Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

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

  • Published:
Trends in Organized Crime Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

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.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Prior to 1989, the concept of organized crime and associated metaphors such as mafia and gang were generally absent in the official discourse of socialist states when referring to local criminal organizations (Rawlinson 2010: 23; Scheinost 2019: 243). Nevertheless, these countries witnessed a wide range of multi-person illicit activities associated with the existence of an informal or rather “second economy” (Sampson 1987), including corruption, clientelism and a vast black market (Buszko 2020: 7–10; Hignett 2004: 71–72; Naxera 2013: 52–56). Such activities were usually legally designated as “economic crime” (Łoś 1988: 181–204).

  2. According to the Czech Supreme Court (2016), an organized group is defined as “a type of criminal enterprise characterized as a group of at least three individuals where each member has been allocated a specific role and whose activities are subsequently reflected in the targeted planning and coordination efforts which facilitates the perpetration of the offense and increases the potential for successful perpetration, thereby also increasing the harm inflicted upon society. An organized group does not have to be a permanent formation but can also assemble in order to commit a single, isolated criminal offense.”

  3. The Concepts resound with various references to criminology. Certain parts of the text make explicit reference to criminological studies (such as MOI CZ 2010: 14; MOI CZ 2018: 27), while in others, the criminological basis is only perceptible upon closer examination of the source materials. Incidentally, the materials compiled by the Ministry of the Interior, which were later reworked into the first Concept, explicitly refer to contributions made by international criminologists such as Vincenzo Ruggiero, Frank Bovenkerk and Henk van de Bunt at a 1993 conference in Budapest (MOI CZ 1995: 8). The Concepts also draw on research conducted by Czech criminologists. Some of the passages have been adopted from studies by the Institute of Criminology and Social Prevention headed by the Ministry of Justice (such as IKSP 1993; Gawlik 1994; Trávníčková 1994). The cooperation of actors responsible for constructing anti-organized crime policy with representatives from the academic sphere is routinely mentioned in the Concepts as an indispensable component in the prosecution of this phenomenon.

  4. The impact of Russian-speaking groups in the early 1990s is illustrated using a police raid of the restaurant U Holubů in order to break up a meeting between members of the Solntsevskaya and Solomonskaya Brotherhoods (MOI CZ 1996: 3). According to police intelligence, the most prominent member of Solntsevkaya, Semion Mogilevich, was to be murdered at the meeting. The police raid, which interrupted the meeting, holds significant symbolic value in both a Czech and international context (cf. Glenny 2009).

  5. In the first Concept, Arabs are also described in connection with terrorism, though their potential involvement in organized crime prior to 1989 is also mentioned (MOI CZ 1996: 14).

  6. Mafia Capitale is a journalistic term used to describe a criminal group operating in Rome. Within the discourse of anti-Mafia prosecutors, the key figures of this group represented “the world-in-between,” bridging the principles of Rome’s underworld (characterized by the use of intimidation) and the upperworld (characterized by systemic corruption in public procurement) and resulting in a long-standing, recognizable criminal structure with a reputation of its own (Sergi 2019). However, this representation was later denied by the Court of Cassation in its refusal to identify this criminal structure with that of the Mafia.

References

  • Abu-Lughod L (2019) Global Lecture Series: Lila Abu-Lughod. Youtube, NYU Liberal Studies, 10 Dec 2019. Available via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQXwiAXlsrI&t=2343s. Cited 23 Aug 2021

  • Antonopoulos GA, Papanicolaou G (2013) Migrants and “organised crime” in the Greek press: 1991–2011. The politics of representing the “Organised Criminal Other”. In: van Duyne P, Harvey J, Antonopoulos GA, von Lampe K, Maljević A, Spencer J (eds) Human dimensions in organised crime, money laundering and corruption. Wolf Legal Publishers, Nijmegen, pp 69–94

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexander C (2004) Imagining the Asian gang: Ethnicity, masculinity and youth after “the riots”. Criti Soc Policy 24(4):526–549

