Can organised crime shape post-war transitions? Evidence from Sicily

Abstract

ABSTRACTMany developing states that have undergone post-war transitions have emerged with significant organised crime presences and systematic corruption. Why? Is the criminalisation of post-war transitions inevitable? Is there something about them that is inherently criminogenic? Are criminal groups mere by-products of, and passive bystanders to, these transition processes, or do they actively shape them? This article seeks to shed light on these questions by examining three Sicilian post-war transitions following Italian unification, the First World War and the Second World War. Using archival research and mafia memoirs, the article argues that post-war transitions generated and facilitated mafia competition and collusion with political actors in a single market for governmental power, including setting norms, resolving disputes, and allocating resources. Mafias shaped the political system in ways that maximised their own governmental – and economic – power. This included collaboration with the Italian state and foreign occupying powers, and, on occasion, military and strategic competition with the state. The article explores how these mafia strategies shaped the transitions, and concludes with reflections on how we should understand – and respond to – the strategic agency of organised criminal groups in post-war transitions.