THE MAFIA
Edoardo Crisafulli
THE FOUR CRIMINAL NETWORKS IN ITALY: THE MAFIA
(SICILY); THE CAMORRA (CAMPANIA-NAPLES); THE
NDRANGHETA (CALABRIA), THE SACRA CORONA
UNITA (PUGLIA).
“MAFIA” HAS BECOME A GENERIC TERM FOR ANY
HIGHLY-ORGANIZED CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION.
GIOVANNI FALCONE, THE ANTI-MAFIA JUDGE
MURDERED BY THE MAFIA IN 1992, OBJECTED TO THIS
GENERIC USE OF THE TERM MAFIA, WHICH, IN HIS
VIEW, IS A UNIQUE ORGANIZATION.
VARIOUS INTERPRETATIONS OF THE MAFIA:
A MIRROR OF TRADITIONAL, PRIMITIVE, SICILIAN
SOCIETY;
A CONSEQUENCE OF THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF
SICILIANS AND SOUTHERN ITALIANS;
A UNIQUE TYPE OF CRIMINAL INDUSTRY THAT HAS
REGIONAL ROOTS;
A SECRET SOCIETY COMPRISING CRIMINALS BUT
ALSO ‘MEN OF HONOUR’;
AN INDEPENDENT JURIDICAL ORDER THAT IS
PARALLEL TO THAT OF THE STATE.
THE FIRST TWO ARE THE WEAKEST INTERPRETATIONS,
AND YET THEY HAVE BECOME VERY POPULAR. THE
FIRST MYTH: THE MAFIA IS A FEUDAL RESIDUE OF THE
PAST, AND A MANIFESTATION OF THE SICILIAN
‘CHARACTER’.
SALVATORE LUPO IN HIS HISTORY OF THE MAFIA, ONE
OF THE BEST STUDIES ON THIS TOPIC, MAKES A VERY
INTERESTING ARGUMENT:
“AN OUTMODED APPROACH TO HISTORIOGRAPHY…
DESCRIBES NINETEENTH- AND TWENTIETH-CENTURY
SOUTHERN ITALY… AS A SEMIFEUDAL SOCIETY.THE
REGION IS DEPICTED AS ENTIRELY AGRARIAN AND
ORGANIZED ACCORDING TO THE LARGELANDED
ESTATE, ECONOMICALLY AND SOCIALLY INERT AND
IMMOBILE, SWEPT BY ONLY A SINGLE IMPULSE OF
REFORM: THE PEASANT MOVEMENT.
IN THIS CONTEXT, IT SEEMS LOGICAL TO ASSUME
THAT THE MAFIA SERVED ESSENTIALLY TO ENSURE
THE SUBORDINATION AND OBEDIENCE OF THE
PEASANTS TO THE RULING CLASSES, EVEN THOUGH
THIS FUNCTION DOES NOT APPEAR CLEARLY UNTIL
THE YEARS FOLLOWING THE 1ST W.W AND THE 2ND
W.W….
(THE FIRST MAFIOSI) WERE HARDLY THE BLIND AND
SUBSERVIENT TOOLS OF THE AGRARIAN POWER.
RATHER, THEY WERE ORGANIZERS OF COOPERATIVES
AND WON MUCH OF THEIR POWER BASE BY SERVING
AS INTERMEDIARIES IN THE TRANSFER OF LAND
FROM LARGE LANDOWNERS TO THE PEASANTS…
THEREFORE THEY WERE NOT THE GUARDIANI (RURAL
WATCHMEN), BUT RATHER THE UNDERTAKERS OF THE
FEUDO, OR LARGE LANDHOLDING CLASS, AND THEY
PLAYED A ROLE THAT COULD NOT BE IMAGINED
OUTSIDE OF THE GREAT POLITICAL AND SOCIAL
MODERNIZATION PROCESS OF THE TWENTIETH
CENTURY.