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arsovska J (2015) Decoding Albanian organized crime. University of California Press, Oakland

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Andreas P, Greenhill KM (eds) (2010) Sex, drugs, and body counts: The politics of numbers in global;crime and conflict. Cornell University Press, Ithaca

    Google Scholar 

  • Baloun V, Scheinost M (2002) Economy and crime in the society in transition: The Czech Republic case. In: van Duyne P, von Lampe K, Passas N (eds) Upperworld and underworld in cross-border crime. Wolf Legal Publishers, Nijmegen, pp 189–198

    Google Scholar 

  • Berar C (2015) Facing organized crime between the need for security and the protection of the human rights. J East Eur Criminal Law 2(1):162–176

    Google Scholar 

  • Besozzi C (2004) Illegal markets and organised crime in Switzerland: A critical assessment. In: Fijnaut C, Paoli L (eds) Organised crime in Europe: Concepts, patterns and control policies in the European Union and beyond, vol 4. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 499–536

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Bewley-Taylor D, Woodiwiss M (2005) The global fix: The construction of a global enforcement regime. Amsterdam: Transnational Institute TNI Briefing Series. Availabe via https://www.tni.org/es/node/170. Cited 23 Aug 2021

  • Bezlov T, Gounev P (2012) Bulgaria: Corruption and organised crime in flux. In: Gounev P, Ruggiero V (eds) Corruption and organized crime in Europe: Illegal partnerships. Routledge, Oxon, pp 107–119

    Google Scholar 

  • Bovenkerk F, Siegel D, Zaitch D (2003) Organized crime and ethnic reputation manipulation. Crime Law Soc Change 39(1):23–38

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buszko A (2020) Transformation towards a market oriented economy – An impetus or hindrance for organized crime in Poland? Olszt. Econ J 15(1):5–22

    Google Scholar 

  • Calderoni F (2010) Organized crime legislation in the European Union: Harmonization and approximation of criminal law, national legislations and the EU framework decision on the fight against organized crime. Springer, Dordrecht

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Carrapiço H, Trauner F (2013) Europol and its influence on EU policy-making on organized crime: Analyzing governance dynamics and opportunities. Eur Politics Soc 14(3):357–371

    Google Scholar 

  • Czech Supreme Court [Nejvyšší soud] (2016) Usnesení Nejvyššího soudu České republiky sp.zn. 11 Tdo 268/2016, ze dne 26.10.2016. Availabe via Epravo.cz. https://www.epravo.cz/top/soudni-rozhodnuti/organizovana-skupina-105216.html. Cited 23 Aug 2021

  • Chambliss WJ (2001) Power, politics, and crime. Westview Press, Boulder

    Google Scholar 

  • Dainotto RM (2015) The mafia: A cultural history. Reaktion Books, London

    Google Scholar 

  • de Saussure F (2007) Kurs obecné lingvistiky. Academia, Praha

    Google Scholar 

  • Diviák T, Dijkstra JK, Snijders TA (2020) Poisonous connections: A case study on a Czech counterfeit alcohol distribution network. Glob Crime 21(1):51–73

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Di Ronco A, Lavorgna A (2018) Changing representations of organized crime in the Italian press. Trends Organ Crime 21(1):1–23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dorn N (2009) The end of organised crime in the European Union. Crime Law Soc Change 51(2):283–295

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edwards A, Gill P (2002) The politics of “transnational organized crime”: Discourse, reflexivity and the narration of “threat”. Br J Politics Int Relat 4(2):245–270

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Europol (2021) European Union serious and organised crime threat assessment. A corrupting influence: the infiltration and undermining of Europe’s economy and society by organised crime. Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg

    Google Scholar 

  • Fairclough N (2003) Analysing discourse: Textual analysis for social research. Routledge, Oxon

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Ferrell J (2013) Cultural criminology and the politics of meaning. Crit Criminol 21(3):257–271

