Cosa nostra

This article proposes a movement between two sorts of dependency in the secretive bonds of violent men. The first forges an interdependent set of relations between mafia men, independent of the state; the second arises as a dependency of these former mafiosi on the state in order to break the interdependencies that formerly made them as mafia men. In this ethnographic and oral history narrative, we first witness a dyadic, homosocial relation between two violent men that forges a masculinised interdependence binding the protagonists of this story together as they share a secret. We then encounter the break-up of this interdependency amid local moral outrage over betrayal and violence, and its substitution by a strong dependence on the state. Through a microsociology that delves into a history of relations, the article thus shows how the subjects of this story shift from one set of dependencies to another. The essay critically revisits discussions of dependency, especially on the state, underscoring the missing element of dependency in the making and breaking of bonds in a secretive male brotherhood.

With Nigerian organised crime groups operating in the heartland of the Sicilian mafia, Dr Anna Sergi examines these groups' activities and their relationship with Cosa Nostra. Key Points  The role of Nigerian criminal groups in Sicily was highlighted by the conviction of three members of the Black Axe group under laws designed to target mafia organisations in July 2016.  The greater role played by Nigerian criminal groups in Palermo does not indicate a weakening of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra mafia group in its traditional heartland.  Instead, Nigerian criminal groups are effectively acting under licence from Cosa Nostra, which is concentrating more of its operations in licit activities, and delegating other activities to the Nigerian groups.

Al Capone has been the subject of and inspiration for an endless range of books, TV series and movies, and has subsequently been framed as one of the most notorious criminals of all time. Considering the wide range of illegal activities Capone participated in as well as his controversial methods to achieve success that particular depiction seems understandable, but in many stories about Capone there is a sense of romanticism present as well. When writer Edward Dean Sullivan in 1929 dryly remarked that “[p]eople either like him very much — or want to kill him,”  it becomes clear that at that time people also defined Capone in contradictory ways. The curious cultural, socio-economic and political climate of the Prohibition Era did not just open up the way for Al Capone to create his successful and powerful crime syndicate in Chicago, it also caused a split in public opinion to emerge as Capone was simultaneously being described as a violent gangster who disregarded the law and bribed his way to political power, and as an inspiring example of an Italian-American businessman living the American Dream.

A Capo Milazzo la baia di sant’Antonio, con l’antica chiesetta, la lunga spiaggia e le scogliere a strapiombo offre un panorama mozzafiato sulle sette isole Eolie e sui tramonti del Tirreno. Chi guarda al paradiso di baia e promontorio non immagina certo che una parte dei terreni e degli immobili, alcuni di importante valore storico-architettonico, siano in mano a privati. Ma resterebbero sicuramente attoniti e basiti tutti quei turisti, italiani e stranieri, che venissero a scoprire che il comproprietario di tanta impareggiabile bellezza è uno dei più noti e controversi personaggi della storia criminale dell’Isola e del continente, uomo-cerniera tra mafia, massoneria, servizi segreti, eversione di estrema destra e apparati istituzionali impropriamente deviati.

In 1967, the late President Lyndon B. Johnson commissioned a series of reports addressing crime and justice in America. One of these reports, the Task Force Report: Organized Crime addressed the nature, scope and approaches to organized crime. This Report has withstood the test of time and has served as a catalyst for generations of research. It has morphed into the evolution of an entirely new genre of organized crime research, commonly referred to as Transnational Organized Crime.

This book offers the first comprehensive study of recent, popular Italian television. Building on work in American television studies, audience and reception theory, and masculinity studies, Sympathetic Perpetrators and their Audiences on Italian Television examines how and why viewers are positioned to engage emotionally with—and root for—Italian television antiheroes. Italy’s most popular exported series feature alluring and attractive criminal antiheroes, offer fictionalized accounts of historical events or figures, and highlight the routine violence of daily life in the mafia, the police force, and the political sphere. Renga argues that Italian broadcasters have made an international name for themselves by presenting dark and violent subjects in formats that are visually pleasurable and, for many across the globe, highly addictive. Taken as a whole, this book investigates what recent Italian perpetrator television can teach us about television audiences, and our viewing habits and preferences.

