Violent Organizations in Contemporary Europe: A Comparison of Mafia and Paramilitary Organizations in Northern Ireland and Sicily By Mike Saunders, B.A. A thesis submitted to The Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Institute of European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario December, 2009 © 2009, M. 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The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. 1+1 Canada 2 Abstract This thesis compares paramilitary organizations in Northern Ireland and mafia organizations in Sicily as violent organizations. It demonstrates the numerous similarities between these types of organizations in terms of their organizational structures and dynamics, and their role as economic, social and political actors. As such, it challenges conventional arguments about the nature of contemporary terrorist and criminal organizations in Europe, and offers an explanation for these similarities rooted in both the violent character of the organizations themselves and their location within territories characterized by the existence of functional, widely legitimate contemporary states. 3 Acknowledgements Completing a thesis is a challenging experience even under the best of circumstances, and while there is generally only one name appears on the title page, completing this project would not have been possible without the help and support of many people. I would like to thank my supervisor, Dr. Achim Hurrelmann, for accepting my request to be my supervisor despite his many other obligations. His assistance, throughout the preparatory stages of this thesis especially, was invaluable, and his insights, comments, and most of all his patience throughout the completion of this thesis are deeply appreciated. I would also like to thank the faculty and staff of the Institute of European, Russian and Eurasian Studies for their kindness and dedication. A special thanks to both Dr. Jeff Sahadeo and Dr. Joan Debardeleben is also necessary, as their assistance and advice was instrumental in allowing me to participate in what has been an excellent program of study. Additionally, I must acknowledge the faculty of my former university, especially Fr. Maxime Allard, of the Dominican College of Theology and Philosophy, who through his lectures and our many long discussions taught me the importance of thinking critically and seriously, not only about the work of others, but of my own as well. I also thank Dr. Letizia Paoli, whose crucially important insights into the mafia are quoted at length throughout this text, and who through a kind word of encouragement at a particularly frustrating moment kept the idea for this thesis from becoming an abandoned one. Thank you as well to my friends and colleagues at Public Safety, who have also provided me immense help throughout the final stages of what has proved to be a challenging, but rewarding experience. Most importantly, I thank my family, especially my wife Mariel, without whose support the completion of this thesis would truly not have been possible. Thank you for your patience, dedication, love and sacrifice, and for humoring me by listening to my countless hours of droning on about paramilitaries this and mafias that. I love you, and promise not to do a PhD (at least for a while)! Also, to my sons, Zackary, Brendan, Sean, and Kalian, who have been the four most important reasons not to give up, even at the toughest of times. My mom and grandmother also deserve a special thanks for their many (hundreds? thousands?) hours of babysitting, and for tolerating the piles of journal articles and books piled up on kitchen tables and chairs. Finally, I thank my father, James Saunders, for teaching me the value of hard work and persistence, and my mother-in-law, Maureen McKenzie, for her encouragement and kindness. It is to their memory - loved and missed much - that I dedicate this work. 4 CONTENTS Introduction i. Basis and Rationale for a Comparative Analysis 1 ii. Structure of the Thesis 2 Hi. Methodology and Limitations of Available Sources and Data 3 Chapter 1 - Organized Crime, Terrorism, and a Theory of Violent Organizations i. Organized Crime and Terrorism - Ideological and Practical Difficulties 7 ii. Organized Crime and Terrorism - Conceptual Difficulties 9 Hi. Violent Organizations 20 Chapter 2 - Comparing Sicilian Mafia and Northern Irish Paramilitary Organizations i. Sicilian Mafias and Northern Irish Paramilitaries as Violent Organizations 30 ii. Formal Rules and Structures of Mafia and Paramilitary Organizations 38 Hi. Organizational Dynamics 60 iv. Paramilitary and Mafia Organizations as Economic Actors 84 v. Paramilitary and Mafia Organizations as Social Actors 100 vi. Paramilitary and Mafia Organizations as Political Actors 108 vii. Summary 119 Chapter 3 - Towards an Explanation of the Similarities Between Paramilitary and Mafia Organizations in Northern Ireland and Sicily /. Paramilitaries and Mafias as Constellations of Violent Organizations 121 ii. The Contemporary State 124 Hi. Explaining Structural Similarities 131 iv. Explaining Similarities in Economic, Social and Political Action 140 v. Explaining the Presence of Violent Organizations in Sicily and Northern Ireland 147 Conclusion 155 Bibliography 160 1 Introduction i. Basis and Rationale for a Comparative Analysis Despite the increased interest in both terrorism and organized crime since the end of the Cold War, as well the links and similarities between the two phenomena, few in-depth comparative cases studies of terrorist and criminal organizations exist. The concepts of terrorism and organized crime, moreover, because of the assumptions on which they are constructed, are not particularly helpful for providing a conceptual basis for such comparative analyses. The most unfortunate consequence of this lacuna in the debate has been that discussions of the links or similarities between terrorist and criminal organizations have remained speculative and theoretical. And while there is nothing inherently wrong with either theory or speculation (idle or otherwise), unless applied to empirical cases, it is easy for theoretical debates to become circular and, unfortunately, somewhat stale. As such, this thesis aims to undertake a comparative case study of two groups of organizations, specifically, paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland and mafia organizations in Sicily, which have typically been presented as emblematic instances of terrorist and criminal organizations, respectively. By conducting such a comparative analysis, some of the problems inherent in studies that remain primarily theoretical can be avoided, and new avenues of inquiry (hopefully) opened. The prominence of the specific organizations being studied in the literature on organized crime and terrorism, moreover, will hopefully lend greater weight to the criticism of current comparative approaches and the assumptions on which they are based. Finally, in entering into a detailed analysis of these organizations, the value of limited but detailed attention to specific organizations 2 and their structures and dynamics, rather than broader but less in-depth surveys, will be emphasized as an important condition for moving the debate on the similarities between 'criminal' and 'terrorist' organizations forward. it Structure of the Thesis The structure of this thesis consists of three primary parts. The first chapter outlines and problematizes the concepts of 'organized crime' and 'terrorism' as analytical concepts and categories, and through a review of the comparative literature on terrorism and organized crime shows the inherent limits of