Who corrupts whom? A criminal eco-system made in Italy

Abstract

This research note focuses on the relationship between organised crime and corruption in Italy. It is part of a wider research project investigating that relationship across a number of European countries. In the first part of this contribution, along with a brief account of definitional issues, a summary review of previous work on the connections between organised crime and corruption is provided. The paper then attempts to delineate the uniqueness of the Italian case through some observations around the specific contours of organised and corrupt exchange in the country as they manifest themselves. After a brief methodological note, the analysis is interspersed with the opinions of key informants contacted for this research who have profound knowledge of the subject matter, having worked for many years as investigating judges or academic researchers. A division into areas in which the links between organised crime and corruption are observed tries to map the two phenomena and their joint modus operandi.

The penal implications of austerity: Italian punishment in the wake of the Eurozone crisis

“…These dynamics are of direct relevance to the issue of punishment insofar as they address questions of compliance with state law and state reaction to deviance. One such dynamic is that of ‘widespread illegality’ or Italy’s ‘traditional practices of moderate but pervasive violations of the law’ (Melossi, 2001: 382; Nelken, 2014: 282; Pavarini, 1994: 50), typified by informal labour and tax evasion, generally tolerated by the population, including Italy’s political elite (Ruggiero, 2010). I argue that widespread illegality is likely to increase if the legitimacy of state norms weakens: ‘compliance will be selective, in some areas non-existent’ (White, 2015).…”

‘The constitution of political membership’: Punishment, political membership, and the Italian case

“…(Rhodes, 2015: 321;Ruggiero, 2010). Political corruption emerged with virulence in the 1990s, with the large-scale scandal known as Tangentopoli that contributed to the collapse of the erstwhile political parties (Nelken, 1996;Rhodes, 2015).…”

Illegal Entrepreneurship, Organized Crime and Social Control

“…As with any other mafi a, the clans of the 'ndrangheta are concerned with fi nancial gains and interests, but are also social structures with strategic goals (Sciarrone, 2010(Sciarrone, , 2011, which require their involvement and proximity with both political and entrepreneurial fi gures in the territory, the so called 'grey area' of mafi a power (Ciconte, 2013 ;Mete, 2011 ). The 'ndrangheta clans share the same characteristics of the more general mafi a typology whose power is largely based on exercising violence , whether actual or threatened , and on exploiting traditional cultural codes and manipulating social relationships in order to establish mutual exchanges in political and economic circles (Sciarrone & Storti, 2014 : 41). In this framework, which already denotes a strong link between the criminal clans and their territory, mafi a clans in Calabria sit next to the governing class when they are not the governing class themselves (Sergi, 2015a ) while pursuing a number of illegal activities, extortion racket primarily at the local level (Asmundo, 2011 ;Ruggiero, 2010 ) and drug traffi cking nationally and internationally (Sergi and Lavorgna, 2016 ;DNA, 2015 ;Gratteri & Nicaso, 2015 ;Sergi, 2015b ). The origins of the 'ndrangheta as we know it today are quite recent.…”