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fijnaut C, Paoli L (eds) (2004) Organised crime in Europe: Concepts, patterns and control policies in the European Union and beyond. Springer, Dordrecht

    Google Scholar 

  • Finckenauer JO (2005) Problems of definition: What is organized crime? Trends Organ Crime 8(3):63–83

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gachevska K (2012) Fighting organised crime as a security threat: The lessons learnt from the case of Bulgaria. J Reg Secur 7(1):63–75

    Google Scholar 

  • Gawlik L (1994) Tranzit drog na českém území. IKSP, Praha

    Google Scholar 

  • Glenny M (2009) McMafie. Argo, Praha

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall S (1997) Representation: Cultural representations and signifying practices. Sage, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Harfield CG (2010) The criminal not the crime: Practitioner discourse and the policing of organized crime in England and Wales. In: Allum F, Longo F, Irrera D, Kostakos PA (eds) Defining and defying organised crime: Discourse, perceptions and reality. Routledge, Oxon, pp 29–42

    Google Scholar 

  • Henderson K (ed) (2005) The area of freedom, security, and justice in the enlarged Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Hignett K (2004) Organised crime in east central Europe: The Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. Glob Crime 6(1):70–83

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hobbs D (2013) Lush life: Constructing organized crime in the UK. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hobbs D, Antonopoulos GA (2014) How to research organised crime. In: Paoli L (ed) The Oxford handbook of organised crime. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 96–117

    Google Scholar 

  • Holý L (1996) The little Czech and the great Czech nation: National identity and the post-communist social transformation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hrbáček J (2020) Petr Nečas: Šlachta na mně začal dělat po nejmenování policejním prezidentem. Vnucoval se na schůzky k Nagyové. Availabe via Česká justice. https://www.ceska-justice.cz/2020/06/petr-necas-slachta-na-mne-zacal-delat-po-nejmenovani-policejnim-prezidentem-vnucoval-se-na-schuzky-k-nagyove/. Cited 23 Aug 2021

  • Hysi V (2004) Organized crime in Albania. In: Fijnaut C, Paoli L (eds) Organised crime in Europe: Concepts, patterns and control policies in the European Union and beyond, vol 4. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 537–562

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • IKSP (1993) K organizované zločinnosti. IKSP, Praha

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacobs JB, Panarella C, Worthington J (1994) Busting the mob: United States v. Cosa Nostra. NYU Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Jørgensen MW, Phillips LJ (2002) Discourse analysis as theory and method. Sage, London

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kalifa D (2019) Vice, crime, and poverty: How the Western imagination invented the underworld. Columbia University Press, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Krüßmann T (2004) Anti-organised crime policies in Russia. In: Fijnaut C, Paoli L (eds) Organised crime in Europe: concepts, patterns and control policies in the European Union and beyond. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 987–1034

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kupka P, Petruželka B, Walach V (2020) Illicit drug use and exposure in disadvantaged neighborhoods in Czechia: Policy representations and evidence. J. Ethn. Subst. Abuse (in press). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15332640.2020.1793866

  • Kupka P, Walach V, Tvrdá K (2021) Profit, or power? Towards a construction of organized crime in Czech policy. Int J Law Crime Justice 66:100489

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kupka P (2021) Gang in translation: Official and vernacular representations of a “Roma” drug gang in Czechia. Crime Media Cult. (in press). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/17416590211017933

  • Kupka P, Mocht’ak M (2015) The Nagygate affair, corruption and organized crime: Corruption networks and their potential impact on the quality of democracy in the Czech Republic. World Political Sci 11(1):157–185

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kwok SI, Lo TW (2013) Anti-triad legislations in Hong Kong: Issues, problems and development. Trends Organ Crime 16(1):74–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leiva A, Bright DA (2015) “The usual suspects”: Media representation of ethnicity in organised crime. Trends Organ Crime 18(4):311–325

