Enacting Anticorruption: The Reconfiguration of Audit Regimes in Contemporary Vietnam

Abstract

Corruption (tham nhũng) getting around the law (luâ . t).The most general term for corruption (tham nhũng) in Vietnamese combines two words, avarice and harassment. Although the term's precise etymology is not accurately known, the pairing suggests an origin in Buddhist philosophy, which identi es desire, along with hatred and delusion, as one of the three main causes of suffering. 1 Greed is, after all, a manifestation of desire, an affective state that inevitably returns to torment its victim no matter how many times it is fed. This perhaps explains why acts of corruption are closely linked to eating in Vietnam: corrupt of cials are said to eat bribes (ăn hối lộ) or, more bluntly, to eat money (ăn tiền) itself. In this regard, corrupt of cials are not unlike the hungry ghosts that haunt the popular imagination. Both are insatiable; moreover, the failure to feed them similarly invites their malicious interference in one's affairs.But these metaphysical associations, while they reveal why corruption is positions : . / -

Combating corruption in Vietnam: a commentary

“…This outcome of Doi Moi stems from the contradiction inherent in "a market system with socialist orientation": the "equitisation" of state assets has allowed state officials to opportunistically commodify their privilege and authority (see MacLean, 2012). According to Davies (2015) in The Guardian:…”

Making Law: Small-Scale Trade and Corrupt Exceptions at the Vietnam-China Border

“…Vietnam's shift from a centrally planned economy to a socialist‐oriented market economy has had similar effects, and ordinary citizens feel increasingly disenchanted by the degree to which corruption in its manifold manifestations has come to permeate their lives . An escalating series of high‐profile scandals revealing the close ties between the political elite and private business interests contributed not only to an upsurge in discontent among the general population (MacLean ) but also to an increased readiness to question the integrity of the political system and voice off‐the‐record anger, such as the market woman who whispered into my ear, “I just hate the system ( chế độ ). It is corrupt all the way through!” (conversation with author, September 15, 2012) .…”

“…Since Vietnam passed its first anticorruption law in 2005, there has been a marked increase in high‐profile corruption, fraud, and embezzlement charges resulting in long‐term imprisonment and death penalty sentences (Gainsborough ; Hayton ; MacLean ). This clampdown should not be attributed solely to an intensification of anticorruption measures, as Gainsborough (:52) cautions.…”

Corruption as Infrastructure: Rendering the New Saigon Global

“…But such cases are rare when compared to perceptions about just how much corruption takes place on a daily basis. This dynamic is complicated by the fact that high‐profile corruption cases often occur when there are political power struggles and purges resulting from changes in the top‐level communist party leadership; that is, when anti‐corruption efforts become politicized (Maclean, 2012; 2013). In such purges, officials call upon rationalities that span the range of capitalist and socialist ideologies in some cases, invoking hardline socialist values that target the unethical and greedy nature of officials engaging in capitalist behaviors.…”