Personalisation of power, neoliberalism and the production of corruption

This paper utilises a political lens in considering the cause for the production of corruption and the role of political leadership. Specifically, the notion of personalisation of power as advocated by Slater (2003) is adopted to portray how the adoption of neoliberalism ideology by an aspiring autocratic leader results in the weakening of the infrastructural power through three strategies: packing, rigging and circumventing. We use Perwaja Steel as a case study to demonstrate the modus operandi of corruption in a state-owned enterprise in Malaysia.