In recent years, the mafia from Calabria has been at the centre of judicial interventions all around Italy and beyond. Usually known as the ândrangheta and, historically, also as the Honoured Society, the Calabrian mafia has been the object of media interest and scholarly work, at the point of redefining research and knowledge on (Italian) mafias more generally. Despite its only recent categorisation as a mafia, which, under Italian law, occurred only in 2010,1 this mafia is as old as the Italian state and certainly as old as Sicilian Cosa Nostra, its most well-known relative. The debate on what constitutes a mafia, especially in the Italian context is still ongoing notwithstanding the longevity of the phenomenon and its literature. The term mafia indicates the prototypical case of criminal structures transcending class divisions and the divide between the illegal and legal (Von Lampe 2008). As argued by Italian scholars, mafia groups are those types of organised crime groups supported by social prestige and accepted and/or tolerated by their own communities; they are also capable of infiltrating legal economy and politics (Sciarrone and Storti 2014; Sciarrone 2014). In particular, Sciarrone (2011) describes mafias as social forces with the power to accumulate and employ social capital; mafias are social structures realising strategic goals through different types of resources. These resources are the control of territory, affiliates, social relationships, and intimidation originating from the associative bond, money, and political power (Dalla Chiesa 2010). Individuals having access to such resources can be internal to the mafia group, or external in a populated âgrey areaâ surrounding and strengthening mafia influence (Mete 2011; Ciconte 2013; Dalla Chiesa 2015). Within this framework, the ândrangheta is a mafia-type organisation with roots in Calabria, a region in the extreme south of Italy, at the âtoeâ of the peninsula but with clear projections and activities outside its birthplace.
The purpose of this book is twofold: first, it is an updated outlook on the various components that today support the attribution to the ândrangheta of the label of âmost powerful Italian mafiaâ by authorities. This primacy is to be found in activities and roles of ândrangheta clans in various criminal markets in Italy and around the world. The second purpose of this work is to dig deeper in the concept of ândrangheta as a mafia-type organised crime group. This requires looking at the structure of the Calabrian clans, their organisational ties, and their movements abroad.
According to recent scholarly work the primacy of the ândrangheta can be linked to various elements: the ândrangheta is more reliable; it has substituted Cosa Nostra when the Sicilian mafia was at the centre of a political and media moral panic; it has a more flexible structure; and it is more present outside Calabria than other Italian mafias. Strategically, politically, financially, internationally, and culturally, the Calabrian mafia has been underestimated for a long time, while instead it was accumulating wealth and power and was settling outside of regional boundaries (Paoli 1994). This book wishes to critically unpack the claimed primacy of the ândrangheta among the Italian mafias by focusing on both the structures of the clans and on the criminal activities that ensure longevity and wealth to the affiliates and their networks.
The perspective under which we develop our analysis rejects the idea of âthe ândranghetaâ as a monolithic mafia organisation; we understand and explain the ândrangheta as a fragmented phenomenon, without, however, denying the existence of centralised coordination structures among the clans. We also promote a view of the ândrangheta as a behavioural modelâa set of behaviours, which we could call ândranghetismârather than solely a set of criminal activities and organisational features (Sergi 2016a, 2016b). These behaviours are qualifiers of a mafia behaviour generally intended (i.e. applicable to other groups with similar characteristics, anywhere in the world), and appreciate mafias as social phenomena combining both cultural and structural elements.
This behavioural model encapsulates the ability to manipulate social networks and relationships, more or less linked to family dynamics and certainly entrenched in social structuresâin this case, Calabrian ones; it is related to the manipulation of traditions, rituals, and social practices of communication and leadership among Calabrian individuals. This manipulation is secured through shared values and conducts, which do not necessarily amount to criminal conducts (such as family support, marriage among families to cement ties, and ways to behave in the community). The exploitation of shared values and social bondsâthrough the use of usurpation, arrogance, intimidation, violence, and subjugationâdifferentiates a ândranghetista (affiliate of an ândrangheta clan) from the rest of the population. This phenomenon, which is cultural and social, can only prosper thanks to structural factors in society. Both structural weaknesses (such as a weak political class) and structural opportunities (such as the possibility to invest in new business ventures) allow individuals subscribing and adopting the mafia behaviours to prosper and further organise in more or less regulated groups with coordination functions as needed.
The successful intersection between cultural and structural elements forms what we name âmafiaâ also in accordance with the Italian Criminal Code. Article 416-bis, in fact, postulates the elements of the âmafia methodâ defined as the condition of subjugation, intimidation, and omertĂ that originate from the associative bonds existing among affiliates. Furthermore, the conceptualisation of âmafiaâ at the basis of article 416-bis is grounded in the sociological characteristics of the phenomenon: control of territory, interdependence among affiliates, potential use of violence, and organic relationships with politics (Dalla Chiesa 2010: 36). We argue, therefore, that rather than discussing the ândrangheta only as a criminal organisationârunning the risk to eliminate subtle but necessary internal differences among the various manifestations of the phenomenonâit makes more sense to look at what the clans share in terms of their ability to exploit social values, relationships, and opportunities for the benefits of criminal activities. This exploitation occurs through a socially recognised set of behaviours, effective for a successful interaction with local communities, which are needed to disguise illegal activities, secure protection from prosecution, as well as to ensure social inclusion. This behavioural model becomes criminally relevant because prodromal to or even facilitating the use of violence, usurpation, and intimidation.
In brief this book considers the ândrangheta as a mafia-type behaviour, alongside its being a mafia-type organisation. On one side, judicial results have recently ascertained a unification of ândrangheta clans, under more or less hierarchical coordination structures in the southern part of Calabria, the hinterland of the capital city, Reggio Calabria. On the other side, the characteristics of this mafia and its links to the particular territory of Calabria contradict the idea of a full-blown total confederation in the whole region. Calabria is a highly fragmented region, culturally, geographically, and demographically. Some of these conditions date back to the unification of Italy and before, and are very visible to a keen eye visiting the area. Not only the distances, the roads, and the natural landscapes change significantly from one area of Calabria to the other, but also political settings, civil societyâs traits, and industrialisation processes are quite different across the region. Some of the most eminent historians in the area have often talked about many (plural) Calabrie (Cingari 1982; Sergi 1993).
Bearing in mind the plurality paradigm for an analysis of the Calabrian territory, we prefer to approach the ândrangheta as a plural and multifaceted phenomenon under the same collective name. Rather than the expansion of the ândrangheta as organisation growing in power, we observe a ândranghetisation process across Calabria and beyond regional boundaries (Sergi 2016a). This process occurs also with the increasing use of the single word âândranghetaâ applied as a brand name to indicate the mafia-type behaviourâândranghetismâof criminals and groups with a Calabrian connection. By ândranghetisation we essentially indicate the process of imitation and osmosis among the clans in Calabria and outside the regional boundaries that allow us to identify similar ândranghetist behaviours even when there are no signs of formal coordination structures in place among the clans across different territories. Certainly, the clans across the region share similar behaviours and, in the years, have increased their power and reach in various criminal markets, sign that the brand name works and their reputation is reinforced.
In practical terms, following this perspective means being careful about the language used throughout the book. For example, we tend not to use the singular name ândrangheta, but rather we refer to ândrangheta clans or ândrine. Whenever we do use the singular word, we usually refer to general mafiaâs presence and/or mafiaâs behaviours.
There have also been numerous debates and discussions on the name(s) of the ândrangheta in the first place. It is clear that the origins of the word are Greek (andranghateia means âsociety of men of honourâ, and andrangathĆ means âto engage in military actionsâ)âwhich is more than plausible in the Calabrian territories that used to be part of the Magna Graecia. The use of the word ândrangheta to indicate a criminal phenomenon is also quite dated. As reported by linguistic scholars (Trumper et al. 2014) in the 1920s and 1930s, various documents from local police mention the terms dranghita, entrangheta, and similar others to indicate bullyism and subjugation from certain individuals across the region. However, one thing is the use of the term and the other is the attribution of meaning and the evolution of a concept around that term. The latter needs to be found in Calabrian history rather than in linguistics.
Starting from these conceptualisations and clarifications of our position, this book presents the ândrangheta, as both mafia-type organisation and a mafia-type behavioural model, deeply linked to Calabria and its fragmentation, and highly present outside the local birthplace. Hen...