THE THEORY OF SOCIOECONOMIC ARCHAISM HAS A
SOCIOCULTURAL COUNTERPART: MAFIA BEHAVIOUR
IS SUPPOSED TO BE A DIRECT CONSEQUENCE OF THE
ANTHROPOLOGY OF THE SICILIANS OR, IN GENERAL,
OF SOUTHERN ITALIANS.
THIS CULTURE IS SAID TO BE CHARACTERIZED BY A
MISTRUST OF THE STATE AND THEREFORE BY A HABIT
OF TAKING JUSTICE INTO ONE’S OWN HANDS, BY A
SENSE OF HONOUR, BY CLIENTELISM, BY A FAMILISM
THAT EXEMPTS THE INDIVIDUAL FROM A PERCEPTION
OF HIS OWN REPONSIBILITIES…” (SALVATORE LUPO,
HISTORY OF THE MAFIA)
THE DISTINGUISHING FEATURES OF THE MAFIA OR,
MORE APPROPRIATELY, COSA NOSTRA: OMERTÀ
(CODE OF SILENCE), CODE OF CONDUCT (MAFIOSI ARE
‘MEN OF HONOUR’), LOYALTY.
OMERTÀ, THE MOST FAMOUS FEATURE, AMOUNTS TO
A STRICT PROHIBITION OF ANY KIND OF COOPERATION
WITH
STATE
AUTHORITIES,
IN
PARTICULAR WITH MAGISTRATES AND POLICE
OFFICERS. (THE CRIME OF ‘INFORMING’ THE POLICE IS
PUNISHABLE BY DEATH)
ANOTHER MAFIA CHARACTERISTIC IS ITS MILITARY
STRUCTURE: THE BASIC UNIT IS A FAMILY OR COSCA
(CLAN), WHICH IS TIGHTLY-KNIT AND HIGHLY
HIERARCHICAL: CAPOFAMIGLIA OR BOSS, UNDERBOSS,
CAPODECINA (A SORT OF OFFICER) COMMANDING A
GROUP OF 10-15 PICCIOTTI OR ‘SOLDIERS’.
HUNDREDS OF FAMILIES OR COSCHE (CLANS)
COMPETE WITH EACH OTHER AND CARVE OUT THEIR
OWN TERRITORIES, WHERE THEY HAVE ABSOLUTE
JURISDICTION. IN ORDER TO LIMIT THE DAMAGES
INFLICTED BY MAFIA WARS, A MAFIA COMMISSION
WAS ESTASBLISHED IN THE 1950S (LA CUPOLA),
WHICH TRIED TO SETTLE DISPUTE BETWEEN THE
FAMILIES.
THE FIRST BREAK-THROUGH HAPPENS IN THE 1980S,
WHEN TOMMASO BUSCETTA, A PROMINENT AND
RESPECTED MAFIOSO, BECOMES A TURNCOAT OR
INFORMANT FOR THE POLICE, AFTER A MAFIA WAR IN
WHICH SOME OF HIS RELATIVES/ASSOCIATES WERE
MURDERED.
IT IS BUSCETTA WHO INTRODUCES THE TERM COSA
NOSTRA TO A WIDE PUBLIC; REVEALS THE
HIERARCHICAL STRUCTURE OF THE MAFIA; AND
CONFIRMS THE MURKY RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
CERTAIN POLITICIANS AND THE MAFIA.
THE SECOND MYTH. THE MAFIA OPERATES ON ITS
OWN CODE OF ETHICS.
This myth goes hand in hand with a debatable
commonplace: one should distinguish between the old
Mafia and the new Mafia, the old being more
traditional and more inclined to respect the ancient
code of ethics (hence, the old Mafia is also more heroic,
less brutal than the new Mafia). This argument has “a
merely ideological or rhetorical substance” (Salvatore
Lupo, History of The Mafia)
BUSCETTA, A MAN OF HONOUR, JUSTIFIES HIS
UNORTHODOX BEHAVIOUR (HE HAS BROKEN THE CODE
OF SILENCE, HE HAS BETRAYED HIS ‘COMRADES’) BY
CLAMING THAT THE LAST MAFIA WAR BROUGHT TO
THE FORE RUTHLESS MAFIOSI, LIKE THE NEW BOSS
TOTO’ RIINA, WHO HAVE NO RESPECT FOR
TRADITIONAL CUSTOMS AND CODES OF CONDUCT.
