Collusive Bidding in Brazilian Infrastructure Projects

Allegations of corruption have resulted in an investigation of Brazil’s national ‘oil’ company prior to an incumbent Brazilian president disputing their re-election. The investigation has examined allegations that several directors of the ‘state’-owned company received bribes from construction companies and that the funds were used to support the parties of the governing coalition. Using a case study, this paper presents the approach adopted by the Brazilian Federal Police to determine if collusion had occurred. The bidding patterns of construction firms in 22 infrastructure projects suggested to the police that collusion occurred. Considering these circumstances, 561 bids for 77 projects were examined. Investigators obtained evidence that indicates that a collusive behaviour regarding procurement at specific construction firms (the League of 16) had taken place. The conclusions of the research provide insights into the intendment of the League of 16’s bidding patterns with an example of the ‘real’ cost of cartelisation that was experienced in an infrastructure project

Vulnerability discourses and drug mule work: Legal approaches in sentencing and non-prosecution/non-punishment norms

This article analyses the meaning of vulnerability in discourses about drug mules and couriers at a national and international level, particularly the cases of Costa Rica and England and Wales. Drawing on policies, legislative reforms and court cases, it examines how vulnerability mobilised claims for more proportionality in sentencing practices for drug offences. Vulnerability discourses also underpin claims that drug mules are trafficked persons whose culpability should be extinguished, or at least, diminished. Yet, this article suggests vulnerability discourses can also reinforce neoliberal governance mechanisms rather than expose and critique the ways in which gender and racial histories of oppression intersect with the international drug control system, contributing to the precarity of drug mule work