Gambetta’s theoretical framework focuses on two important aspects directly relating to the birth and development of mafias, namely a demand for private protection and a supply of the same. In the Post-Mao era, China started its transition from a centrally controlled economy to a market-directed economy by adopting reform and opening-up policies. The widespread creation of property rights has exponentially enlarged the demand for protection. However, property rights are ambiguously defined in the Chinese legal system, and the state is unable and unwilling to provide efficient and sufficient law enforcement mechanisms for needy people because of the rampant corruption of government officials and the weak judicial system. In this case, the mafia that is interested in the private provision of protection developed into an alternative enforcement mechanism for ‘securing’ property rights in China’s economic transition. The most important service offered by the mafia in China is not only to assist business enterprises in monopolising the market, but also to assist local government in China’s economic reform.

Estate del 1992, mentre il Paese assiste scosso e arrabbiato allo scandalo di Tangentopoli, mentre gli arresti e gli avvisi di garanzia per corruzione decimano le istituzioni dello Stato, l’antistato alza violentemente il tiro. Con gli attentati a Roma, a Firenze e a Milano, e le modalità efferate e stragiste con cui uccide i giudici Giovanni Falcone e Paolo Borsellino, Cosa Nostra intende impressionare l’opinione pubblica e dimostrare agli Italiani di poter colpire, quando e come vuole uno Stato che si rivela indifeso ed impotente. E' una dichiarazione di guerra. Dall'indignazione popolare nasce un grande movimento antimafia che sembra aprire una nuova stagione per il nostro Paese. Ma intanto il nemico si riorganizza, consapevole che tutto deve cambiare affinché nulla cambi. E lentamente, tra il silenzio e l'oblio, avanza la vittoria di Cosa Nostra, si afferma la mafia dal colletto bianco. Questo libro è una memoria e un monito per voi giovani nati dal 1992 in poi, voi che non avete nei vostri occhi la memoria di quelle stragi e quelle bombe, affinché sappiate e ricordiate attraverso i nostri ricordi.

This work takes you on a chronological journey through the different ways in which the mafia is represented and treated in Italian cinema. Far from offering a mythical and stereotyped image of this genre, the purpose is to observe the birth and development of this archetype, highly evolved in the italian culture of North America, from the beginning of post-neorealism until the present day. We will take a look at how the public image of the mobster was created, how the organization is build and its prototype, and also at how the social vision of this subject has changed during the years. The aim is to compare the actual chronology of what's going on in the Mafia with his social perception through his correspondent filmography

The alien conspiracy theory of organized crime has a peculiar American history. Once accepted there, a version of it was exported to Europe with the acronym " LCN " and accepted by many agencies and authorities without apparent understanding of its purpose and of the circumstances under which it originated. Though some observers have debunked it, the theory survives, largely unquestioned, as a conceptual framework for explaining organized crime. Although research activities have shown that the theory does not apply to data collected, the theory, reinforced by repetition, still dominates sections of governmental and public opinion. This paper describes and assesses the origins of the alien conspiracy theory and its continuing value as a point of reference. A more viable alternative is proposed, based on a spectrum approach to enterprise.

黑手党产权经济学理论是盛行于西方的有组织犯罪理论。该理论着重研究从事犯罪保护和法外执行的犯罪集团，这对于中国大陆学者探讨新形式的犯罪具有重要价值。然而，黑手党理论的移植需结合中国现状，即：中国社会中关系与法的共存，使得中国的法外保护与腐败紧密相联。法外保护的提供者不仅仅局限于有组织犯罪集团，腐败官员已成为犯罪保护商品的主要供给者。犯罪组织通过关系网建立警（官）匪联系、获得犯罪保护；腐败官员通过关系网进行权力寻租、获取非法利益。事实上，腐败交易双方所形成的关系网成为促进犯罪交易、降低交易成本和逃避法律制裁的重要机制。因此，腐败关系网是中国最具特色的、也是最为重要的法外保护形式。

Civil forfeiture is playing an increasingly prominent role in the fight against organised crime. While this tool is attractive to law enforcement agencies, it does give rise to concerns under Art 6 of the ECHR. Such proceedings ought to attract the full range of enhanced procedural protections inherent in the criminal process. Even if the Strasbourg Court decides otherwise, there is an argument that the presumption of innocence ought to apply where civil forfeiture proceedings are instituted against a person subsequent to that person being acquitted in criminal proceedings. The Strasbourg jurisprudence, though, is permeated by confusion and inconsistency, which does not inspire confidence that the rights of the individual will be protected. The final section of this paper, then, considers whether civil forfeiture represents a proportionate response in the fight against organised crime. Ultimately, though, given lack of information on such crime, we cannot provide an answer either way – what can be said, though, is that civil forfeiture has had a significant impact on the rights of the individual.

