The aim of the course is to bring examples of real-life experience involving organized crime, and to understand how mafias gain huge amounts of money and re-invest them all over the world. Students will analyse data, figures and specific events; they will have the chance to understand how this system affects the economic and institutional life of entire regions and the world economy; finally a focus will be made on the strategies to combat transnational organized crime at the global level and to fight mafias at the local level, especially through the Italian social entrepreneurs.
teacher profile teaching materials
Session 1 Presentation of the course.
An initial brainstorming and a survey of useful key concepts and keywords for the course. Overcoming mafia stereotypes. Legal and cultural definition of organized crime.
Session 2
Assigned readings session 2,
Required
L. Paoli, T. Vander Beken, Organized Crime: A Contested Concept, in L. Paoli (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Organized Crime, OUP, Oxford, 2014, pp. 13-31 (19 pp.);
S. Lupo, History of the Mafia, Columbia University Press, 2009, pp. 1-30 (30 pp.);
L. Paoli, The Italian Mafia, in in L. Paoli (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Organized Crime, OUP, Oxford, 2014, pp. 121-141 (20 pp.)
Defining the concept of Organized Crime. Understanding Mafia's concept and historical roots: its structure, activities, economic organization and the links to politics and society.
Checking the understanding of assigned readings. Class discussion.
Session 3
Assigned readings for session 3,
Required
La Spina Antonio, The Fight against the Mafia in Italy, in L. Paoli (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Organized Crime, OUP, Oxford, 2014, pp. 593-611 (19 pp.);
Jamieson Alison, The Antimafia. Italy's fight against organized crime, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Macmillan, 2000, pp. 127-158 (Ch. 5, "The Grassroots Antimafia"), (32 pp.).
Picciotto Loredana, The Social Innovation of Social Cooperatives Operating on Confiscated Mafia Properties: Support Factors and Critical Issues, in AAVV, Managing Intellectual Capital and Innovation for Sustainable and Inclusive Society, Proceedings of the MakeLearn and TIIM Joint International Conference, 27-29 May, 2015, Bari, Italy, (16 pp.)
Ginsborg Paul, Italy and its Discontents. Family, Society, State 1980-2001, London, Penguin Books, 2003, pp. 249-284 (35 pp.)
The history of Mafia and Antimafia in Italy from the 1980s to the 2000s: legislation and social organizations. Defining social innovation and understanding the main social innovation and anti-mafias actors in Italy.
Comments and discussion on the movie "I cento passi".
Preparation to the excursion.
Session 4
Assigned readings for session 4,
Required
Paoli Letizia, Mafia Brotherhoods. Organized Crime, Italian Style, Oxford, OUP, 2003, pp. 44-85, (42 pp.);
Varese Federico, Protection and extortion, in L. Paoli (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Organized Crime, OUP, Oxford, 2014, pp. 343-358 (15 pp.)
L. Palermo, Beyond the wall: street art in the fight against the Camorra, in "Modern Italy", Vol. 22, N. 4, pp. 381-401, (21 pp.).
The other Mafias (and Antimafia movements) in Italy: Camorra and 'Ndrangheta.
Comments and debate on the movie "La mafia uccide solo d'estate"
Review - Q&A session
Mid-term exam
Session 5
Assigned readings for session 5,
Required
Albanese Jay S., The Italian-American Mafia, in L. Paoli (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Organized Crime, OUP, Oxford, 2014, pp. 142-158, (17 pp.);
Jacobs James B, Dondlinger Wyman Elizabeth, Organized crime control in the United States of America, in L. Paoli (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Organized Crime, OUP, Oxford, 2014, pp. 529-544 (16 pp.)
Paoli Letizia, Mafia Brotherhoods. Organized Crime, Italian Style, Oxford, OUP, 2003, pp. 21-30, (10 pp.)
Recommended
US Government, Strategy to combat transnational organized crime - Addressing Converging Threats to National Security, July 2011
Mafia and Antimafia in Italy and the US. Analogies and diversity of parallel phenomena.
Social innovation and solidarity economy in Italy and the USA.
