Dina Siegel The Mazzel Ritual Culture, Customs and Crime in the Diamond Trade The Mazzel Ritual Dina Siegel The Mazzel Ritual Culture, Customs and Crime in the Diamond Trade 123 DinaSiegel UniversityofUtrecht WillemPompeInstitute Janskerkhof16 3512BMUtrecht Netherlands [email protected] ISBN978-0-387-95959-7 e-ISBN978-0-387-95960-3 DOI10.1007/978-0-387-95960-3 SpringerDordrechtHeidelbergLondonNewYork LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2009930377 ©SpringerScience+BusinessMedia,LLC2009 Allrightsreserved.Thisworkmaynotbetranslatedorcopiedinwholeorinpartwithoutthewritten permission of the publisher (Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 233 Spring Street, New York, NY10013,USA),exceptforbriefexcerptsinconnectionwithreviewsorscholarlyanalysis.Usein connectionwithanyformofinformationstorageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware, orbysimilarordissimilarmethodologynowknownorhereafterdevelopedisforbidden. Theuseinthispublicationoftradenames,trademarks,servicemarks,andsimilarterms,eveniftheyare notidentifiedassuch,isnottobetakenasanexpressionofopinionastowhetherornottheyaresubject toproprietaryrights. Printedonacid-freepaper SpringerispartofSpringerScience+BusinessMedia(www.springer.com) ToEmanuelMarx Preface The academic study of diamonds is as multifaceted as the precious stones them- selves. Mineralogists and geographers have written about them, as have historians and economists and students of art and fashion. They each shine their light on a different aspect of this source of luminous radiance. But who would venture to describetheentirecomplicatedworldwidesystemstartinginthediamondminesof Africa and ending with the consumers of Western metropolises? Social scientists? To them, the world of diamonds has remained a mysterious arena. The diamond tradehasalwaysbeenespeciallydifficulttoapproach,closedandsecretive. DinaSiegelisaculturalanthropologistwhopracticesherdisciplineinthefield of criminology. With this study, she simultaneously goes beyond two professional roles.Asananthropologist,shemightbeexpectedtoconfineherselftodeveloping countries, ethnic minorities, or small and clearly defined communities. As indeed she does in her field work among the Jewish diamond dealers of Antwerp. Who coulddosobetterthananethnographerwithnofewerthanfourrelevantlanguages at her command, Russian, English, Dutch, and Hebrew? The topic of her study, however, exceeds this level. The diamond trade, in the words of Charles Tilly, is a system of ‘trust networks’, extending all across the globe. These networks are included in the analysis. In this sense, this study might be referred to as global ethnography.Criminologistsareexpectedtokeeptheirsightsfixedonstreetcrime, white collar crime, organised crime, and the like. Not that various manifestations of these forms of crime do not emerge involving robberies from diamond dealers or museums, theft by employees wherever diamonds are cut or polished, or the arrestsoftransnationalsmugglingorganisations.Siegelgoesfurtherthoughandalso studiestheroleofbigbusiness(DeBeers)intheformationofcartels,andofnations ortheirrulersinpoliticalcrime.Thisstudyisthusagoodexampleofanewbranch ofthecriminologytree,thatis,globalcrime. Criminologistsusuallylaunchtheirresearchoncrimeinsomespecificbusiness where one or more scandals have given a certain branch of the economy a bad reputation.Organisationaldeviancewasstudied,forexample,aftercourtcasesand media attention focused on the oil industry, the second-hand car trade, waste dis- posal, or the pharmaceutical industry. The standard questions are: What are the criminogenicfactorsandwhatistheopportunitystructureforcrimeinthiseconomic sector? vii viii Preface Siegeltakestheoppositeapproach.SheusesthelogicdevelopedbyMooreinthe anthropology of law with her theory on semi-autonomous social fields. The main question there is: What rules are followed in this branch? And only then can the questionderivedfromitbe:Arethererisksofcrimehere?FromMoore’sperspec- tive, there are separate worlds below the state level where participants adhere to theirowncustomswiththeirownentranceceremonies,regulationofrelationships, and dispute settlement institutions. A social field of this kind is semi-autonomous because everyone there has to remain within the context of the official law of the land.Inthiscaseofcommerceonaglobalscale,itismorecomplicatedbecausethe legal systems of any number of countries need to be