The Russian mafia: Expulsion of law

Abstract

The purpose of this paper will be to determine whether the conditions that exist in present-day Russia are congruent with Foucault's claim that power in modern societies is not ensured by law and punishment but by normalization and control, which go beyond the state and its apparatuses, and that law plays an increasingly subordinate role within contemporary disciplinary society. I will also see what conclusions can be drawn from the Russian-Soviet case that are relevant to evaluating the paradigms supplied by Foucault in deciphering the modalities of power in the modern world. In what sense can he help us understand how discipline and law in Imperial and Soviet Russia created the necessary conditions for the emergence of the Russian Mafia? Law has been transformed in the hands of the Russian Mafia and has expanded its spheres of influence rather than being displaced. The conditions that exist in present-day Russia can be applied to Foucault's claim that power in modern societies is not ensured by law and punishment but by normalization and control which go beyond the state and its apparatuses. But it is not the case that law plays an increasingly subordinate role in present-day Russia. Rather, it is no longer controlled by the sovereign power of the monarchy or by the Soviet state and its apparatuses, but is now predominately controlled by the Russian Mafia.

Coping with the failure of the police in post-Soviet Russia: findings from one empirical study

“…In addition to their other activities, they perform many functions that once had been reserved for the state (Rawlinson, 1998;Shvarts, 2003;Varese, 2001;Volkov, 2000Volkov, , 2002. They may offer long-term Police Practice and Research: An International Journal 481 protection or one-off services to individuals and businesses.…”

“…This question becomes particularly important in the light of the crime wave that has been sweeping the country since the early 1990s (Gilinskiy, 1998(Gilinskiy, , 2006Kuznetsova & Luneev, 2005;Pridemore, 2003Pridemore, , 2007Shvarts, 2003). Coping techniques by citizens in a country with high crime rates where a large proportion of the population believe that the police can hardly be relied on for protection will be the focus of this paper.…”