This article outlines a theoretical framework to assess organized crime activities across territories and their modus operandi. The framework is based on the distinction ‘governing’ versus ‘trading’ and is then applied to scrutinize Mafia activities across Europe and draw some policy implications at the EU level. The article argues against the adoption of complex and overarching anti-Mafia legislation in each member state. Instead, a more limited set of measures is recommended. These measures should aim at facilitating (a) cross-border arrest and surrender procedures; (b) gathering and sharing of evidence across member states; and (c) freezing and confiscating assets across borders.
[Attached is the working paper version]

This paper reviews the English language academic literature on transnational organized crime with a special emphasis on publications from the years 2007–2012. It presents an overview of the areas of crime covered, the kinds of data sources used, the specific topics and questions addressed, and a brief summary of findings.

The renowned Italian television series La piovra is known as the first important televisual intervention on the Mafia, but its aesthetic and thematic contributions to contemporary programming are often forgotten in television scholarship. This article positions La piovra in the development of the current trend of ‘quality’ television series by focusing on the show’s exploration of the subgenre of male melodrama. Through an analysis of the two primary characters, the hero Corrado Cattani and the villain Tano Cariddi, we can see how La piovra is not just an exposé of organized crime but is also a complex meditation on the vulnerability of Italian masculinity in a time of gender upheaval in 1980s Italy. It is this particular thematic concern, rather than organized crime, that likens La piovra to the current wave of male-themed quality television series and makes a critical re-evaluation of the series so timely.

"This paper presents a conceptual framework for the analysis of transnational organized crime which centers on the practical problems offenders face. The framework breaks down the elusive concept of transnational organized crime to categories that highlight differences in the extent and nature of the transnationality of crime and that identify key logistical challenges to cross-border offenders.
Conventional wisdom establishes a close link between transnational organized crime and globalization, as a result of which criminals supposedly are free to roam an increasingly borderless world. This paper argues that such a view is over-simplistic. Political borders continue to divide the globe, and perhaps even more so in the aftermath of 9/11; and legal, cultural and language barriers continue to create additional obstacles for the transnational mobility of offenders.
How these obstacles define transnational crime is a matter of the specific nature of criminal activities. This paper presents two classificatory schemes, one distinguishing transnational criminal activities with regard to patterns of cross-border movement, the other distinguishing forms of cross-border mobility. Patterns of cross-border movement vary according to what crosses borders (persons, objects, information) and in what direction (unidirectional, bi-directional, multi-directional). Cross-border mobility, likewise, can take on different forms, for example with regard to awareness space, foraging, operational mobility, and networking.
A better understanding of transnational organized crime for analytical and policy purposes cannot be achieved without a more focused examination of crime phenomena within these categories."

From 2008 Sicily's president was Raffaele Lombardo, leader of the Movimento per le Autonomie (MpA), a party founded by politicians who were already well established in the city of Catania and its province. In the summer of 2012 Lombardo's government was forced to resign following an investigation that exposed the connections between the president and Mafia families in eastern Sicily. This article draws on two ethnographic studies carried out in Catania between 2009 and 2013: in describing the political behaviour and power relations between voters, local councillors and MpA executive officers, the research examined the tendency to internalise the widely understood narrative about politics and patronage in Sicily that Lombardo and his colleagues embodied. By relating ethnographic data to the legal documents showing the links between MpA leaders and Cosa Nostra bosses, I argue that social and cultural support for the party will have included support from local Mafia members.

Purpose of this succint work is to shed some light on the historical events and implications behind what presented in The Traitor (Il traditore, 2019), the most recent Marco Bellocchio biographical crime drama film focused on the life of Tommaso Buscetta, the first Mafia boss to become a cooperating witness.

In this project I have studied one of the most important summits of the last 100 years, The Havana conference in 1946. It may not have been a meeting of great world leaders such as Potsdam or Yalta, but the effect it had on the modern world is astronomical. My question examined how far did the Havana Conference in 1946 keep the peace in Cosa Nostra through to 1960? I went about answering this by looking at the profit. For gangsters there are two things that dictate whether something is a good idea or not. Will they make money? And will they die? By studying the decisions made at the summit, and judging them by their probability, and casualty rate, I was able to come to a conclusion. This Summit was the beginning of the globalisation of organised crime, and year's later dozens of organized crime syndicates have attempted to copy the success of Cosa Nostra's operations. Jeremiah Moss O'Donoghue Exam Number: 1847 BHASVIC: 56120 HAVANA 1946

The conference theme of “MAFIAs”—the first on the subject by this academic research institute—intends to cover a broad variety of manifestations of organized crime throughout the world and over time.  This scholarly event seeks a comparative approach to the subject, from historical perspectives to contemporary realities. Contrasts in historical genesis, organizational templates, cultural expressions, and sociological influences will be examined. The conference is attentive to the defining features, boundaries, and ways to conceptualize organized crime, looking at it epistemologically and ontologically.