dealt with. The professional group of diamond dealers consists of ‘middlemen minorities’, Jews and Indians from Gujarat, who have organised their networks all across the globe and need to keep the considerable legal differences in mind. But as all smugglers know, thesedifferencesandinformationaboutthempresentallkindsofopportunitiesfor financialprofits. Firstandforemost,thefieldofthediamondtradeisasurvivalsystemtoprotect itself from crime from outside. The secrecy and adherence to traditions are func- tionalinfendingoffallthemagpieszoominginontheshinygems.Inthisanalysis, this would make the diamond trade more an agency of victimology than of crim- inology. In her discourse on the political context diamond dealers have to operate in,Siegel’sdescriptiontakesanunexpectedbutessentiallyclassicalanthropological turn. After all, how many ethnographers don’t wind up defenders of their people? After the 1998 Global Witness Report, the branch has been the target of criticism fromNGOsabletomobilisetheUnitedNationsandnumerousnationalgovernments tointroduceinternationalmeasuresagainstthetradeinconflictdiamondsorblood diamonds.Thathasgiven theentirebranchabadreputation.‘Whatiswrongwith diamondsanyway?’Siegelseemstobeexclaimingwhenshedescribesthistendency asmoralpanic.Thedealersthemselvesdon’thavethatmuchtodowiththenegli- gible percentage of diamonds that are exchanged by warlords and kleptocrats for armsandluxurygoods.Whatismore,theinternationalmeasures(KimberleyCer- tificationScheme)haveprovedtobeineffective.Butthemostimportantargument againsttheconductoftheNGOs,atanyratetheonethatworksbestforme,isthe objectionthatorganisationsofthiskindoperatewithoutanydemocraticlegitimacy. Thismagnificentglobalethnographyshouldevoketheoreticalaswellaspolitical debate. UniversityofUtrecht Utrecht,TheNetherlands FrankBovenkerk Acknowledgements Itwillnotbeprobablysuchanoriginalconfession,butitistrue:Ilovediamonds. Ilovetolookatthem,totouchthem,totalkaboutthem,toownthem,andtowear them.Ialsolovetowriteaboutthem.ActuallyIdidnotwanttofinishthisbook:the longerIstudieddiamonds,themoreIadmiredthem,theirirresistiblebeauty,their mystery, their spectacular history. Finishing this study meant cooling down a spe- cialexcitementwhichdiamondsawokeinme,orwakingupfromabeautifuldream, or even losing somebody significant. This book became a part of me, of my own experiences, feelings, expectations, and disappointments. My mind was occupied with diamonds during the research. Writing, rewriting, structuring, re-organising, and brushing up the chapters of this book were similar in my experience to dig- ging,cleaning,cutting,andpolishingaroughdiamond,inhopethattheendproduct would glitter, shine, and bring joy to other people. I enjoyed studying diamonds andIenjoyeddescribingandanalysingthegathereddata.Formeitwasanintellec- tualandaestheticaltrip.ThroughdiamondsIhavealsolearnedaboutbureaucracy, corruption, provocation, cruelty, and passion. I discovered how this small colour- less stone could cause enormous pain, but also plenty of joy, and how it could be connectedtowarandtolove. However,itwouldbeimpossibleformetomakeallthesediscoveriesandactually towritethisbookwithouttheassistanceofmanyotherpeople.Notallofthemliked diamonds, (which is of course incomprehensible to me), but most of them were curious and enthusiastic about my research and helped me a great deal, directly and/orindirectly. Mygreatestappreciationgoestothemanydiamantairs,menandwomen,indif- ferentcountries,whowereinvolvedinthisstudyandhelpedmeimmenselyduring my fieldwork. It would be impossible to mention the names of all the diamantairs whoassistedmeinonewayoranotherduringtheresearch.Iassuredmostofthem that they would not be identifiable. Therefore I decided not to thank them openly here, but I did it personally. They know how much I am obliged to them. They sharedwithmethesecretsofthediamondbusiness,theyintroducedmetothemys- tery of the diamond world, they provided me with valuable information, and they sentmee-mails,collectedwrittenmaterial,andtoldmetheirideasanddoubtsabout differentdevelopmentsinthediamondtrade. ix x Acknowledgements Iamalsogratefultorepresentativesofvariousgovernmental,nongovernmental, and commercial organisations and professional diamond institutions. I would like tothankpoliceinvestigators,gemologists,mineralogists,lawyers,anthropologists, andcriminologists,whosharedwithmetheirknowledgeandexpertiseondifferent diamond-relatedsubjects. There are, however, a