Mafia infiltration, public administration and local institutions: A comparative study in Northern Italy

Abstract

Nuanced explanations of the factors underpinning the mafia’s movements across territories have recently been proposed. However, more light must be shed on the mechanisms through which mafiosi try to infiltrate the legal economy in non-traditional territories. Accordingly, this study aims to micro-found interactions and exchanges that mainly involve mafiosi, politicians and economic actors in expansion areas. Focusing on the local level, we will show how the misuse of several administrative tools generates a profitable opportunity structure for mafiosi. To this end, we present an in-depth comparative case study of three events involving the construction industry that took place in Northern Italy. The main findings show that: (i) mafiosi are skilled at smoothing social relations, enlarging and consolidating opaque networks predating their arrival; (ii) they give rise to different types of mutual exchanges and network structures.

Shaping space. A conceptual framework on the connections between organised crime groups and territories

“…At first stage, we can isolate mafia-type groups from other types of OCGs. We thus agree with claims that mafia groups are a specific type of organised crime, being the latter the species of a more varied genus of organised crime (Sciarrone 2008 ; Sciarrone and Storti 2014 , 2019 ; Sergi and Storti 2020 ; Dagnes et al 2020 ; Von Lampe 2016 ). Mafias are not only profit-driven, they are also power-driven (Sergi 2017 ).…”

Contested borders: organized crime, governance, and bordering practices in Colombia-Venezuela borderlands

“…The existence of criminal governance does not imply the absence or suspension of state governance. On the contrary, as scholars have extensively documented it implies complex interactions and exchanges in which the state and OCGs are not always at loggerheads (Arias 2006 ; Auyero 2007 ; Snyder and Duran-Martinez 2009 ; Sciarrone and Storti 2014 ; Dewey 2015 ; Denyer Willis 2015 ; Dagnes et al 2018 ; Lessing 2018 ; Sobering and Auyero 2019 ).…”

Networked territorialism: the routes and roots of organised crime

“…In the context of globalisation, however, the relationship between people and place has become increasingly complex, and criminal groups have proven more mobile and than historical accounts might lead us to expect (Allum 2014;Dagnes et al, 2018). For Castells (2000), the current era is defined as the 'network society', in which transnational networks of technology, culture, and finance resituate place-based identities between the 'space of place' and the 'space of flow'.…”