Session 6
Assigned readings for session 6,
Required
Levi Michael, Money Laundering, in L. Paoli (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Organized Crime, OUP, Oxford, 2014, pp. 419-443 (24 pp.);
Reuter Peter, Drug Markets and Organized Crime, in L. Paoli (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Organized Crime, OUP, Oxford, 2014, pp. 359-380 (21 pp.);
Boekhout Van Solinge Tim, The Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources, in L. Paoli (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Organized Crime, OUP, Oxford, 2014, pp. 500-526 (26 pp.)
Recommended
UNODC, The Globalization of Crime A Transnational Organized Crime Threat Assessment, 2010 Report
UNODC, World Drug Report, 2010
The international dimension of organized crime. Features and figures of mafias’ economy in the world.
Organized crime as a threat to world economy: money laundering, drug trafficking, environmental crimes and illegal exploitation of natural resources.
Presentation of individual research topic proposals and of a preliminary list of sources.
Session 7
Assigned readings for session 7,
Required
Jamieson Alison, The Antimafia. Italy's fight against organized crime, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Macmillan, 2000, pp. 159-199 (40 pp.)
Beare Margaret and Woodiwiss Michael, U.S. Organized Crime Control Policies Exported Abroad, in L. Paoli (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Organized Crime, OUP, Oxford, 2014, pp. 545-571 (26 pp.)
Fijnaut Cyrille, European Union Organized Crime Control Policies, in L. Paoli (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Organized Crime, OUP, Oxford, 2014, pp. 572-592 (20 pp);
Grasseni Cristina, Forno Francesca, and Signori Silvana, Beyond Alternative Food Networks: Italy's Solidarity Purchase Groups and the United States' Community Economies, in Utting Peter (ed.), Social and Solidarity Economy. Beyond the Fringe, London, Zed Books, 2015, pp. 185-201 (26 pp).
Main anti - mafias actors and strategies in Europe and in the US. Organized crime control and finance-oriented strategies.
Best practices of solidarity economy in Italy and the US.
Session 8
Students' presentations
Session 9
Students' presentations
Session 10
Guest lecture
Session 11
Review class - Q&A session
Final exam
This course is taught in English.
• Ginsborg Paul, Italy and its Discontents. Family, Society, State 1980-2001, London, Penguin Books, 2003, (selected pages)
• Jamieson Alison, The Antimafia. Italy's fight against organized crime, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Macmillan, 2000, (selected pages)
• Lupo Salvatore, History of the Mafia, Columbia University Press: New York, 2009, (selected pages)
• Paoli Letizia, Mafia Brotherhoods: Organized Crime, Italian Style, OUP: Oxford, 2008, (selected pages)
• Paoli Letizia (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Organized Crime, OUP: Oxford, 2014, (selected pages)
• Picciotto Loredana, The Social Innovation of Social Cooperatives Operating on Confiscated Mafia Properties: Support Factors and Critical Issues, in AAVV, Managing Intellectual Capital and Innovation for Sustainable and Inclusive Society, Proceedings of the MakeLearn and TIIM Joint International Conference, 27-29 May, 2015, Bari, Italy
• Utting Peter (ed.), Social and Solidarity Economy. Beyond the Fringe, London, Zed Books, 2015 (selected pages)
Recommended readings
• Behan Tom, See Napoli and die, London, Macmillan, 2002
• Lilley Peter, Dirty Dealing. The Untold Truth About Global Money Laundering, International Crime and Terrorism, London and Philadelphia, Kogan Page, 2006
• Saviano Roberto, Gomorrah – Italy’s other Mafia, London, Macmillan, 2008
Programme
OrientationSession 1 Presentation of the course.
An initial brainstorming and a survey of useful key concepts and keywords for the course. Overcoming mafia stereotypes. Legal and cultural definition of organized crime.
Session 2
Assigned readings session 2,
Required
L. Paoli, T. Vander Beken, Organized Crime: A Contested Concept, in L. Paoli (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Organized Crime, OUP, Oxford, 2014, pp. 13-31 (19 pp.);
S. Lupo, History of the Mafia, Columbia University Press, 2009, pp. 1-30 (30 pp.);
L. Paoli, The Italian Mafia, in in L. Paoli (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Organized Crime, OUP, Oxford, 2014, pp. 121-141 (20 pp.)
Defining the concept of Organized Crime. Understanding Mafia's concept and historical roots: its structure, activities, economic organization and the links to politics and society.
