Corruption and Hosophobia

Abstract

This paper discusses the relationship between corruption and purity. It draws on resesarch on corruption in political science and research on hosophobia (fear of the impure) in organization studies. The paper presents a theory of corruption based on failure of separation between the public and the private, and discusses rules of separation, which are crucial for upholding the illusion of public purity. However, this theory of corruption is complemented by the concept of hosophobia to show how organizations have dual relationship to corruption. Drawing on two Swedish cases, the paper intends to show hosophobia in the everyday functioning of and organization, and how occasional cleansing procedures might take place.