Ginsborg, Gambetta, and the Mafia

The Sicilian mafia occupies a pivotal place in Paul Ginsborg’s Italy and its Discontents. Moreover, thematically, the mafia represents a highly significant point of convergence between the concerns identified in the book’s subtitle: Family, civil society, state. Ginsborg’s understanding of the mafia is rooted in a critical dialogue with Diego Gambetta’s The Sicilian Mafia. The Business of Private Protection (1993). This chapter returns to Ginsborg’s analysis, and through it to Gambetta’s theory, in the light of recent historical and sociological research. With a particular focus on the mafia in its relationship to the state and the family, as well as on the origins of the mafia and the nature of mafia war, the chapter challenges established interpretations and stresses the modern and political aspects of the mafia phenomenon.