Corruption, Normalization, and the Procrustean Bed: India’s Grave Crisis

Posted on 20th June, 2025 (GMT 21:50 hrs)

ABSTRACT

This paper interrogates the normalization of corruption in contemporary India through the theoretical frameworks of Michel Foucault and Theodor Adorno. Rejecting the moralistic and legalistic definitions of corruption as insufficient, it argues that corruption functions not as a deviation from institutional norms but as the normative logic of governance itself. Employing the metaphor of the Procrustean bed, the paper explores how disciplinary power, media capture, and cultural internalization enable the institutional reproduction of corruption. Empirical data from Transparency International and the Global Economic Freedom Index further substantiate the entrenchment of corruption across sectors. The study concludes with a call to dismantle the ideological apparatus sustaining this disciplinary regime.

1. Rethinking Corruption

Conventional understandings define “corruption” as the abuse of public power for private benefit or for the consummation of vested interests. Legal instruments typically criminalize bribery, nepotism, and embezzlement, which could be viewed as different manifests of the underlying phenomenon of “corruption”. However, such definitions remain superficial when applied to deeply stratified and postcolonial societies like India. From a critical social theory perspective, corruption must be understood as a systemic condition rooted in elite dominance, institutional erosion, and ideological obfuscation. It is not merely a single event; rather, it is a network of occurrences facilitated by a system that makes it inevitable.

2. Problem Questions:

(i) Defining Corruption?

At its most basic, corruption refers to the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. This includes acts like bribery, embezzlement, nepotism, cronyism, and collusion. But this legalistic definition is too narrow for a deeper sociopolitical understanding.

From a critical social theory perspective, corruption is not simply an ethical aberration or a deviation from a clean “norm.” Rather, it is a symptom of deeper structural contradictions—economic inequality, institutional frameworks, elite capture, and ideological justifications that normalize injustice within a given politico-administrative milieu.

This undoubtedly brings us to the following in-depth consideration:

(ii) Is Corruption Merely a Deviation from the Supposed “Norm”?

This depends on how we define the “norm.” In liberal democracies, the norm is presumed or presupposed to be transparent governance, rule of law, public accountability, and equitable resource distribution.

But here’s the problem: these norms are often mythical ideals, written in constitutions but rarely realized in practice—especially in postcolonial, hierarchical societies like India. What if “corruption” itself IS the norm (i.e., corruption-as-normality) of a system that perpetuates itself on the basis of all forms of extractivism?

So the real question is:

Is corruption a deviation from the norm, or the operational il-logic of the system itself?

It is to be noted that by the term “system”, the authors of this article mean a given ideological underpinning coupled with a dominant mode of production. Instead of mono-economistic framing of “the system”, the marriage of the psycho-economic serves to address the complex nature of contemporary structures of power.

This article is attempting to show that in India, what is termed “corruption” is often the modus operandi of power—a way of doing business, winning elections, controlling narratives, and reproducing social hierarchies. Corruption in India today is not simply tolerated—it is embedded, celebrated, and institutionalized.

3. Methodological Presuppositions: A Postface

3. (a). The Procrustean Bed: Myth and Modern Governance

The Greek myth of Procrustes, a bandit who forced his victims to fit an iron bed—stretching or amputating limbs to make them conform—is a perfect metaphor for how Foucault sees modern disciplinary systems.

In the glocally (globally+locally) affected Indian context, we might say:

The corrupt system functions like a Procrustean bed—those who do not fit its logic of bribery, favouritism, and silence are ‘cut down’ (marginalized, punished, excluded), while those who conform are ‘stretched’ to fit the ideal of the obedient, complicit subject.

Civil servants with integrity are punished with bad postings. Judges who dissent are transferred or vilified. Journalists who investigate are arrested or surveilled. Meanwhile, those who amplify the regime’s corrupt narratives are reward.

3.(b). Foucault’s Normalization: Making Deviance Normative

Foucault and the Procrustean Bed

Foucault conceptualized normalization as the disciplinary production of norms that conform and punish deviation. The myth of Procrustes—who stretched or amputated his victims to fit an iron bed—serves as an apt metaphor. In India, the corrupt system functions like a Procrustean bed: those who resist its logic are marginalized; those who comply are rewarded.

