Theoretical Background, Research Methods and Information Sources

Abstract

Especially during the last two decades, Vietnamese organised crime has become highly developed in terms of its structures and modi operandi, and it has deeply penetrated the societies of Asian diasporas. It became obvious that the existing “traditional” research concepts of organised crime are not sufficient to describe and analyse this phenomenon. Instead, the concept of criminal networks was accepted for the purpose of the study. To answer the question of the role of criminal networks in the Vietnamese diaspora, we argue that legal and illegal activities are in a dialectical unity in Vietnamese communities. The key actors who connect the legal and illegal elements of the diasporas are “respectable men”—strong personalities acting as both legal businessmen and criminal bosses. The problem is still weakly researched. To fill the existing gap, researches took place mainly within research projects realised by the Institute of International Relations Prague and by Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic, in 2007–2019. During these projects, data were collected through interviews with members of the Czech security forces, NGOs and the Czech administration, and also with members of the Vietnamese diaspora in the CR.