The global criminal organization, known as the Mafia, originated in the orange groves of the Conca D'Ora, the rich hinterland of Palermo, Sicily, during the early 19th century. It was here that the "Mafia of the Gardens", a loose network of bandits, built up their industry of crime - the impresa criminale. This book shows how these rural bands resisted the encroachment of the Italian government in the 1840s, infiltrated it, took control of its agencies and so became the ruling power on the island. The book argues that the vast organization that operates across continents today remains, in structure, remarkably similar to the early rural operations, despite the enormous gulf in style and scale.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Italian sociologist Catanzaro traces the origin and evolution of the Sicilian Mafia from the 1860s to the present day. His myth-breaking account shows that the Mafia codes of "honor" and "instrumental friendship" emerged as responses to a specific historical context. Mafiosi saw themselves as private agents of public protection. Catanzaro illustrates, with considerable clarity, that "organization" not only defined the Mafia, but also enabled it to change as circumstances required. From just after 1860, when Mafia violence was not the only resistance to the new Italian state, the Mafia has always been deeply involved in political life, as well as the social business of community life. Catanzaro ably covers the many official attempts at Mafia repression, from the Fascists in the 1930s to the Italian Parliament's Anti-Mafia Commission in the 1970s.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Written by an Italian professor, this is an insightful sociological analysis of the special cultural, economic, and political features of Sicilian life that produced the Mafia. Initially, the nascent Mafia served the landowning ruling class by mediating its relations with the peasants. Latent during the Fascist period, the Mafia successfully manipulated the governing Christian Democratic Party after World War II. Expanding into drugs and urban ventures, the Sicilian Mafia is more powerful and deep-rooted than its American cousin. No less violent (it is credited with 150 murders in 1982), it does not balk at killing public figures as well as its own members. Heavily weighted toward the theoretical, this book is recommended for research collections. Lay readers or those interested in the Sicily-U.S. Mafia connection would likely prefer Claire Sterling's Octopus ( LJ 1/90).
- Gregor A. Preston, Univ. of California Lib., Davis
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Gregor A. Preston, Univ. of California Lib., Davis
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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