Philosophical Methodology for Investigating Socio-Cultural Factors in Anti-Corruption: World Experience and Development Trends
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51699/cajlpc.v7i3.1593Keywords:
Philosophical Methodology, Socio-Cultural Factors, Anti-Corruption, World Experience, Hermeneutics, Critical Theory, DecolonialityAbstract
The persistence of corruption across diverse political and economic systems has increasingly directed scholarly attention toward its socio-cultural underpinnings. This article explores the philosophical methodology employed in researching socio-cultural factors in anti-corruption efforts, drawing on world experience, and identifies current development trends in this interdisciplinary field. The study adopts the IMRAD (Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion) structure to systematically analyze the epistemological foundations, methodological pluralism, and emergent paradigms that shape contemporary anti-corruption research. By integrating hermeneutic, phenomenological, critical-theoretical, and post-structural approaches, the paper demonstrates how philosophical inquiry enriches empirical investigations of corruption’s cultural embeddedness. The findings highlight a shift from universalist, positivist frameworks toward context-sensitive, interpretive models that account for historical legacies, symbolic orders, and social practices. The discussion underscores the growing importance of ethical reflexivity, decolonial perspectives, and the co-construction of knowledge in shaping future anti-corruption methodologies. Ultimately, the article argues that a philosophically informed methodology not only deepens understanding of corruption’s socio-cultural roots but also enhances the design of culturally legitimate and sustainable integrity systems.
References
R. Klitgaard, Controlling Corruption. Berkeley, CA, USA: University of California Press, 1988.
S. Rose-Ackerman, Corruption and Government: Causes, Consequences, and Reform. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
J.-P. Olivier de Sardan, “A moral economy of corruption in Africa?,” The Journal of Modern African Studies, vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 25–52, 1999.
A. V. Ledeneva, How Russia Really Works: The Informal Practices That Shaped Post-Soviet Politics and Business. Ithaca, NY, USA: Cornell University Press, 2006.
E. Harrison, “Corruption,” Development and Change, vol. 38, no. 4, pp. 699–716, 2007.
A. Mungiu-Pippidi, The Quest for Good Governance: How Societies Develop Control of Corruption. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2015.
P. Bukuluki, “‘When I steal, it is for the benefit of me and you’: Is collectivism engendering corruption in Uganda?,” International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences, vol. 5, pp. 27–44, 2013.
M. M. Yang, Gifts, Favors, and Banquets: The Art of Social Relationships in China. Ithaca, NY, USA: Cornell University Press, 1994.
R. DaMatta, Carnivals, Rogues, and Heroes: An Interpretation of the Brazilian Dilemma. Notre Dame, IN, USA: University of Notre Dame Press, 1991.
H.-G. Gadamer, Truth and Method. London, U.K.: Sheed and Ward, 1975.
A. Schutz, The Phenomenology of the Social World. Evanston, IL, USA: Northwestern University Press, 1967.
M. Bukovansky, “The hollowness of anti-corruption discourse,” Review of International Political Economy, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 181–209, 2006.
R. Jenkins and A. M. Goetz, “Accounts and accountability: Theoretical implications of the right-to-information movement in India,” Third World Quarterly, vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 603–622, 1999.
W. D. Mignolo, The Darker Side of Western Modernity: Global Futures, Decolonial Options. Durham, NC, USA: Duke University Press, 2011.
S. J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni, Empire, Global Coloniality and African Subjectivity. New York, NY, USA: Berghahn Books, 2013.
P. Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York, NY, USA: Continuum, 1970.
G. K. Bhambra, Connected Sociologies. London, U.K.: Bloomsbury Academic, 2014.
J. R. Searle, Making the Social World: The Structure of Human Civilization. Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 2010.
