Making up Corruption Control: Conducting due Diligence in a Danish Law Firm

Contemporary scholarship on corruption control lacks an analytical focus on anti-corruption in practice. We examine corruption control at the micro-level as exemplified by the use of anti-corruption due diligence in a Danish law firm. Building on concepts from studies of the cultural economy, anti-policy, risk theory and classifications in examination processes, we argue that careful analysis of the subtle processes involved in the conduct of due diligence by professionals provides insights into the ambiguous implications of mobilizing particular forms of knowledge and expertise in practical corruption control work. By providing also an extended view on the operations of due diligence in the wider corruption control regime the paper problematizes clear-cut distinctions and categories used in established literatures.