Can organised crime shape post-war transitions? Evidence from Sicily. Issue 1 (2nd January 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Cockayne, James
• Is Part Of: Third world thematics. Volume 3:Issue 1(2018)
• Page Start: 9
• Page End: 27
• Publication Date: 2018-01-02
• Subjects: Post-war transitions -- organised crime -- mafia -- peacebuilding -- Sicily -- Italy; BNA British National Archives: CAB = Records of the Cabinet Office; FO = Records of the Foreign Office; WO = Records of War Office and Armed Forces -- FBI – US Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigations. These records are taken from 1) "The FBI Vault" in the online FBI "Reading Room." http://vault.fbi.gov; and 2) NARA Record Group 65. -- NARA – US National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD. Listed by Record Group (RG), then entry:box:folder number – e.g. RG 226, 142:2:14. Of these, the most important are: RG 59-General Records of the Department of State; RG 226-Records of the Office of Strategic Services -- RG 59-General Records of the Department of State; RG 226-Records of the Office of Strategic Services -- RG 226-Records of the Office of Strategic Services; Developing countries -- Economic conditions -- Periodicals; Developing countries -- Politics and government -- Periodicals; Globalization -- Periodicals; 338.90091724
• DOI: 10.1080/23802014.2018.1413952
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2379-9978

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Many developing states that have undergone post-war transitions have emerged with significant organised crime presences and systematic corruption. Why? Is the criminalisation of post-war transitions inevitable? Is there something about them that is inherently criminogenic? Are criminal groups mere by-products of, and passive bystanders to, these transition processes, or do they actively shape them? This article seeks to shed light on these questions by examining three Sicilian post-war transitions following Italian unification, the First World War and the Second World War. Using archival research and mafia memoirs, the article argues that post-war transitions generated and facilitated mafia competition and collusion with political actors in a single market for governmental power, including setting norms, resolving disputes, and allocating resources. Mafias shaped the political system in ways that maximised their own governmental – and economic – power. This included collaboration with the Italian state and foreign occupying powers, and, on occasion, military and strategic competition with the state. The article explores how these mafia strategies shaped the transitions, and concludes with reflections on how we should understand – and respond to – the strategic agency of organised criminal groups in post-war transitions.