Checking the understanding of assigned readings. Class discussion.
Session 3
Assigned readings for session 3,
Required
La Spina Antonio, The Fight against the Mafia in Italy, in L. Paoli (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Organized Crime, OUP, Oxford, 2014, pp. 593-611 (19 pp.);
Jamieson Alison, The Antimafia. Italy's fight against organized crime, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Macmillan, 2000, pp. 127-158 (Ch. 5, "The Grassroots Antimafia"), (32 pp.).
Picciotto Loredana, The Social Innovation of Social Cooperatives Operating on Confiscated Mafia Properties: Support Factors and Critical Issues, in AAVV, Managing Intellectual Capital and Innovation for Sustainable and Inclusive Society, Proceedings of the MakeLearn and TIIM Joint International Conference, 27-29 May, 2015, Bari, Italy, (16 pp.)
Ginsborg Paul, Italy and its Discontents. Family, Society, State 1980-2001, London, Penguin Books, 2003, pp. 249-284 (35 pp.)
The history of Mafia and Antimafia in Italy from the 1980s to the 2000s: legislation and social organizations. Defining social innovation and understanding the main social innovation and anti-mafias actors in Italy.
Comments and discussion on the movie "I cento passi".
Preparation to the excursion.
Session 4
Assigned readings for session 4,
Required
Paoli Letizia, Mafia Brotherhoods. Organized Crime, Italian Style, Oxford, OUP, 2003, pp. 44-85, (42 pp.);
Varese Federico, Protection and extortion, in L. Paoli (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Organized Crime, OUP, Oxford, 2014, pp. 343-358 (15 pp.)
L. Palermo, Beyond the wall: street art in the fight against the Camorra, in "Modern Italy", Vol. 22, N. 4, pp. 381-401, (21 pp.).
The other Mafias (and Antimafia movements) in Italy: Camorra and 'Ndrangheta.
Comments and debate on the movie "La mafia uccide solo d'estate"
Review - Q&A session
Mid-term exam
Session 5
Assigned readings for session 5,
Required
Albanese Jay S., The Italian-American Mafia, in L. Paoli (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Organized Crime, OUP, Oxford, 2014, pp. 142-158, (17 pp.);
Jacobs James B, Dondlinger Wyman Elizabeth, Organized crime control in the United States of America, in L. Paoli (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Organized Crime, OUP, Oxford, 2014, pp. 529-544 (16 pp.)
Paoli Letizia, Mafia Brotherhoods. Organized Crime, Italian Style, Oxford, OUP, 2003, pp. 21-30, (10 pp.)
Recommended
US Government, Strategy to combat transnational organized crime - Addressing Converging Threats to National Security, July 2011
Mafia and Antimafia in Italy and the US. Analogies and diversity of parallel phenomena.
Social innovation and solidarity economy in Italy and the USA.
Session 6
Assigned readings for session 6,
Required
Levi Michael, Money Laundering, in L. Paoli (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Organized Crime, OUP, Oxford, 2014, pp. 419-443 (24 pp.);
Reuter Peter, Drug Markets and Organized Crime, in L. Paoli (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Organized Crime, OUP, Oxford, 2014, pp. 359-380 (21 pp.);
Boekhout Van Solinge Tim, The Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources, in L. Paoli (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Organized Crime, OUP, Oxford, 2014, pp. 500-526 (26 pp.)
Recommended
UNODC, The Globalization of Crime A Transnational Organized Crime Threat Assessment, 2010 Report
UNODC, World Drug Report, 2010
The international dimension of organized crime. Features and figures of mafias’ economy in the world.
Organized crime as a threat to world economy: money laundering, drug trafficking, environmental crimes and illegal exploitation of natural resources.
Presentation of individual research topic proposals and of a preliminary list of sources.
Session 7
Assigned readings for session 7,
Required
Jamieson Alison, The Antimafia. Italy's fight against organized crime, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Macmillan, 2000, pp. 159-199 (40 pp.)
Beare Margaret and Woodiwiss Michael, U.S. Organized Crime Control Policies Exported Abroad, in L. Paoli (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Organized Crime, OUP, Oxford, 2014, pp. 545-571 (26 pp.)