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levi M (2015) Qualitative research on elite frauds, ordinary frauds, and “organized crime”. In: Copes H, Miller J (eds) The Routledge handbook of qualitative criminology. Routledge, Oxon, pp 231–251

    Google Scholar 

  • Longo F (2010) Discoursing organized crime: Towards a two-level analysis. In: Allum F, Longo F, Irrera D, Kostakos PA (eds) Defining and defying organised crime: Discourse, perceptions and reality. Routledge, Oxon, pp 35–48

    Google Scholar 

  • Łoś M (1988) Communist ideology, law and crime. A comparative view of the USSR and Poland. Macmillan, Basingstoke

    Google Scholar 

  • Lupták Ľ (2017) Nebezpečnosť ako povolanie. Doplněk, Brno

    Google Scholar 

  • Maltz MD (1976) On defining “organized crime”. The Development of a definition and a typology. Crime Delinquency 22(3):338–346

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mann M (2020) Policing and politicising organised crime. Routledge, Oxon

    Google Scholar 

  • Meško G, Fields CB, Lobnikar B, Sotlar A (eds) (2013) Handbook on policing in Central and Eastern Europe. Springer, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitsilegas V (2003) From national to global, from empirical to legal: The ambivalent concept of transnational organized crime. In: Edwards A, Gill P (eds) Transnational organised crime. Routledge, Oxon, pp 55–87

    Google Scholar 

  • MOI CZ (1995) Rozbor situace v oblasti organizovaného zločinu a návrh ministerstva vnitra na další postup. Ministry of Interior, Prague

    Google Scholar 

  • MOI CZ (1996) Problematika organizovaného zločinu a účinného postupu proti tomuto typu trestné činnosti. Ministry of Interior, Prague

    Google Scholar 

  • MOI CZ (1997) Aktualizace koncepce boje proti organizovanému zločinu. Ministry of Interior, Prague

    Google Scholar 

  • MOI CZ (2000) Aktualizovaná koncepce boje proti organizovanému zločinu - Informace o stavu organizovaného zločinu na území České republiky v roce 2000. Ministry of Interior, Prague

    Google Scholar 

  • MOI CZ (2008) Koncepce boje proti organizovanému zločinu. Available via Databáze strategií. https://www.databaze-strategie.cz/cz/mv/strategie/koncepce-boje-proti-organizovanemu-zlocinu?typ=download

  • MOI CZ (2011) Koncepce boje proti organizovanému zločinu na období let 2011–2014. Available via Databáze strategií. https://www.databaze-strategie.cz/cz/mv/strategie/koncepce-boje-proti-organizovanemu-zlocinu-2011-2014?typ=o

  • MOI CZ (2014) Koncepce boje proti organizovanému zločinu na období let 2015–2017. Available via Databáze strategií. https://www.databaze-strategie.cz/cz/mv/strategie/koncepce-boje-proti-organizovanemu-zlocinu-na-obdobi-let-2015-2017?typ=download

  • MOI CZ (2018) Koncepce boje proti organizovanému zločinu do roku 2023 a Akční plan boje proti organizovanému zločinu na roky 2018 a 2019. Available via Databáze strategií. https://www.databaze-strategie.cz/cz/mv/strategie/koncepce-boje-proti-organizovanemu-zlocinu-do-roku-2023?typ=o

  • Naxera V (2013) Patterns of corruption, clientelism, and party patronage in Central European communist and post-communist societies. Politics Cent Eur 9(1):47–68

    Google Scholar 

  • Neag A (2020) Organised crime legislation in Romania: A case of policy transference? In: van Duyne P, Siegel PC, Harvey JH, Antonopoulos GA, von Lampe K (eds) Criminal defiance in Europe and beyond. From organised crime to crime-terror nexus. Eleven Publishing, Portland, pp 21–50

    Google Scholar 

  • Němec M (1995) Organizovaný zločin: aktuální problémy organizované kriminality a boje proti ní. Naše vojsko, Praha