Judges who dissent are vilified. Honest civil servants are penalized. Journalists who investigate matters-of-fact are arrested under sedition or anti-terror laws. Students who attempt to resist Saffronization or privatization of the education system are abused and undergo “preventive detention” (?!)…

3.(c). The Disciplinary State Apparatuses

Althusser’s understanding of the coupling of ideological state apparatuses and repressive state apparatuses, when viewed holistically, can be introduced to delineate the polymorphic power-relationality within a statist power structure.

The Indian state can be viewed as a Foucauldian disciplinary apparatus that enforces corruption through:

• Ritualized Optics: Photo-ops, religious inaugurations, and welfare announcements create a façade of legitimacy.
• Electoral Engineering: Selective ED-CBI raids and strategic defections manufacture electoral outcomes.
• Legal Strategy: Laws are applied selectively, producing fear and compliance.

This is not lawlessness but law itself as a calculated technique of consolidating certain forms of power!

In Discipline and Punish, Foucault argues that modern power does not operate by force alone; rather, it works through norms, classifications, and disciplinary mechanisms that produce conformity. Normalization, in this sense, is not about adjusting to pre-given norms but rather about fabricating the norm itself, and then measuring, disciplining, and punishing deviations from it.

Internalizing the Bed: Manufactured Consent

The Procrustean bed of corruption is not only external—it is internalized by the public sphere with-in its collective unconscious:

• “Everyone does it” becomes a rationale, not a critique.
• Voters normalize dynasty, muscle, and money power as necessary evils.
• Bureaucrats rationalize compliance to survive in a hostile system.

This is what Foucault meant by the internalization of power: corruption is no longer enforced solely through violence or threat, but through habituation and belief in its phenomenal inevitability.

But what happens when the “deviation” itself becomes the norm?

3.(d). Adorno’s Insight: When Normlessness Becomes the Norm

As Adorno noted, the “corruption of the norm” becomes the norm itself when deviance is normalized through cultural and political apparatuses. In this framework, corruption in India is not an exception but the operational logic of statecraft, electoral success, and economic governance.

In the spirit of Adorno and critical theory, we might say:

“The corruption of the norm has become the norm itself.”

What was once considered exceptional now defines the everyday. Rule of law is a hollow phrase when the powerful remain immune. Public trust erodes, and citizens are reduced to spectators in a theatre of impunity.

3.(e). Breaking Law Is The Law Of The Game

Power functions most effectively when internalized. Citizens rationalize corruption as inevitable. Voters embrace dynastic politics. Bureaucrats comply to survive. In this environment, the moral inversion is complete: dissenters are criminalized, while loyalists flourish.

Here, Jacques Derrida’s critique of Lévi-Strauss’s anthropological reading of the Nambikwara offers a vital interpretive cue. Derrida, in Of Grammatology, observes how Lévi-Strauss portrays a scene in which the Nambikwara kowm engages in a game involving rule-breaking. Derrida sees this not as a breakdown of norms, but as an originary structure where “the breaking of the law is the law.” The act of disruption becomes constitutive of order. Applied to the Indian context, the game of corruption functions similarly: systemic transgression is no longer a violation but a foundational dynamic. The state does not merely tolerate corruption—it requires it to function.

The “Game” as Law: The phrase “breaking law is the law of the game” can be read through Derrida’s lens as a commentary on the paradoxical nature of law and play. In Lévi-Strauss’s account, the Nambikwara’s “game” of mimicking writing is a playful act that simultaneously establishes a form of authority or law (the chief’s dominance). Derrida would argue that this paradox reveals the instability of the law itself: any system of rules (or “law”) is contingent and subject to disruption or “breaking” through play, interpretation, or subversion. The chief’s act of producing wavy lines is not just a game but a performative gesture that both institutes and destabilizes social order, as it relies on the iterable, repeatable nature of signs (a key feature of Derrida’s concept of writing). The “law of the game” thus lies in its ability to both establish and undermine authority through the play of signification.

3. (f). The Violence of Normalization

Nietzsche traces the origin of the human soul to a psychological turning inward, born from the repression of instinctual drives. This is what could be called the violence of normality, and/or “normalization”…

“All instincts that do not discharge themselves outwardly turn inward—
this is what I call the internalization of man:
thus it was that man first developed what was later called his ‘soul.’

The entire inner world,
originally as thin as if it were stretched between two membranes,
expanded and extended itself,
acquired depth, breadth, and height,
in the same measure as outward discharge was inhibited.”

— Friedrich Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morals, Second Essay, Section 16, translated by Walter Kaufmann and R.J. Hollingdale (Vintage, 1989), p. 85.

