Mafias on the move : how organized crime conquers new territories / Federico Varese.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Varese, Federico.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mafia--History.

Mafia.

Organized crime--History.

Organized crime.

Transnational crime--History.

Transnational crime.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (291 p.)

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, c2011.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Organized crime is spreading like a global virus as mobs take advantage of open borders to establish local franchises at will. That at least is the fear, inspired by stories of Russian mobsters in New York, Chinese triads in London, and Italian mafias throughout the West. As Federico Varese explains in this compelling and daring book, the truth is more complicated. Varese has spent years researching mafia groups in Italy, Russia, the United States, and China, and argues that mafiosi often find themselves abroad against their will, rather than through a strategic plan to colonize new territories. Once there, they do not always succeed in establishing themselves. Varese spells out the conditions that lead to their long-term success, namely sudden market expansion that is neither exploited by local rivals nor blocked by authorities. Ultimately the inability of the state to govern economic transformations gives mafias their opportunity. In a series of matched comparisons, Varese charts the attempts of the Calabrese 'Ndrangheta to move to the north of Italy, and shows how the Sicilian mafia expanded to early twentieth-century New York, but failed around the same time to find a niche in Argentina. He explains why the Russian mafia failed to penetrate Rome but succeeded in Hungary. In a pioneering chapter on China, he examines the challenges that triads from Taiwan and Hong Kong find in branching out to the mainland. Based on ground-breaking field work and filled with dramatic stories, this book is both a compelling read and a sober assessment of the risks posed by globalization and immigration for the spread of mafias.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

One: Introduction

Two: Mafia Transplantation

Three: The `Ndrangheta in Piedmont and Veneto

Four: The Russian Mafia in Rome and Budapest

Five: Lessons from the Past: Sicilian Mafiosi in New York City and Rosario, circa 1880-1940

Six: The Future of the Mafias? Foreign Triads in China

Seven: Mafia Origins, Transplantation, and the Paradoxes of Democracy

Notes

References

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786613001276

9781283001274

1283001276

9781400836727

1400836727

OCLC:

705945358