Europe : No More Myths About the Mafia

It is seldom that a phenomenon so present in everyday conversation and the collective imagination is so misunderstood : it is one of the most telling conclusions of the history of Cosa Nostra which John Dickie has just published.

This British journalist’s investigation begins in Sicily during the second half of the nineteenth century during the Italian Unification. From the 1860s on, the Mafia is a powerful structured organization with powerful political and judicial connections at its disposal. What Dickie brings to light is that at that time the very young Italian State already chose to ignore the many warnings reaching it in the form of reports and university studies. At times it was due to lack of competence and means, but it was mostly due to the absence of political will and even collusion. Those within law enforcement or economic circles who tried to oppose the "protection" racket and Cosa Nostra’s murderous schemes, won only temporary victories, when they were not treated as inveterate liars, and for some, eliminated.

Dickie’s work also settles old debates such as the word Mafia.

No, there is not a "Sicilian character" built on an exaggerated sense of honor and a propensity toward violence, which would explain the abnormally high number of homicides on the island. Nor is there a "good" Mafia born in the opposition to feudality and foreign occupations.

Yes, Cosa Nostra is a most sophisticated organization with its pyramidal structure, its sense of justice - the Mafia claims not to assassinate, but to execute as would a State,- disconcerting initiation rites which are similar to those of the Freemasons, and its profitability requirements which bring it closer to the corporate world.

Much as the Italian State will accept the information gleaned from Judge Falcone’s 1980s decoding work as definitive truth. He was assassinated by the Riina clan in 1992. One of Dickie’s book’s great merits is that it also the history of Mafia opponents. It is a gallery of portraits which are often completed in blood.