4. Empirical Evidence: A Symptom of Structural Failure

Digital reforms like UPI and Aadhaar have curbed petty corruption, but political funding opacity (electoral bonds scrapped in 2024) and judicial delays (30 million pending cases) fuel perceptions of systemic corruption. The Global Economic Freedom Index 2024 reinforces this, ranking India 126 out of 184 (score 56.8), down from 120 in 2021, due to weak rule of law (rank 140) and regulatory inefficiencies (rank 110).

Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI): India’s Rank

India’s position in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2024—published by Transparency International in February 2025—is as follows:

• Rank: 96th out of 180 countries
• Score: 38 out of 100 (where 0 = “highly corrupt,” 100 = “very clean”)  (business-standard.com)

Trend Over Time

• 2022: Ranked 85th with a score of 40
• 2023: Slipped to 93rd, scoring 39 (thehindu.com)
• 2024: Further declined to 96th, with a score of 38—a drop of one point and three positions 

This downward shift reflects a concerning trend: India’s perception of public-sector corruption is deteriorating, not improving.

Global and Regional Context

• The global average CPI score remains stable at 43, which means India’s score of 38 is below average (apnipathshala.com).
• South Asia: India ranks highest among its neighbors, yet the overall regional landscape is bleak:
  • China: 76
  • Pakistan: 135
  • Sri Lanka: 121
  • Bangladesh: 149 (apnipathshala.com)

What the CPI Measures—and What It Misses

• The CPI aggregates expert assessments and business surveys on public-sector corruption (en.wikipedia.org).
• But it doesn’t capture private-sector corruption, petty bribery, or the lived experiences of ordinary citizens.
• It also reflects only perceptions, which—while influential—are distinct from empirical measures (reddit.com, en.wikipedia.org).

Voices from the Ground

A user on Reddit aptly notes:

“It’s worse than last year. In 2023, India had a score of 39 and ranked 93rd. … A 1‑point improvement in a country’s corruption index led to a 4 % rise in investment rates … CPI can even impact a country’s credit rating!”  (reddit.com)

This highlights how CPI trajectories can influence economics, policymaking, and investor confidence.

Implications for India

1. Governance Crisis: The steady decline in CPI rankings signals slipping public-sector integrity and rising impunity.
2. Economic Risk: Poor CPI performance discourages foreign investment and can affect sovereign credit ratings. However, OBMA views the fact of private capital, whether foreign or not, with suspicious eyes.
3. Policy Urgency: Transparency International warns that corruption erodes climate action, civic trust, and democracy (reddit.com, drishtiias.com).
4. Need for Comprehensive Structural Reforms: Tackling this issue requires improving public-sector transparency, strengthening judicial systems, and ensuring political funding accountability.

Year	CPI Rank	CPI Score
2022	85	40
2023	93	39
2024 (latest)	96	38

(i) Crony Capitalism as Policy

• The state-business nexus openly privileges select corporate houses (e.g., Adani, Ambani and their relatives).
• Regulatory capture, opaque contracts, and sweetheart deals are passed off as “Ease of Doing Business.”
• The Privatization of public goods (railways, airports, banks) occurs with no public debate.

(ii) Electoral Bonds and Legalised Corruption

• The now-invalidated electoral bond scheme enabled anonymous corporate donations to political parties, effectively legalizing bribery.
• The ruling party received 90%+ of all funds, turning elections into auctions.

(iii) Bureaucratic and Judicial Complicity

• Civil service appointments, transfers, and promotions are often subject to informal payments and political loyalty.
• High courts and investigative agencies have been weaponized or silenced to shield ruling elites.

(iv) Cultural Internalization

• “Sab chalta hai” (everything goes) has become a cynical, everyday acceptance of corruption.
• Whistleblowers are punished (e.g., RTI activists killed), while scamsters escape abroad or are exonerated.

(v) Media Capture and Manufactured Consent

• Oligarch-owned media channels drown real scandals in noise, turning corruption into spectacle rather than accountability.
• PR campaigns and photo-op governance distract from systemic loot.

To say corruption is now “normal” in India is not a moral lament—it is a political indictment. It signals a crisis of democracy, a hollowing of institutions, and the triumph of oligarchic rule under the mask of electoral legitimacy.
Corruption in this context is not deviation—it is design.

