Is Anti-Corruption work an inclusive movement deeply connected to its grassroots origins, or a self-serving, hierarchical entity that partially manufactures the problems for which it offers solutions?

To critically examine this dichotomy, and the UK’s anticorruption ecosystem more broadly, Kickback host Robert Barrington is joined by Rebecca Dobson-Phillips, assistant Professor in Politics at the Centre for the Study of Corruption, Alex Jacobs, director of the Joffe Trust, and Helen Taylor, a senior legal researcher at spotlight on corruption.

Anti-Corruption in a Discordant World: Contestation, Abuse and Innovation is edited by David Jackson, Inge Amunsen and Aled Williams (Chr. Michelsen Institute) and will be published by Routledge later this year. The book gathers empirical evidence on the many paths anti-corruption has taken in a discordant world and ponders how this context has distorted, deformed and enriched anti-corruption practice. It will include a chapter by Rebecca Dobson Phillips on "Corruption and Anti-corruption in Post-Brexit Britain".

This research is part of the Governance & Integrity Anti-Corruption Evidence (GI ACE) programme which generates actionable evidence that policymakers, practitioners and advocates can use to design and implement more effective anti-corruption initiatives. This GI ACE project is funded by UK International Development. The views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the UK Government’s official policies.

This episode features Nishan de Mel, the Executive Director of Verite Research, to discuss their development of Sri Lanka’s innovative governance-linked bond, which seeks to break the country’s vicious cycle of poor governance and financial instability.

Learn more about:

Verite Research - https://www.veriteresearch.org

The Civil Society Governance Diagnostic Report, mentioned by Nishan - https://www.tisrilanka.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/GDA_REPORT_2023.pdf

And the IMF’s Governance Diagnostic Assessment - https://www.treasury.gov.lk/news/article/221

For more on issues of corruption in Sri Lanka, check out Kickback episode 106, with Sankhitha Gunaratne.

This episode of Kickback features Dr. Mario Hidalgo, from the Transparency and Anti-Corruption Laboratory at UTE university in Ecuador, to shed light on Ecuador's transition from the "Island of Peace" to a country facing widespread organised crime and violence, highlighting the significantly enabling role of corruption. The conversation also touches upon Ecuador's institutional unpreparedness, political polarisation, and the weaponization of corruption during the recent presidential elections.

Learn more about Mario's important work here: https://ute.edu.ec/laboratorio-de-transparencia-y-anticorrupcion/

For this episode, regular host Liz David-Barrett is joined by Dr Daniel Paget, an assistant professor in politics at the University of Sussex, to unpack the nuances of electoral authoritarianism in Tanzania, the aspirations of a key opposition movement, and the power of alternative theoretical frameworks for understanding the fight against domination and for democracy.

Find Daniel's paper 'The Anti-Authoritarian Populisms: Ideologies of Democratic Struggle in Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Worldwide' (2024) here: https://www.danpaget.com/recent-publication

and ‘A people power philosophy: republican ideology in opposition in Tanzania.’ (2023) here: https://www-tandfonline-com.sussex.idm.oclc.org/doi/full/10.1080/13510347.2022.2150759

DISCLAIMER: This episode was recorded several days before the arrest of Tundu Lissu.

For this episode Dr Marianne Camerer, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Cape Town’s Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, and Devi Pillay, a research fellow with the GI-ACE programme, join regular KB host Liz David-Barrett to discuss the experience of state capture in South Africa, under the presidency of Jacob Zuma.

Check out the following resources to learn more about the issues discussed in this episode:

The Open Secrets website which houses the Civil Society Working Group Against State Capture

https://www.opensecrets.org.za/civil-society-working-group-on-state-capture/

The State Capture Commission website

https://www.statecapture.org.za/

The Public Protector’s 2016 report

https://www.sahistory.org.za/archive/state-capture-report-public-protector-14-october-2016

A short summary written by Devi of the Commission and its findings https://pari.org.za/summary-the-state-capture-commission

And the book "State Capture in South Africa: How and why it happened", edited by Mbongiseni Buthelezi and Peter Vale

https://pari.org.za/new-book-state-capture-in-south-africa-how-and-why-it-happened/

This research is part of the Governance & Integrity Anti-Corruption Evidence (GI ACE) programme which generates actionable evidence that policymakers, practitioners and advocates can use to design and implement more effective anti-corruption initiatives. This GI ACE project is funded by UK International Development. The views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the UK Government’s official policies.

