Contrary to the general opinion of governance watchdogs, corruption may not always raise the risk of conflict in a country.
“We need to question all of the assumptions presented in the various good governance cookbooks and UN guides on the basis of those things which we observe on the ground,” explained Elizabeth Pisani, director of the health consultancy Ternyata Ltd. Pisani has been studying corruption in Indonesia, among other topics, for her upcoming book Indonesia, etc.: Exploring the Improbable Nation, and was speaking at SPP as part of the Center for Conflict, Negotiation and Recovery’s speaker series on February 14.
“The UN has a whole convention on corruption but has not yet managed to define it,” explains Pisani. “All of the guides agree that corruption is hard to define and that it may be a part of the local culture. They agree that corruption undermines good governance and creates situations of conflict. They also say it undermines the trust and shared values that make society work.”
"Good governance" is the buzzword of the day: everyone just takes for granted that less corruption would translate into more economic growth as well as a healthier body politic. That in turn reduces the likelihood of conflict, according to the conventional wisdom.
Using examples of everyday corruption in Indonesia from calling in favors from ‘cousins’ to secure desirable civil service positions, to the awarding of lucrative construction contracts by government officials to their former militia colleagues or army buddies, as happened during the rebuilding of Aceh province after the 2004 tsunami, Pisani described a society where actions perceived as corruption by organizations such as the UN, in fact are the preventing conflict.
Patronage and the economically inefficient distribution of public money serve as the glue that keeps an otherwise fractious country together. She proposes that more nuanced and less ideological view of "corruption" is needed if countries are to fight graft without undermining peaceful co-existence. Pisani argues that rather than undermining the trust and shared values which make a society work, these ‘corrupt’ actions are representative of the trust and shared values of Indonesian society.
You can learn more about Pisani’s upcoming book from her blog at http://indonesiaetc.com