State-Business Relations and Arenas as a Legitimate Space for State-Corporate Crimes: The Case of Modern Slavery in Brazil

Abstract

This article aims to explore the genesis of arenas as an interorganizational relation space that can promote, or at least cleave, the path for corporate crimes. Based the scenario in which Brazil eradicated slavery, we argue there has been the creation of dynamic arenas and counter-arenas as spaces for avoiding or promoting corporate crimes, while the state has played the role of facilitator in such crimes. This paper asserts that promotion and prevention of corporate crimes are both legitimate actions by the state in its regime of permission, and every single actor who play in this field through arenas. In order to map the key elements of these arenas, our investigation is based on the techniques of shadowing, in-depth interviews, and field observation. After building our data pool, we analysed the phenomena mostly through open, axial, and selective coding, based on the Grounded Theory approach as a mean for categorization.