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H2020Individual fellowship2018–2021

MessCa · The Messina Case: Mafia-type Organised Crime in the Province of Messina

Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Duration
2018-10-01 → 2021-11-01
EU contribution
€168,277
Participants
1
Scheme
MSCA-IF-EF-ST

Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.

Results in brief

The Messina Case: Mafia-type Organised Crime in the Province of Messina

The action MessCa: “The Messina case: mafia-type organised crime in the province of Messina” is a research project aimed at investigating mafia presence and activity in the territory of Messina, in North-Eastern Sicily. This is a province that, historically, has been considered “babba” (dull), in other words, immune from mafia reach. Recent parliamentary inquiries and judicial investigations, however, tell a different story, exposing the steady presence of mafia groups in the area since the early 1970s. Despite its presence being ascertained at judicial level, the mafia in the province of Messina has long been underestimated by state authorities, public opinion and scholarly literature on the mafia. Consequently, different criminal organisations have been able to operate undisturbed in this area for decades, providing safe hideouts for mafia bosses on the run, infiltrating the legal economy by establishing relations with external economic and political actors. Above all, they have envisaged an unusual system of control of territory based on the harmonious sharing of businesses and profits, rather than on direct conflict. Therefore, this understudied heterogeneous context has offered the Fellow a novel ground for analysis of mafia behaviour in a less traditional area of settlement. Main questions underpinning this project are: • Why has the Province of Messina been underestimated for such a long time? • How is the Messina mafia organized and what is its modus operandi? • How can we study a context where interests from various mafia groups coexist? • Can we trace this mafia back in the late 19th century, as is the case for the well-studied province of Palermo? MessCa has aimed to fill the gaps in existing knowledge by examining the history, structure, and activities of mafia groups in Messina from a transdisciplinary perspective. It has combined historical and sociological insights with a largely novel set of archival documents, legal papers, parliamentary reports and in-depth interviews with Antimafia Prosecutors, whilst also exploring possible actions and policy recommendation. One important aim for this research is to increase public awareness of the subject studied, given its traditional underestimation.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

The 2013 Europol Threat Assessment concerning Italian organised crime outlines how the ongoing threat that mafias pose to the EU is ‘unparalleled by any other European Organised Crime Group’. Significant successes in judicial investigations have undoubtedly contributed to a better understanding of Italian mafias over time. However, the emergence and expansion of mafia groups in non-traditional areas of settlement leave aspects of the phenomenon still unexplored. This is the case of the Sicilian mafia in the province of Messina which, despite being the object of parliamentary inquiries, court cases, and increasing media attention, has largely been neglected by scholarly literature. The proposed research aims to fill this gap. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, this project aims to trace the history and evolution of mafia groups in the province of Messina –what the judiciary refers to as ‘The Messina Case’– examining their structure, ethos and modus operandi. It will be conducted using a qualitative methodological framework within the interpretive tradition and will involve the analysis of legal documents and judicial papers, in-depth interviews with judicial and police authorities, and state witnesses. Such an interdisciplinary approach allows us to delineate the evolution and structure of mafia groups, their external and internal relations and flux of power, as well as the role that shared cultural values and social conventions play in the dynamics of identity formation. By identifying the components that the mafia in the province of Messina shares with traditional mafia groups in Sicily and Calabria whilst simultaneously exposing a unique reality, this project will advance current research into mafia expansion in non-traditional areas. Through a number of research outputs and engagement events, it will also create impact outside academia by furthering public and policy makers’ awareness on the socio-economic liability that mafia infiltration of territory entails.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

  • UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI MESSINA · MessinaCoordinatorItaly

Links

Data: CORDIS, © European Union