HENCE HE NO LONGER FEELS BOUND TO HIS OATH OF
ALLEGIANCE/LOYALTY TO THE MAFIA.
BUSCETTA’S JUSTIFICATION, in fact, IS AN IDEOLOGICAL
REPRESENTATION. IT DOES NOT CORRISPOND TO
REALITY. BUSCETTA RELIES ON AN OLD-FASHIONED,
‘ROMANTIC’ PORTRAYAL OF THE MAFIOSO AS A HERO
OF HIS OWN SORT. ANTI-MAFIA JUDGE FALCONE
CONVINCINGLY ARGUES -- ON THE BASIS OF THE
EVIDENCE -- THAT THE MAFIA DOES NOT OPERATE ON
A STRICT CODE OF ETHICS (IF BY ETHICS WE MEAN A
SET OF MORAL VALUES THAT HAVE A BINDING
CHARACTER FOR THE MAFIA AFFILIATES). IN HIS
FAMOUS BOOK Cose di cosa nostra, FALCONE
PROVIDES US WITH ONE OF THE BEST, AND MOST
LUCID ANALYSIS OF THE MAFIA:
1.
ONE CANNOT UNDERSTAND THE MAFIA WITHOUT
HAVING RECOURSE TO THE SOCIAL, POLITICAL
CONTEXT IN WHICH IT THRIVES AND OPERATES.
2.
THE MAFIA IS A PARALLEL STATE, NOT JUST AN ANTISTATE. IT OCCUPIES THE SAME SPACE AS THE OFFICIAL
STATE AND WANTS TO REPLACE IT BY PROVIDING
“BETTER SERVICES”.
3.
THE MAFIA’S SUCCESS IS THE RESULT OF A
UNFULFILLED DESIRE FOR ORDER AND JUSTICE ON
THE PART OF ORDINARY CITIZENS. THE MAFIA,
MOREOVER, NEEDS TO CREATE A CONSENSUS.
4.
THE MAFIOSO HAS A PRAGMATIC OR PRACTICAL
MINDSET. HIS PRIMARY CODE OF CONDUCT IS
GEARED TOWARDS SURVIVAL. ALL THE SO-CALLED
RULES OF COSA NOSTRA WERE DESIGNED TO PROTECT
THE MAFIOSI AND HIDE THE CRIMINAL OPERATIONS
THEY CARRY OUT.
5.
THE MAFIOSO MAKES RATIONAL DECISIONS, NO
MATTER HOW IRRATIONAL THEY MAY APPEAR TO US.
IF THEY COMMIT BRUTAL MURDERS, IT IS BECAUSE
BRUTALITY IS THOUGHT TO SERVE THEIR INTERESTS.
MAFIOSI PREFER TO KEEP A LOW-PROFILE. THEY DO
NOT WANT TO SHOW OFF THEIR CRIMINAL ACTIONS.
IF THEY INDIRECTLY CLAIM RESPONSIBILITY FOR A
MURDER, IT’S BECAUSE THEY THINK THAT THIS WILL
PAY OFF. THEY JUST INTEND TO INTIMIDATE THEIR
ENEMIES.
6.
IT FOLLOWS THAT BUSCETTA WAS WRONG:
ALTHOUGH THE CORLEONESI WERE PARTICULARLY
RUTHLESS, THEY DID NOT BREAK ANY SACRED RULE.
BUSCETTA CLAIMED THAT REAL MEN OF HONOUR
WOULD NEVER KILL ‘CIVILIANS’, THAT IS, RELATIVES
OF MAFIOSI WHO ARE NOT ENGAGED IN CRIMINAL
ACTIVITIES. NOR WOULD THEY KILL WOMEN AND
CHILDREN, AS DID THE CORLEONESI UNDER TOTO’
RIINA’S RULE.