    Google Scholar 

  • Nožina M (2004) The Czech Republic: A crossroads for organised crime. In: Fijnaut C, Paoli L (eds) Organised crime in Europe: Concepts, patterns and control policies in the European Union and beyond. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 435–465

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Nožina M, Kraus F (2016) Bosses, soldiers and rice grains. Vietnamese criminal networks and criminal activities in the Czech Republic. Eur Asia Stud 68(3):508–528

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orlova AV (2008) A comparison of the Russian and Canadian experiences with defining “organized crime”. Trends Organ Crime 11(2):99–134

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pływaczewski EW (2019) Organized crime in Poland and its control from a Central European perspective. In: Lo TW, Siegel D, Kwok SI (eds) Organized crime and corruption across borders. Routledge, Oxon, pp 220–240

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Rawlinson P (2004) Bad boys in the Baltics. In: Edwards A, Gill P (eds) Transnational organised crime: Perspectives on global security. Routledge, Oxon, pp 145–156

    Google Scholar 

  • Rawlinson P (2010) From fear to fraternity: A Russian tale of crime, economy and modernity. Pluto press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Roks RA, Van Ruitenburg T (2018) Dutch gang talk: a reflection on the use of the gang label in the Netherlands. In: Kuldova T, Sánchez-Jankowski M (eds) Outlaw motorcycle clubs and street gangs. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, pp 69–91

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Said E (1978) Orientalism: Western concepts of the Orient. Pantheon, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Sampson SL (1987) The second economy of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Ann Am Acad Pol Soc Sci 493(1):120–136

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sergi A (2016) “Three tales/two threats”. Prosecutors in Italy, England and the United States narrate national and transnational organised crime. In: van Duyne P, Scheinost M, Antonopoulos GA, Harvey J, von Lampe K (eds) (eds). Narratives of organised crime in Europe. Criminals, corrupters p Policy. Wolf Legal Publishers, Nijmegen, pp 221–246

    Google Scholar 

  • Sergi A (2017) From mafia to organised crime: A comparative analysis of policing models. Palgrave MacMillan, Cham

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Sergi A (2019) Constructing the mafia concept on the bench. The legal battles in the “Mafia Capitale” case in Rome. Int J Law Crime Justice 58:100–112

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scheinost M (2004) Organised crime policies in the Czech Republic: A hard road from underestimation to the European standard. In: Fijnaut C, Paoli L (eds) Organised crime in Europe: concepts, patterns and control policies in the European Union and beyond. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 879–897

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Scheinost M, Netík K (2010) Český organizovaný zločin v mezinárodním kontextu. IKSP, Prague

    Google Scholar 

  • Scheinost M, Baloun V, Kadeřábková D (2005) Adventure capitalism and economic crime in the countries of transition: The case of the Czech Republic. In: van Duyne P, von Lampe K, van Dijck M, Newell JL (eds) Managing crime markets in Europe. Wolf Legal Publishers, Nijmegen, pp 143–162

    Google Scholar 

  • Scheinost M (2019) Changing face of organised crime or old and new usual suspects in the Czech Republic. In: van Duyne P, Serdyuk A, Antonopoulos GA, Harvey J, von Lampe K (eds) Constructing and organising crime in Europe. Eleven International Publishing, Portland, pp 235–258

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Scherrer A (2009) G8 against transnational organized crime. Ashgate, Farnham

    Google Scholar 

  • Shelley LI (1995) Post-Soviet organized crime. Trends Organ Crime 3(4):7–25

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheptycki J (2003) Global law enforcement as a protection racket: Some sceptical notes on transnational organised crime as an object of global governance. In: Edwards A, Gill P (eds) Transnational organised crime. Routledge, Oxon, pp 56–72

    Google Scholar 

  • Slačálek O (2016) The postcolonial hypothesis. Notes on the Czech “Central European” identity. Annual of Language & Politics and Politics of Identity 10(special issue):27–44

