This is a past event
Abstract: Extortion is a different kind of crime to other property crime such as burglary, robbery or even fraud. What makes extortion unique is a) the long-term relationship of the criminal with the victim and b) the reliance on the threat of future punishment rather than actual punishment. The two aspects lead to extortion often being modelled as interdependent choice, i.e. a game between a victim and an extorter with the actions to pay or not and to punish or not (e.g. Gambetta, Smith and Varese).
Extortion rackets have additional interesting features as they are socially embedded. Whilst there is a one to one relationship between an extorter and extortee, one extorter has also other extortees. Extortees live in neighbourhoods in which other people pay or resist. Extortees have different relationships to each other. One particular recent phenomenon in the south of Italy is the emergence and spread of the addio pizzo movement, a movement that seems to bring extortees together in resistance against the Mafia.
Using a variation of game theory called Team Reasoning, developed by Bacharch and Sugden since the 90s, I am presenting an agent-based model to explore the consequences of a society in which people reason individually and reason as part of a team in response to extortion.
Bio: Corinna is a Research Fellow in the Centre for Research in Social Simulation at the University of Surrey. Her research interest is the phenomenon of normative and collective behaviour in humans. The phenomenon resonates with problems of altruism, pro-social behaviour and individual based rational choice and the research is investigating the foundations of collectivity and their relationship to other notions such as morality as well as the social and societal outcomes of collective behaviour, e.g. in social movements producing social change. Currently she is investigating collective responses to the phenomenon of extortion rackets within the framework of the Global Dynamics of Extortion Racket Systems project. Her research on social norms culminated in a recent book, Modelling Norms, published by Springer. Corinna has a BSc and MSc in Philosophy from the LSE and a PhD in Logic from King’s College London.
- Speaker
- Corinna Elsenbroich
- Hosted by
- Adam Wyner
- Venue
- Meston 203