Paper short abstract:

Social sciences has largely ignored the relationship between neoliberalism and fraud, as well as the moral economy and political economy of today's fraud. Yet, fraud should be seen as a political-economic and moral-economic phenomenon that calls for comparative political moral economy research.

Paper long abstract:

The global economy is characterised by high levels of fraud. Discourses around moral crisis and the need for a moral revival, and the launching of anti-fraud measures are a feature of politics in countries that have witnessed a string of fraud cases. Social sciences have largely ignored fraud, including (i) the relationship between neoliberalism and fraud, as well as (ii) the moral economy and (iii) political economy of today's fraud. Yet, fraud should be seen as a political-economic and moral-economic phenomenon that calls for comparative political moral economy research, i.e. an analysis of how dominant political-economic agendas, power structures, and conflicts, as well as norms and values, amongst others, (re-)produce fraud as a social practice. Such enquiry requires: expanding rigid notions of morality and moral economy that currently dominate the field and developing analytical frames that allow studying the morals of 'wrong' practice and 'bad' actors, i.e. fraud and fraudsters; enhancing our study of the (international) political economy of the (national/local) moral economy of fraud, including relevant dynamics triggered by neoliberal reform. This allows identifying the neoliberalisation of political economies and moral economies across economy, polity, society and culture in the name of creating market societies as a key factor in the proliferation of fraud. Empirical material from Uganda is used to advance the argument. Particular emphasis is given to the role of the IFIs and the Ugandan state in driving fraud. The analysis shows that fraud in is a phenomenon of political-economic power.