Citation

Dickie J. Past Present 2016; 232(1): 203-236.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Past and Present Society, Publisher Oxford University Press)

DOI

10.1093/pastj/gtw012

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The rules operative in the two major oath-bound criminal brotherhoods or mafias in Italy today, Cosa Nostra (Sicily) and the 'ndrangheta (Calabria), are notoriously flexible. 1 Antonino Calderone, a Sicilian mafioso who gave evidence in the late 1980s, reflected frequently on these rules; appropriately, his views were themselves flexible. At times he states that the mafia's codes are 'a bit like the laws of a state'; at other times he emphasizes the human factors that shape their interpretation:

"It should not be forgotten that the mafia is, indeed, the Mafia: the organization of all the men who have taken the oath; and it has precise rules. But it is still made up of men. And men have their preferences, dislikes and animosities. Even when they have senior positions in the organization."

Elsewhere, Calderone all but dismisses the rules: 'Mafiosi have a whole...

Language: en