Fijnaut Cyrille, European Union Organized Crime Control Policies, in L. Paoli (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Organized Crime, OUP, Oxford, 2014, pp. 572-592 (20 pp);
Grasseni Cristina, Forno Francesca, and Signori Silvana, Beyond Alternative Food Networks: Italy's Solidarity Purchase Groups and the United States' Community Economies, in Utting Peter (ed.), Social and Solidarity Economy. Beyond the Fringe, London, Zed Books, 2015, pp. 185-201 (26 pp).
Main anti - mafias actors and strategies in Europe and in the US. Organized crime control and finance-oriented strategies.
Best practices of solidarity economy in Italy and the US.
Session 8
Students' presentations
Session 9
Students' presentations
Session 10
Guest lecture
Session 11
Review class - Q&A session
Final exam
This course is taught in English.
Core Documentation
Required readings• Ginsborg Paul, Italy and its Discontents. Family, Society, State 1980-2001, London, Penguin Books, 2003, (selected pages)
• Jamieson Alison, The Antimafia. Italy's fight against organized crime, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Macmillan, 2000, (selected pages)
• Lupo Salvatore, History of the Mafia, Columbia University Press: New York, 2009, (selected pages)
• Paoli Letizia, Mafia Brotherhoods: Organized Crime, Italian Style, OUP: Oxford, 2008, (selected pages)
• Paoli Letizia (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Organized Crime, OUP: Oxford, 2014, (selected pages)
• Picciotto Loredana, The Social Innovation of Social Cooperatives Operating on Confiscated Mafia Properties: Support Factors and Critical Issues, in AAVV, Managing Intellectual Capital and Innovation for Sustainable and Inclusive Society, Proceedings of the MakeLearn and TIIM Joint International Conference, 27-29 May, 2015, Bari, Italy
• Utting Peter (ed.), Social and Solidarity Economy. Beyond the Fringe, London, Zed Books, 2015 (selected pages)
Recommended readings
• Behan Tom, See Napoli and die, London, Macmillan, 2002
• Lilley Peter, Dirty Dealing. The Untold Truth About Global Money Laundering, International Crime and Terrorism, London and Philadelphia, Kogan Page, 2006
• Saviano Roberto, Gomorrah – Italy’s other Mafia, London, Macmillan, 2008
Reference Bibliography
Ginsborg Paul, Italy and its Discontents. Family, Society, State 1980-2001, London, Penguin Books, 2003 • Jamieson Alison, The Antimafia. Italy's fight against organized crime, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Macmillan, 2000 • Lupo Salvatore, History of the Mafia, Columbia University Press: New York, 2009 • Paoli Letizia, Mafia Brotherhoods: Organized Crime, Italian Style, OUP: Oxford, 2008 • Paoli Letizia (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Organized Crime, OUP: Oxford, 2014 • Picciotto Loredana, The Social Innovation of Social Cooperatives Operating on Confiscated Mafia Properties: Support Factors and Critical Issues, in AAVV, Managing Intellectual Capital and Innovation for Sustainable and Inclusive Society, Proceedings of the MakeLearn and TIIM Joint International Conference, 27-29 May, 2015, Bari, Italy • Utting Peter (ed.), Social and Solidarity Economy. Beyond the Fringe, London, Zed Books, 2015 • Behan Tom, See Napoli and die, London, Macmillan, 2002 • Lilley Peter, Dirty Dealing. The Untold Truth About Global Money Laundering, International Crime and Terrorism, London and Philadelphia, Kogan Page, 2006 • Saviano Roberto, Gomorrah – Italy’s other Mafia, London, Macmillan, 2008Type of delivery of the course
Lectures; class exercises and debate on the topics of the course; students' presentations; field studiesAttendance
ATTENDANCE POLICY: Attendance is mandatory for all classes, including field studies. If a student misses more than three classesin this course, two percentage points will be deducted from the final grade for every additional absence. Any exams, tests,presentations, or other work missed due to student absences can only be rescheduled in cases of documented medical emergenciesor family emergencies. The Faculty Committee will only consider extreme emergency cases and will strictly adhere to this policy.Type of evaluation
Exams and grades percentages Course Requirements Percentages 1. Midterm Exam 25% 2. Final Exam 30% 3. Research Project 35% 4. Participation 10% Total 100%