"Twisted Transfers": Discursive Constructions of Corruption in Ancient Greece and Rome

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What is corruption? Like trust, corruption is one of those things in life that we think we know, we steadily discuss, yet we struggle to define. This is so because the concept is applied to various fields of human (inter)action, but also because purely legalistic, and thus essentialist, definitions are often insufficient to capture its complexity. There are both actions that conform to legal norms but are perceived within their societal context as forms of corruption, and illegal actions which may be socially acceptable within specific groups and contexts. Corruption requires the participation of at least two people. It involves a transfer of material or immaterial things, which is identified as legally or morally wrong by a mistrusting observer. This project will analyse the different forms of transfer using identifiers from the social sciences and anthropology: gift, commerce, and transfers of the third type (t3t). T3t describe a form of asymmetric power relationship between a giver and a receiver, following the terminology coined by Alain Testart (2007). The project's aim is to understand why and how these forms of transfer could be (and are) presented in discourse as "twisted" and, therefore, as acts of corruption. Was the notorious corrupt Roman governor of Sicily, Gaius Verres, really deserving of this label? While Cicero tried to prove he was, Verres claimed that he was "just" making and receiving gifts. Discursive constructions allow us to move beyond the definition of corruption in law in order to investigate their interaction with specific cultural, political and economic contexts. As discourse, the "twisted transfer" is embedded in normative values and ideals of correct behaviour, as well as in stereotypes about specific social classes or professional groups. Within this frame, we will concentrate on Graeco-Roman Antiquity, from the law courts of classical Athens to the ethics of Byzantine diplomacy, drawing out case studies that still strongly influence the formation of later discourses in Western societies today. The relative abundance and heterogeneous types of sources preserved provide a unique corpus of material that makes it possible to scrutinise thoroughly the "twisted transfers" that shaped ancient Greek and Roman cultures, mentalities and discourses. Moving away from the traditional legalistic perspectives, "Twisted Transfers" proposes an innovative, constructivist approach not yet fully explored in historical studies of corruption. The topicality of discussions on ancient and modern corruption will also allow us to develop a relevant outreach programme with the aim of promoting wider public engagement. The numerous kinds of expertise required, the distinctive approaches of different academic cultures, and the extremely varied ways in which corruption is addressed in public discourse today both in Germany and in the UK make international cooperation mandatory for the success of the project.