This episode features a discussion between regular KB host Liz David-Barrett, and Kevin E. Davis, the Beller Family Professor of Business Law at NYU School of Law. Their conversation centres on the international regulation of bribery and corruption, specifically focusing on the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), following President Trump's recent suspension of its enforcement. The episode explores the potential implications for U.S. companies, foreign entities, and international anti-corruption efforts.

Read Kevin's recent blog post on this issue here: https://wp.nyu.edu/compliance_enforcement/2025/02/21/implications-of-pausing-fcpa-enforcement/

And his paper on international regulation here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4506000

For this episode of KickBack, we are joined by Gary Kalman, who is the Executive Director of Transparency International United States and Blair Glencorse, the Founder and co-CEO of Accountability Lab. They join Liz Dávid-Barrett to dissect the Trump administration’s drastic cuts to US aid and its implications for anti-corruption efforts worldwide.

https://us.transparency.org/

https://accountabilitylab.org/

Learn more about Accountability Lab and Development Gateway's Strategic Partnerships system here: https://accountlab.typeform.com/merge?typeform-source=www.linkedin.com

This episode dives into the shadowy world of illicit financial networks with Dr Dan Haberly, whose research with the GI ACE program addresses significant knowledge gaps around the opaque structures of the global economy. Dan introduces the Regulation of Illicit Financial Flows (RIFF) dataset, which aims to track regulatory progress in financial transparency. The discussion examines the geographical reorganisation and persistence of illicit networks and the role of various jurisdictions in facilitating illicit finance.

Learn more about Dan and GI ACE's ground-breaking research here:

https://giace.org/resources/from-secrecy-to-scrutiny-a-new-map-of-illicit-global-financial-networks-and-regulation/

https://giace.org/resources/the-regulation-of-illicit-financial-flows-riff-dataset/

This research is part of the Governance & Integrity Anti-Corruption Evidence (GI ACE) programme which generates actionable evidence that policymakers, practitioners and advocates can use to design and implement more effective anti-corruption initiatives. This GI ACE project is funded by UK International Development. The views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the UK Government’s official policies.

For this episode we are joined by John Heathershaw, Tena Prelec and Tom Mayne to discuss their new book Indulging Kleptocracy: British Service Providers, Postcommunist Elites, and the Enabling of Corruption. This conversation focuses on professional enablers that provide services to help kleptocrats to launder their reputations, move their money, and gain access to political influence. John Tena and Tom argue that professional enabling is a systemic problem that is facilitated by the concentration of financial and legal expertise in the private sector, and the willingness of professionals to turn a blind eye to the origins of their clients' wealth. They discuss the challenges of regulating professional enabling and offer advice for researchers working in this area.

The episode discusses the new book Indulging Kleptocracy, which partly draws on research funded by the GI ACE programme. GI ACE generates actionable evidence that policymakers, practitioners and advocates can use to design and implement more effective anti-corruption initiatives. This project was funded by UK Aid from the UK government. The views expressed in the book do not necessarily reflect the UK Government’s official policies.

Find John Tena and Tom's new book here: https://academic.oup.com/book/58173

Similar themes relating to kleptocracy can be found in Kickback episode 66, with Casey Michel, and episode 111 with Tom Burgis.

This research is part of the Governance & Integrity Anti-Corruption Evidence (GI ACE) programme which generates actionable evidence that policymakers, practitioners and advocates can use to design and implement more effective anti-corruption initiatives. This GI ACE project is funded by UK International Development. The views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the UK Government’s official policies.

Leading anticorruption expert and former Transparency International Chair, Dr. Delia Ferreira Rubio joins host Liz David Barrett to discuss the evolution of the global anti-corruption movement. Drawing on 40+ years of experience, Delia explores how civil society's role has evolved beyond advocacy to direct action, examines the increasing sophistication of corruption in the digital age, and highlights the importance of cross-sector collaboration in fighting corruption.