7.
THE BRUTALITY OF THE CORLEONESI HAS A SIMPLER
EXPLANATION: IN THE LATE 1970S AND EARLY 1980S
THE MAFIA WAS ADAPTING TO A CHANGING SOCIETY,
WHERE MAGISTRATES AND THE POLICE WERE MORE
ASSERTIVE IN TRACKING DOWN THE MAFIOSI AND
BRINGING THEM TO ACCOUNT. THE MAFIA LEADERS
THOUGHT THAT BY KILLING THE RELATIVES OF
INFORMANTS, NOBODY WOULD EVER DARE TO
BETRAY THEM. THE STRING OF ASSASSINATIONS WAS
SIMPLY A PRAGMATIC STRATEGY IN KEEPING WITH
COSA NOSTRA’S PROFILE.
THE THIRD MYTH: THE MAFIA IS MORALLY
EQUIVALENT TO CORRUPT POLITICS AND TO A WORLD
OF CUT-THROAT BUSINESS. (THE GODFATHER BOOK
AND FILMS: “IT’S NOT PERSONAL, IT’S STRICTLY
BUSINESS”).
The difference between Mario Puzo’s and Francis Ford
Coppola’s perspectives: Puzo condemns the Mafia,
whereas Coppola lends credit to the third myth
described above, which is consonant with the popular,
‘Romantic’, vision according to which the Mafiosi are
men of honour, men of strong character, who react (or
adapt) in violent ways to the corrupt and dishonest
world of politics and business.
COPPOLA’S PERSPECTIVES.
“The first two Godfather films create an image of the
Corleone family as an extra-legal authority, which
abides by a personal code of conduct and administers
an alternative system of ‘justice’. While Godfather I and
II do not encourage unequivocal support for the
Corleones, they do provoke a re-evaluation of
conventional standards of legal and moral behavior
(my emphasis) by placing the audience in an
uncomfortable ethical position, where they can neither
condemn, nor completely sympathise with, the Family.”
(Phoebe Poon “Morality and legality in Francis Ford
Coppola’s The Godfather Trilogy”),
The Godfather I and II films “invite a polarized response.
From one perspective, the presentation of violence and
criminal conspiracy provokes feelings of disgust
towards the perpetrators, but from another
perspective, the narrative discourse of the films
compels our sympathy with characters that are
essentially evil.” (Phoebe Poon: ibid)
The opening scene of Mario Puzo’s novel and Coppola’s
film adaption (Godfather I).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIBpHO1gZgQ
This scene is a powerful and explicit “critique against
state-sanctioned law” and state-sanctioned authority
“In addressing the needs of the victim without being
excessively harsh to the criminals, his (= Vito’s)
judgment of the circumstances appears to provide a
more approachable and equitable alternative system of
justice than the state.” (Phoebe Poon)
The Don reacts with contempt at the “ ‘low-brow’ view
of him as a hired assassin”, thereby “asserting his right
to create an alternative system of justice based on
subjective familial loyalty and honour… Vito Corleone
gratifies our lust for vengeance against injustices that
fail to be redressed through legitimate means.”
This is a crucial consideration: to this very day, Mafiosi
still justify their deeds by claiming that the State has
failed to administer justice in line with its contract to
the people (provide security, jobs etc.), in vast swathes
of Southern Italy.
PUZO’S PERSPECTIVE.
