Gangster Capitalism : The United States and the Globalization of Organized Crime

by Woodiwiss, Michael

• ISBN13: 9780786716715
• ISBN10: 0786716711
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-10-13
• Publisher: Perseus Books Group

Summary

"It may be comforting to think that organized criminals are the apex of criminal activity. Their dealings, while certainly dangerous, are relegated to the more salacious sections of the newspaper, distanced from the seemingly sanitized, "gentlemen's games" of corporate malfeasance and political corruption. That view, unfortunately, has become dangerously outdated. The reality, as portrayed in Gangster Capitalism, is that not only have the lethal tenets of organized crime worked their way into the operating models of more acceptable institutions, but the politicians, businessmen, and bureaucrats have actually beat the wise guys at their own game, gradually shifting the rules to broaden and legitimize proto-criminal behavior in a far more dangerous and sinister manner." "As British scholar Michael Woodiwiss demonstrates, the position of large multinational corporations within the global economy, and lawmakers' ability to monitor and control that economy, actually provide the most enticing opportunities for illegal profit, turning the gangsters into mere pawns. Gangster Capitalism shows how respectable businessmen and revered statesmen have seized these opportunities in an orgy of fraud and illegal violence that would leave the most hardened mafioso speechless."--BOOK JACKET.

Author Biography

Michael Woodiwiss lectures on American history at the University of the West of England. His previous books include Crimes, Crusades and Corruption: Prohibitions in the United States, 1900-1987 and Organised Crime and American Power: A History.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	ix
Foreword	1	(16)
PART 1 The United States and Gangster Capitalism	17	(98)
Introduction	19	(4)
Cradle to Crematorium, Womb to Cadaver Lab	23	(17)
Barons, Crusaders and the Land of Criminal Opportunity 1880--1920	40	(7)
The Racket-ridden Twenties and the Origins of the Great Depression	47	(10)
The New Deal and Organized Crime	57	(11)
States of Denial and Mafia Distractions	68	(22)
Capital Corruption	90	(17)
Zero Tolerance and the Rise of the Gangs	107	(8)
PART 2 The United States and Setting the Global Agenda on Organized Crime	115	(46)
The Broken Promise of Roosevelt's Global Freedoms	117	(12)
Nixon and the New World Economic Disorder	129	(7)
The War on Drugs and the Rise of International Drug Traffic	136	(13)
Dumbing the International Response to Drugs and Organized Crime	149	(12)
PART 3 A World of Criminal Opportunity, 1965--	161	(50)
Introduction	163	(6)
Suharto and the Looting of Indonesia	169	(3)
Marcos Takes the Philippines	172	(3)
Mobutu and Debt in Africa	175	(4)
Bankers and International Crime	179	(6)
Evasion, Flight and Fraud in McWorld	185	(5)
Toxic Capitalism	190	(8)
Smuggling, Violence and Corruption in the International Arms Bazaar	198	(4)
The Traffic in Exploitable People	202	(5)
SAPs, Slums and the New Slavery	207	(4)
Epilogue -- The Alternatives	211	(8)
Notes	219	(30)
Select Bibliography	249	(2)
Index	251