruption as an attribute of the Other of Western civilization. This has marginalized non-Western perspectives, and hindered fruitful international dialogue. 

As an attempt to mitigate this marginalization, the overall aims of the subtheme is, firstly, to develop alternative ways of theorizing, researching and fighting corruption, and secondly, to generate scholarly debate between different research communities. 

We invite papers that develop alternative theorizations of corruption and anti-corruption. Can there be alternative understandings of corruption arising by seriously taking a standpoint in a particular local context, such as that of Europe or Latin America? Moreover, how can local theorizations and literatures on corruption and anti-corruption problematize the universally homogeneous understanding of corruption, and maybe create a hybridization of our understandings? And, how can a cross-disciplinary debate between fields such as sociology, history, anthropology, organization theory, philosophy, political science, psychoanalysis, or even the natural sciences or ecology contribute to developing alternative theories of corruption? 

We also invite papers that propose alternative ways to research corruption. Can we develop new methodologies to study corruption by paying close attention to local (non-Western?) contexts? For instance, can one really approach corruption head-on, or can it also be studied incidentally, by, as Slavoj Zizek puts it, "looking awry"? Further, can we use “alternative” methods developed in the fields of art, literature, or popular culture to study corruption or to critique dominant understandings of corruption and anti-corruption? 

Finally, we invite papers that discuss alternative ways of fighting corruption. By paying close attention to context, can we develop new ways of problematizing notions of the anti-corruption movement, thereby highlighting its hybridity and contradictory nature? How can we move beyond anti-corruption as (Western?) technologies of purification and really fight corruption in its local context? Is corruption something that should be fought indirectly by rather promoting other "Western" or "non-Western" positive values? 

We invite papers addressing alternatives to corruption or anti-corruption that engage with one or more of the three types suggested above, but papers that go beyond that scope are certainly invited. Possible topics include, but are not limited to, the following: 

- Public, private, and third sector corruption 

- The brands and images of anti-corruption 

Eric Breit is Senior Researcher at Work Research Institute, Norway, and Visiting Researcher at Lund University, Sweden. His research revolves around organizational corruption, public sector governance and reorganization, and mediatized organizations. He has published in outlets such as the 'Journal of Business Ethics' and 'Culture and Organization'. 

Thomas Taro Lennerfors is Senior Lecturer and Associate Professor at Uppsala University, Sweden, and Visiting Researcher at Meiji University, Japan. His work concerns ethics, corruption and sustainability. Apart from some monographs, and book chapters, he has published in for example the 'Harvard Business Review' and 'Ephemera - theory and politics in organization'. 

Daniel Jardim Pardini is Senior Lecturer and Full Professor at the Doctoral and Master Business Administration Program at Fumec University, Belo Horizonte Brazil. He is the coordinate of a Brazilian research group in organizational corruption. His work involves studies on public administration, organizational corruption and corporate governance. He has published book chapters and papers in journals, such as 'Corporate Ownership and Control'.