(From “A commonplace blog” by D.G. Myers)
Mario Puzo’s The Godfather treated the Mafia as an
autonomous social institution with its pressures for
conformity, where there is no place for a man with any
real integrity. From this it does not follow, however,
that Puzo’s theme is what Gay Talese described in
the Washington Post in reviewing the novel:
Whether men’s ambitions are fulfilled in the arena
of politics or banking, business or crime, it makes
little difference—the rules are often the same; it is a
game of power and money; might makes right; and
the most brutal acts are easily justified in the name
of necessity and honor. Governments fight world
wars for honor, drop atomic bombs for peace, stage
bloody brawls for Christ; and the Mafia, on a miniscale, acts out similar aggressions for similar goals—
profit, prestige and justice as they see it. (Gay Talese)
After the Don is shot on the streets outside Genco Olive
Oil, after Michael Corleone guns down the police
captain McCluskey and the drug smuggler Sollozzo,
after Sonny Corleone has been murdered in retaliation,
Vito Corleone calls a meeting of New York’s Five
Families with “invitations to Families all over the United
States” in order to sue for peace. The meeting is filmed
by Coppola, and so too is the Don’s speech. But its
central passage is not recorded (D.G. Myers):
Let me say that we [in the Mafia] must always look
to our interests. We are all men who have refused to
be fools, who have refused to be puppets dancing on
a string pulled by the men on high. Who is to say we
should obey the laws they make for their own
interest and to our hurt? Sonna cosa nostra. These
are our affairs. We will manage our world for
ourselves because it is our world, cosa nostra. And
so we have to stick together to guard against outside
meddlers. Otherwise they will put the ring in our
nose as they have put the ring in the nose of all the
millions of Neapolitans and other Italians in this
country.
MICHAEL’S JUSTIFICATION OF THE FAMILY BUSINESS.
Coppola does not include this speech, because it does
not express his message. Coppola’s message is
delivered by Michael Corleone. When Michael returns
from hiding in Sicily after the murders of Sollozzo and
Captain McCluskey, he finally goes to see his old flame
Kay
Adams.
(D.G.
Myers)
Michael tells Kay that he is working for his father now.
“But I thought you weren’t going to become a man like
your father,” Kay says; “you told me.” “My father's no
different from any other powerful man,” Michael
replies—“any man who’s responsible for other people,
like a senator or president.” “Do you know how naïve
you sound?” Kay asks with a smile. Michal asks why.
“Senators and presidents don’t have men killed”,
replies Kay. “Oh,” Michael says; “who’s being naïve,
Kay? Kay, my father’s way of doing things is over, it’s
finished. Even he knows that. I mean, in five years, the
Corleone Family is going to be completely legitimate.
Trust me, that’s all I can tell you about my business.”
(D.G. Myers)
The message here is clear: “the Mafia differs from the
U.S. government only in the extent and reach of its
power” (D.G. Myers)
This message is reinforced various times: consider
Michael’s trip to CUBA: Michael is presented as a
‘shady’ businessman who is not different from other
powerful
(legitimate)
businesspeople
or
representatives of American companies wishing to do
business with a corrupt dictator. “This is a view that can
be enjoyed by libertarian and political radical alike, but
it is not the view of Puzo’s novel.” (D.G. Myers)
In the novel, Michael’s speech to Kay is rather different:
You’ve got the wrong idea of my father and the
Corleone Family. I’ll make a final explanation and this
one will be really final. My father is a businessman
trying to provide for his wife and children and those
friends he might need someday in a time of trouble.
He doesn’t accept the rules of the society we live in
because those rules would have condemned him to
a life not suitable to a man like himself, a man of
extraordinary force and character. (Puzo)
What you have to understand is that he considers
himself the equal of all those great men like
Presidents and Prime Ministers and Supreme Court
Justices and Governors of the States. He refuses to
accept their will over his own. He refuses to live by
rules set up by others, rules which condemn him to a
defeated life. But his ultimate aim is to enter that
society with a certain power since society doesn’t
really protect its members who do not have their
own individual power. In the meantime he operates
on a code of ethics he considers far superior to the
legal structures of society. (Puzo)
The Mafiosi may consider themselves “far superior” to
the rest of society, but by Puzo’s lights, they are lesser
men. The Godfather is a full picture of the Mafia, but it
does not glamorize it. Puzo represents the Mafia as the
social institutionalization of violence. Puzo does not
suggest a superficial and sloganeering moral
equivalence between the Mafia and governments or
businesses. His Mafia is a unique institution that
uniquely degrades men, when it does not murder them.
(D.G. Myers)
fine