From legal definitions to ethnic identities: Representations of organized crime in Czech policy documents

This study builds on the constructivist tradition of organized crime research that strives to identify which phenomena and under which circumstances are recognized as organized crime across different cultural contexts. In this context, Western countries such as the USA, UK, Italy and Germany are typ...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Kupka, Petr 1985- (Author) ; Walach, Václav (Author) ; Divišová, Vendula 1990- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2025
In: Trends in organized crime
Year: 2025, Volume: 28, Issue: 1, Pages: 8-29
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Keywords:
Construction of organized crime
Czechia
Official representations
Organized Crime
Organized crime policy
Post-socialism
Description
Summary:This study builds on the constructivist tradition of organized crime research that strives to identify which phenomena and under which circumstances are recognized as organized crime across different cultural contexts. In this context, Western countries such as the USA, UK, Italy and Germany are typically the primary subjects of scholarly interest. Our aim is to enrich this area of research with a post-socialist context by examining the construction of organized crime in Czech policy. This study analyzes representations of organized crime in the Concept for Combating Organized Crime, a key strategic document issued by the Czech government. We found that organized crime does not take on one single form but rather comprises various representations which draw on four main types of discourse - legal, police-intelligence, criminological, and ethnocultural - thereby allowing organized crime to be construed as a ubiquitous phenomenon. A characteristic feature of how organized crime is constructed in Czech policy is the recognition of Czech nationals as powerful organized criminals among the ranks of Orientalized Russian-speaking, Balkan, East Asian and Arab criminal figures. This status is further reinforced through the association of organized crime and economic crime, a prominent symbol of crime in Czechia.
ISSN:1936-4830
DOI:10.1007/s12117-022-09449-y