few individuals whom I would like to mention by name. Frank Bovenkerk is the perfect combination of classic anthropology and cultural criminology.Ihavelearnedalotfromhim,andhisfriendshipisveryimportantto me.HenkvandeBuntwasveryinterestedinthisprojectandIamgratefultohim forhishelpfuladviceandsuggestions. Thanks to all my colleagues in the Department of Criminology, VU University Amsterdam,forcreatingapleasantintellectualenvironment.Ipresentedsomeofmy ideas,particularlyoncrimeandconflictdiamonds,alsotomystudentsofcriminol- ogy,andIappreciatetheirenthusiasticresponseandendlessdiscussions.Oftenthese discussions continued even after the class was dismissed, at my office or through e-mail. Thefollowingfriendsandcolleaguesweresokindtoassist(eitherincomment- ing,advising,criticising,orprovidinginformation)ondifferentpartsofthisstudy: Inna Baron, Hans Nelen, Menachem Amir, David de Vries, Joris van Wijk, and Hendrik-Jan Schwencke. The gatherings of the Cultural Criminology Club espe- ciallywereveryinspiringinthelasttwoyears.Iacknowledgewithgreatrespectits members:FrankvanGemert,JanineJansen,DirkKorf,MarcSchuilenburg,Damian Zaitch,TimBoekhoutvanSolinge,RenevanSwaaningen,andRichardStaring.My conversationswithMikePresdeewereveryusefulforabetterunderstandingofcul- turalcriminologyandtheenormousenthusiasmofKeithHaywardduringhisvisit totheNetherlandswasinfectious.ThelateHansTennekesoncesentmeintoawide scientificworldwithamissiontoapplyanthropologicalmethodsandinsightsinto otherdisciplines.Ihopetocontinuedoingthis. My family and especially my sons Yaniv, Eyal, and Itai have always been my inspirationtocontinuethisstudy.IamgratefultoFrancesGilliganformakingmy Russian-Israeli English more readable and to Welmoed Spahr from Springer for usefulcommentsandsuggestions. Ialmostfinishedthemanuscriptand,asusualinmyscientificcareer,Idecidedto sendit‘forinspection’toEmanuelMarx.ThereactionIreceivedwascrucialforthe finalresult:Iactuallyhadtorewritemanypartsofthemanuscript.Idonotregretthat Ididitandthatittookmeanotherfewmonthsdealingwithdiamonds.Emanuel,as always,remainedmyteacher:critical,butveryinspiringandencouragingnotonly in all my scientific, but also in many of my life projects. I will always admire his joiedevivre,hiscuriosity,originality,sharpness,andsoftness.Thisdiamondisfor him. Utrecht, TheNetherlands DinaSiegel Contents 1 TheoryandResearch:AnAnthropologicalJourneyinto theDiamondIndustry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 MultisiteAnthropology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 BreakingTaboosAboutJews,theMafia,andOtherDangers ofFieldwork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 CulturalCriminologyandSemi-AutonomousSocialFields . . . . . . 11 2 From Marco Polo to the Syndicate: The History of a MultilevelOrganisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 HistoricalDevelopmentoftheDiamondBusiness . . . . . . . . . . . 16 TheDevelopmentoftheDiamondOrganisationinEurope . . . . . . . 17 DiamondPipeline−StructureandOrganisation . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 ProductionCountries−ControlandCriminalisation . . . . . . . . . . 21 DistributionofRoughDiamonds−MarketingMethods . . . . . . . . 25 ProcessingCentres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 BanksandBourses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 NotWithouttheSyndicate! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 ControlandMobility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 IllegalActivitiesofDeBeers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 AnOldMonopolyinaNewWorld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 3 TheKingofGems:HowtheDiamondBecametheMost PreciousStone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 LegendsandSymbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 TheValueofa‘Rare’Stone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 SmugglingforSurvivalandEmigration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 RomanticsorBusiness?ConsumerisminPostmodernTimes . . . . . . 50 WomenandDiamonds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Organisation of Preservation of the Value of Diamonds bytheDiamondIndustry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 4 TheMazzelRitual:Trust,Loyalty,Risk,andtheCultureof theDiamondTrade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 TheCultureoftheDiamondTrade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 xi