Secret Societies and Organized Crime in Contemporary China
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3624384 |
|---|---|
| Authors | An Chen (0000-0002-6275-759X, National University of Singapore, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2005 |
| Volume | 39 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 77-107 |
| Publication date | 2005-02-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Modern Asian Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0026-749X • E-ISSN: 1469-8099 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0026749x04001386 |
| OpenAlex | W2091227115 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
The emergence of criminal secret societies in post-Mao China has closely correlated with the criminal subcultures, massive unemployment, impoverishment, economic inequality, relative deprivation, and political corruption that have arisen from the reform process. Although perceived as the roots of organized crime worldwide, these variables have generated crime incentives-mainly among disadvantaged and marginalized social groups-far stronger in China than in most of Western societies. The factors underlying organized crime in China are not simply the by-products of economic liberalization, but rather related to the structural problems caused by flawed reform policies and China's particular political context. These problems account to a large extent for the double nature of many criminal organizations as both anti-social and anti-state forces. The regime's crackdown on organized crime may hamper efforts for greater socio-political pluralism. But in the long run, it may strengthen the rule of law and lead to the improvement of relevant reform policies
China · Context (archaeology · Criminal justice · Criminology · Development economics · Disadvantaged · Economic growth · Economic inequality · Economics · Geography · Incentive · Inequality · Language change · Liberalization · Market economy · Organised crime · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Poverty · Sociology · Unemployment · Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance · HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk · Law
| Citations per year | 0.35 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2006 - 2025 (20) |
| Highly cited | No |