The Reproduction of Silence in a Major Corruption Scandal

“Seldom does one gain access to empirical evidence from the very heart of a corruption case that clearly identifies the root causes for bystander silence. Foxley has produced a unique insight into the many pressures that constrain colleagues, managers, directors and politicians from speaking up about corruption when they might have done so. His insightful study of the interaction between structural and personal agency shows how organisations and their leaders can subvert their moral and legal duties to political, economic and strategic objectives. A must-read for students of whistleblowing.” —Professor David Lewis, Middlesex University, UK “The Reproduction of Silence in a Major Corruption Scandal offers penetrating insights into how corruption becomes entrenched within organisations. Uniquely placed to write this book, Ian Foxley explores how unethical behaviour comes to be normalised through ineffective policing, structural factors, and the critical role of ‘habitus’ shaping ingrained norms that drive group-think organisations and sectors. Whistleblowing studies rarely examine silence; yet this text explores how cultures of silence persist around corruption. The Reproduction of Silence is essential reading for scholars, practitioners, and policymakers interested in the dynamics of corruption, as told from the unique and important perspective of a high-profile, exonerated whistleblower and scholar.” —Professor Kate Kenny, University of Galway, Ireland. This book offers unique insights into institutional and social processes that lead to silence in the face of corruption. Authored by the whistleblower at the centre of the Airbus–GPT corruption scandal, it uses insider research to explain why individuals do not speak up when they might be expected to do so. The book draws heavily on interviews with military and civil service elites, providing highly original academic material and making an important contribution to the study of organisations. Ian Foxley is Founder of Parrhesia, a research organisation focused on providing policymakers with evidence for the reform of legislation on whistleblower protection. He is a veteran with 24 years’ service in the British Army, in which he commanded a divisional communications regiment in Bosnia-Herzegovina. He subsequently became Programme Director for a £2 billion defence procurement project in which he discovered corrupt payments to secret subcontractors.