The entanglements between organized crime and political and business elites, a defining feature of these illegal enterprises, form a particularly rich and complex field of inquiry. Mediated representations—from journalism to novels, from film to gaming—have contributed to the popular imaginative of organized
criminal economies and cultural expressions. The manners in which organized crime have become integral to civil society, and even factors in national self-identification, bear continued and in-depth examination, as do their influences in national and international commerce.

We are looking for papers that are grounded in serious academic argument both disciplinary-based and interdisciplinary. We are particularly interested in new approaches to the analysis of organized crime that draw from the social sciences and the humanities, discovering hitherto unexplored perspectives and
expressions.

E’ tutt’altro che facile condensare in un breve testo una riflessione sul pregiudizio legato alla comunità italoamericana, pregiudizio alimentato o certamente spettacolarizzato dal mezzo cinematografico. L’obiettivo di questo scrittonon è quello di costituire un documento esauriente; esso costituisce piuttosto un tentativo di riflessione tale da spingere ad un eventuale approfondimento successivo. Innanzitutto, viene da chiedersi, è possibile operare una riflessione sull’identità americana e sulla presunta vocazione etnica alla violenza prescindendo da un film quale “Il Padrino”?

In 1993, Palermo, Italy, mayor Leoluca Orlando took charge of city services that were on the verge of collapse. Garbage and trash lined the streets of the city. Natural gas for cooking and heating was available only intermittently, and public buses rarely ran on time. The municipality rationed water during the day. The city’s four municipal companies for waste disposal, natural gas delivery, public transportation, and water had deteriorated during decades of mismanagement and corruption. The Mafia’s hold over the companies’ public works and procurement contracts contributed to massive waste of tax money and other resources. But Palermo’s fortunes began to turn at the beginning of a seven-year period known as Palermo’s Renaissance (1993–2000). Orlando hired competent managers and gave them broad leeway to root out corruption and fix operations and finances. Under the new managers, the companies expelled Mafia-linked companies from contracts, implemented stronger control and supervision procedures, and sharply improved the quality of service for Palermo’s citizens and businesses. Although public transportation and garbage collection services slipped when Orlando left office in 2000, Palermo’s upgraded gas and water systems continued to serve the entire city. This case study recounts Orlando’s efforts to rebuild municipal companies and improve the provision of public services.

Rushda Majeed and Laura Bacon drafted this case study based on interviews conducted in Palermo, Italy, in March 2012. Aldo Civico, assistant professor in the department of sociology and anthropology at Rutgers University and cofounder of the International Institute for Peace, provided initial ideas and guidance on the cases. Roberto Pitea, Valentina Burcheri, and Brian Reilly provided research assistance. Case published November 2012.

Two companion case studies address simultaneous reform efforts in Palermo from 1993 to 2000. “Renaissance in Palermo, Italy, Part 1: Rebuilding Civic Identity and Reclaiming a City from the Mafia in Italy,” details the restoration of public spaces, arts and culture, tourism, and schools. “Renaissance in Palermo, Italy, Part 2: Reforming City Hall,” focuses on the city’s budget, taxes, one-stop shop for licenses and documents, and citizen outreach.