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith DC (1991) Wickersham to Sutherland to Katzenbach: Evolving an “official” definition for organized crime. Crime Law Soc Change 16(2):135–154

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith DC (1994) Illicit enterprise: An organized crime paradigm for the nineties. In: Kelly RJ, Chin K, Schatzberg R (eds) (1994) Handbook of Organized Crime in the United States. Greenwood Press, Santa Barbara, pp 121–150

  • STEM (2016) Jaký je vztah občanů ČR k různým národům a etnikům. Availabe via STEM. https://www.stem.cz/jaky-je-vztah-obcanu-cr-k-ruznym-narodum-a-etnikum/. Cited 23 Aug 2021

  • Stephenson S (2004) Gangs of Russia: From the streets to the corridors of power. Cornell Univeristy Press, Ithaca

    Google Scholar 

  • Stritzel H (2014) Security in translation: Securitization theory and the localization of threat. Springer, Dordrecht

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Šmíd T, Kupka P (2011) Český organizovaný zločin: od vyděračů ke korupčním sítím. MPÚ, Brno

    Google Scholar 

  • Todorova M (2009) Imagining the Balkans. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Trávníčková I (1994) Organizovaná kriminalita. IKSP, Praha

    Google Scholar 

  • van Duyne PC (2004) The creation of a threat image: Media, policy making and organised crime. In: van Duyne P, Matjaz J, von Lampe K, Newell JL (eds) Threats and phantoms of organized crime, corruption and terrorism: critical European perspectives. Wolf Legal Publishers, Nijmegen, pp 21–50

    Google Scholar 

  • Varese F (2017) What is organised crime? In: Carnevale S, Forlati S, Giolo O (eds) Redefining Organised Crime. A Challenge for the European Union? Bloomsbury Publishing, Oxford, pp 27–55

    Google Scholar 

  • von Lampe K (2015) Organized crime: Analyzing illegal activities, criminal structures, and extra-legal governance. Sage, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Young AB, Allum F (2012) A comparative study of British and German press articles on “organised crime” (1999–2009). Crime Law Soc Change 58(2):139–157

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walter J (1988) Law as an instrument of economic regulation: Economic crime in Czechoslovakia 1947–1987. Rev Socialist L 14(3):209–239

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woodiwiss M (2000) Organized crime: The dumbing of discourse. Available via The British Criminology Conference: Selected Proceeding. http://www.britsoccrim.org/volume1/017.pdf. Cited 23 Aug 2021

  • Woodiwiss M, Hobbs D (2009) Organized evil and the Atlantic alliance: Moral panics and the rhetoric of organized crime policing in America and Britain. Br J Criminol 49(1):106–128

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woodiwiss M (2015a) Enterprise not ethnicity: an interview with Dwight C. Smith Jr. Trends Organ Crime 18(1–2):41–55

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woodiwiss M (2015b) The analysis and containment of organized crime in Europe: An interview with Cyrille Fijnaut. Trends Organ Crime 18(1):94–106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wright A (1997) Organized crime in Hungary: The transition from state to civil society. Trends Organ Crime 3(2):49–52

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yordanova M, Markov D (2012) Countering organised crime in Bulgaria: Study on the legal framework. CSD, Sofia

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Lucie Halášková for her assistance with translation.

Funding

Czech Science Foundation (Grant Nr. 19-13296 S).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Philosophy and Arts, University of West Bohemia, Univerzitní 8, 301 00, Pilsen, Czech Republic

    Petr Kupka, Václav Walach & Vendula Divišová

Authors
  1. Petr Kupka
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Václav Walach
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Vendula Divišová
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Petr Kupka.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

None.

Research involving human participants

No.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Kupka, P., Walach, V. & Divišová, V. From legal definitions to ethnic identities: Representations of organized crime in Czech policy documents. Trends Organ Crim (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12117-022-09449-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12117-022-09449-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation