Studies of Organized Crime
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Studies of Organized Crime Volume 12 Series Editor Dina Siegel For further volumes: http://www.springer.com/series/6564 Nicoletta Serenata Editor The ’Ndrangheta and Sacra Corona Unita The History, Organization and Operations of Two Unknown Mafia Groups 1 3 Editor Nicoletta Serenata Auburn University Auburn Alabama USA ISSN 1571-5493 ISBN 978-3-319-04929-8 ISBN 978-3-319-04930-4 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-04930-4 Springer Cham Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London Library of Congress Control Number: 2014938107 © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014 This work is subject to copyright. 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Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) Preface The Italian Mafia is a general term indicating those criminal organizations original- ly routed in the South of Italy whose influences have been extending in the northern regions of Italy and in other foreign countries as well. Italian Mafia has attracted the attention of both media and scholars, who focused mainly on the well-known Sicilian Mafia, called Cosa Nostra and more recently, on Camorra, a criminal or- ganization primarily operating in Campania. In the last few years, many scholars deemed that the field of studies concerning the Italian Mafia had little to add to the understanding of the phenomenon. I disagree. In fact, I strongly believe that there are many areas that are yet to be explored, and the present volume represents an at- tempt in that direction. Unlike other published works, this volume focuses on two relatively unknown Italian criminal organizations—the ’Ndrangheta, based in Cal- abria, and the Sacra Corona Unita, based in Apulia. Neither of these organizations has received much attention in English-language literature. The idea of editing this volume came to my mind while I was attending Graduate School at The Ohio State University. Researching the Italian Mafia, I realized that almost nothing about the ’Ndrangheta and Sacra Corona Unita (SCU) was available in the English language. The scarcity of material was a sign of how little these two organizations have been examined outside Italy, and how little the general public knows about them. Nowadays, news about these two organizations appear more frequently in Italian newspapers, especially the ’Ndrangheta after the Operazione Crimine in 2010—a crucial judicial operation that shed more light on the Calabrian organization. The realization of this volume derives from the desire to redeem my land and open people’s eyes on what is happening over there. As a child growing up in a neighborhood controlled by one of the most dangerous Mafia families in Bari, I felt their presence. Although, I am perfectly aware that this published volume will nei- ther change nor defeat a criminal organization, I believe that spreading the knowl- edge of Sacra Corona Unita can foster awareness and inspire hope in future genera- tions to avoid mistakes similar to the ones made by the past generations. I would like to express my gratitude to the many people who helped me through this work. Special thanks go to all the Italian authors who believed in this project v vi Preface and felt the obligation to describe these two groups outside Italy. I am honored to have worked with them. I am especially grateful to the two clerks of the Tribunale di Bari, Dr. Francesco Susca and Nicola Pansini, who in several warm summer days, helped me in the search of important documents regarding the Sacra Corona Unita. Francesco For- leo, clerk of the Tribunale di Brindisi, merits a sincere and thoughtful appreciation for his professionalism that led me to a copy of the Statute of the Sacra Corona Unita, a document difficult to find in Italian judiciary archives. Francesco Flora, Maresciallo Aiutante of the Guardia di Finanza (Financial Police), who in his spare time searched for documents and reports of the ’Ndrangheta, difficult to find as well; the journalist of La Repubblica di Bari, Mara Chiarelli, provided updated in- formation that lead to the realization of the map of the Apulian Mafia. I would like to thank Springer for enabling me to publish this volume and Kath- erine Chabalko for her effort in making this book possible. Above all, I want to thank Giacomo who encouraged and believed in me despite all the time it took me away from us. I am grateful to Matthew Amburgy and Christina Angelilli for correcting and editing the drafts of the manuscript. Contents 1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 1 Nicoletta Serenata 2 Mafia and Daily Life: The Evolution of Gender and Generational Relationships................................................................ 15 Renate Siebert 3 Origins and Development of the ’Ndrangheta ........................................ 33 Enzo Ciconte 4 ’Ndrangheta. Multilevel Criminal System of Power and Economic Accumulation .................................................................... 51 Ercole Giap Parini 5 ’Ndrangheta Women in Contemporary Italy: Between Change and Continuity.............................................................................. 63 Ombretta Ingrascì 6 ’Ndrangheta: A Reticular Organization .................................................. 81 Rocco Sciarrone 7 The Sacra Corona Unita: Origins, Characteristics, and Strategies ............................................................................................. 101 Monica Massari 8 Mafia-Like Culture and Its Function in a Newly Formed Italian Criminal Organization. The Case of Sacra Corona Unita .............................................................................................. 117 Mariano Longo vii viii Contents 9 Sacra Corona Unita and ’Ndrangheta: “Structural” Differences of Organized Crime ............................................................. 133 Andrea Apollonio Appendices ...................................................................................................... 147 Authentic Documents ..................................................................................... 169 Bibliography ................................................................................................... 175 Filmography ................................................................................................... 181 Index ................................................................................................................ 183 Abbreviations The following acronyms are used in the volume: DIA—Direzione Investigativa Antimafia (Anti-Mafia Investigation Unit) DDA—Direzione Distrettuale Antimafia (District Anti-Mafia Office) DNA—Direzione Nazionale Antimafia (National Anti-Mafia Office) DA—District Attorney SCU—Sacra Conora Unita (United Sacred Crown) Some Italian words have not been translated since their significance is known in English: Carabinieri (Italian police) cosca or cosche (clan or clans) Mafioso (person belonging to a Mafia organization) omertà (silence) pizzo (blackmail money) pentito (collaborator of justice) vendetta (revenge) maxiprocesso (large trial with the involment of Mafia people) The word “State” is the Italian Republic which is often referred to as Stato in Italian. ix Contributors A. Apollonio Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza—Diritto e procedura penale, Università di Pavia, Pavia, Italy E. Ciconte Rome, Italy O. Ingrascì Altre. Atelier di ricerca sociale, Milano, Italy M. Longo Department of History, Society and Human Studies, Università del Salento, Lecce, Italy M. Massari Department of Political Sciences, University of Naples “Federico II”, Naples, Italy E. G. Parini Dipartimento di Scienze politiche e sociali, Università della Calabria, Arcavacata di Rende, CS, Italy R. Sciarrone Culture, Politics and Society Department, University of Turin, Turin, Italy N. Serenata Foreign Languages