Chiara Caprì affronta in “Lanterna Nostra” il tema ancora poco battuto, ma sempre più fortemente attuale, della presenza e delle variegate attività della mafia cinese in Italia. Dalla nascita delle società segrete cinesi del 1600 ad ora, il saggio traccia un inquietante profilo di queste organizzazioni criminali che da decenni esercitano il loro potere in tutta Europa e oggi sempre più legano la loro attività in Italia con quella delle “nostre” mafie.
A partire dalle leggende secondo cui l’origine del fenomeno criminale cinese risalirebbe alle società segrete del 1600, nate per controbattere gli invasori Manciù, e dalla descrizione della prima grande “Triade”, il saggio arriva ai giorni nostri per tratteggiare le attività criminali in Europa e in Italia e il nascente rapporto di collusione tra mafia cinese e Cosa Nostra. Grazie alle sue ricerche e alla consultazione di saggi, quotidiani, periodici, e documenti ufficiali – relazioni di Convenzioni delle Nazioni Unite, atti di procedimenti penali, sentenze di condanna e molto altro – l’autrice riesce a definire l’allarmante profilo di queste organizzazioni criminali che da decenni ormai esercitano il loro potere in tutta Europa, avendo come principali attività l’immigrazione clandestina, la prostituzione, la falsificazione di documenti d’identità, lo spaccio di stupefacenti e la contraffazione.
La presenza delle mafie cinesi in Italia è ad oggi fortemente concentrata nel Nord Italia, tra Lombardia e Toscana, ma inizia a espandersi anche al Sud. Già il titolo del saggio esplicita chiaramente le ipotesi – fondate su fatti di cronaca, intercettazioni telefoniche e altro materiale documentario – riguardo a una sempre più vasta collusione tra la criminalità cinese e le “nostre” mafie. La diffusione a macchia d’olio di esercizi commerciali gestiti da cittadini cinesi a Palermo e in altre città siciliane, la loro invisibile presenza, la scoperta di internet point clandestini che fungono in realtà da dormitori, e di case d’appuntamento con prostitute esclusivamente cinesi, dimostrano la diffusione delle organizzazioni che, necessariamente, stanno alle spalle di tali attività e lasciano intuire i legami necessariamente esistenti con Cosa Nostra.

Along the lines of the criminal-terrorist nexus, the essay portrays the difficulties criminal organizations face in developing into terrorist organizations. Commencing with a brief review of the field's most relevant research, the essay explores set contentions on previously referenced criminal organizations who have perpetrated acts of terrorist violence, revealing a cleavage that exposes the lack of criminal organizations who have been able to evolve into terrorist organizations. The essay furthers its argument by analysing the aftermath of terrorist violence in three criminal organizations (Cosa Nostra, D-Company and Guayo Cano) on three different plains; at a group or operational level, a public/social level and state level in an effort to conclude with a brief insight into the possibilities that might impede or limit a criminal organizations' capacity to evolve. Thus, directly affecting previously held assumptions on the possibility both threats are able to converge.

This paper reviews experimental methods for the study of the responses of people to violence in digital media, and in particular considers the issues of internal validity and ecological validity or generalisability of results to events in the real world. Experimental methods typically involve a significant level of abstraction from reality, with participants required to carry out tasks that are far removed from violence in real life, and hence their ecological validity is questionable. On the other hand studies based on field data, while ...

Cosa Nostra es una oscura sociedad secreta con sus ritos, mitos y leyendas de tradición oral, que lleva décadas influyendo en la vida política, económica y social de Italia y de medio planeta. Este libro desvela las siniestras prácticas del grupo criminal más misterioso y temido del mundo, desde el desembarco estadounidense en Sicilia durante la segunda Guerra Mundial hasta la actualidad.
De Palermo a Nueva York, de Vietnam a Brasil pasando por Egipto, la ciudad del Vaticano, España, Venezuela y Argentina, Sicilia Nostra arrastra al lector en un trepidante viaje al corazón de la mafia, de la mano de los hombres que formaron parte de la organización y de aquellos que lo arriesgaron todo para combatirla.

L’arte cinematografica come arte delle immagini in movimento si è sempre rivelata estremamente funzionale alla rappresentazione della violenza forse perché unisce la capacità dell’immagine di essere di per sé violenta in quanto direttamente votata ad essere percepita dal nostro organo più sensibile o da quello che la tradizione culturale ha privilegiato creando una sorta di equivalenza tra la conoscenza e la possibilità di vedere, la non conoscenza e una sorta di cecità o di buio.
Questo articolo vale solo come spunto per una riflessione a venire. Non potrebbe essere altrimenti dato che la complessità dell’argomento necessita di uno spazio e di una meditazione che il genere dell’articolo non permette. La presenza della violenza nella narrazione cinematografica si interseca con la riflessione su arte e morale (sulla quale mi riservo di scrivere in futuro) e in generale con il tema della rappresentazione della violenza per immagini, dalla storia dell’arte ai servizi giornalistici, dalla televisione a Youtube.
La violenza al cinema potrebbe essere analizzata secondo diverse macro-categorie; ne individuo subito quattro, riservandomi approfondimenti e correzioni in un prossimo futuro: etnica, evocata, naturale, recondita.