Interpreting Corruption: Elite Perspectives in India

Interpreting Corruption: Elite Perspectives in India by Vinod Pavarala explores the complex phenomenon of corruption in India through the lens of elite perspectives, offering a nuanced understanding of how corruption is perceived, justified, and perpetuated within the country’s social, political, and economic frameworks. The book delves into the attitudes and rationalizations of India’s elite—politicians, bureaucrats, and business leaders—toward corrupt practices, examining how their views shape the broader discourse on corruption.

Pavarala argues that corruption in India is not merely a series of isolated acts but a deeply embedded social and cultural phenomenon, often normalized within elite circles. Drawing on interviews, case studies, and historical analysis, the book highlights how elites often view corruption as a necessary tool for navigating India’s complex bureaucratic and political systems. It explores the interplay between power, privilege, and moral reasoning, revealing how elites justify corrupt behaviour as a means to maintain influence, secure resources, or achieve personal and professional goals.

The book also critiques the systemic factors that enable corruption, such as weak institutional accountability, excessive bureaucratic red tape, and the interplay of patronage networks. Pavarala examines how these factors create an environment where corruption thrives, often with the complicity or tacit acceptance of those in power. Additionally, the book discusses the societal impact of elite corruption, including its role in exacerbating inequality and undermining public trust in governance.

By focusing on elite perspectives, Interpreting Corruption provides a fresh angle on the issue, moving beyond simplistic narratives of individual moral failure to uncover the structural and cultural dynamics that sustain corruption. Pavarala suggests that addressing corruption requires not only legal and institutional reforms but also a broader cultural shift in how power and ethics are understood within Indian society.

This book is a critical resource for understanding the complexities of corruption in India, offering insights into the mindsets of those who wield significant influence and the systemic factors that perpetuate corrupt practices.

Breaking the Bed: Corruption, Normalization, and Authoritarian Discipline in India

Corruption, far from being a mere moral deviation, is now structurally embedded and normalized in Indian public life. In light of Michel Foucault’s concept of “normalization”—especially when viewed through the metaphor of the Procrustean bed—we can grasp how corruption is institutionally reproduced and enforced, not just allowed.

In India, corruption has become so embedded in institutional procedures, bureaucratic incentives, and electoral mechanisms that what used to be exceptional has become standard operating procedure. This is not simply cultural tolerance but systematic enforcement of a deeply unjust order.

The State as a Disciplinary Apparatus

Building on Foucault, the Indian state can now be seen as a disciplinary apparatus that manufactures docility through normalization of corruption. Re-drawing from our earlier considerations, we can visualize the following even further:

• Ritualized optics: PMO photo-ops, Vikas propaganda, temple inaugurations serve as symbolic inoculations—creating an aura of legitimacy despite economic looting.
• Electoral engineering: Legal instruments like Electoral Bonds and defections via ED-CBI raids have replaced the logic of representative democracy with coercive compliance.
• Legal perversion: Laws are selectively enforced to create fear among dissenters, while immunity is guaranteed to those who serve the regime’s corrupt machinery.

This is not lawlessness—it is “law as strategy,” in Foucauldian terms, a tool for producing what the regime calls “order.

5. Conclusion: When Deviation Is Punished and the Norm Is Corrupt

To fight corruption today in India is to be deviant in a corrupt norm—an inverse Foucauldian nightmare. The RTI activist is not a hero but a nuisance. The whistleblower is not protected but punished. The norm is no longer moral or democratic—it is majoritarian, oligarchic, and performative.

The challenge, then, is not just to “reform” the system but to break the Procrustean bed itself—to dismantle the apparatus that stretches and amputates according to a norm that serves power, not justice.

Until that is done, corruption will not be a deviation—it will remain the de facto morality of the state. The Foucauldian task is not to return to a mythical norm of purity but to expose how the norm was always a construction—a weapon masquerading as consensus.

Suggested Readings:

• Adorno, Theodor W. Negative Dialectics. Translated by E.B. Ashton, Continuum, 1973.
• Althusser, Louis. Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays. Translated by Ben Brewster, Monthly Review Press, 1971.
• Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. Translated by Alan Sheridan, Vintage Books, 1995.
• Nietzsche, Friedrich. On the Genealogy of Morals. Translated by Walter Kaufmann and R.J. Hollingdale, Vintage Books, 1989.
• Pavarala, Vinod. Interpreting Corruption: Elite Perspectives in India. SAGE Publications, 1996.
• Derrida, Jacques. Of Grammatology. Translated by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997.

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