This article starts by discussing aspects of Christopher Duggan’s first book La mafia durante il ... more This article starts by discussing aspects of Christopher Duggan’s first book La mafia durante il fascismo, published in 1986, whose main topic was the anti-mafia campaign led by the prefect Cesare Mori in the latter half of the 1920s. The book’s distinctive features were its rigorous historical approach and use of archival sources: these set it apart from most other work on these topics at the time, when the idea that the mafia could be subjected to historical research had not yet been properly established. In its central thesis Duggan’s book was influenced by previous interpretations of the mafia, then still widely shared, that denied its nature as a structured organisation. Duggan argued here that Fascism used accusations of mafia involvement essentially as a way of attacking its political opponents. The final part of the article presents key aspects of a newer area of research on the mafia and Fascism, the 1930s, when a new campaign to suppress the mafia was not made use of for p...
This article analyses the draft of the final report prepared by Senator Giovanni Pellegrino, who ... more This article analyses the draft of the final report prepared by Senator Giovanni Pellegrino, who from 1994 to 2001 chaired the ‘Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry on terrorism in Italy and on the causes of the failure to identify those responsible for the massacres’. The document was completed in 1995 and attempted a general interpretation of the causes of the political violence that had been a major feature of the history of the Italian Republic up to that point. The report was closely connected with what is often described as the moment of the transition between Italy's ‘first’ and ‘second’ Republic and, in keeping with revisionist theories current at the time, attributed responsibility for misdeeds and occult plots (real or imagined) that occurred in Italy over a period of forty years primarily to ideological division caused by the Cold War. This paper argues that this resulted in a highly distorted narrative of Italian history in which events appear to be determined almost exclusively by external factors to the exclusion of important internal dynamics.
Mussolini had declared that Fascism, through the anti-mafia campaign entrusted to Cesare Mori, pr... more Mussolini had declared that Fascism, through the anti-mafia campaign entrusted to Cesare Mori, prefect of Palermo, in the second half of the 1920s, had conclusively liberated Sicily from the mafia. However, from the early 1930s a new deterioration of public order on the island was evident, and the regime was forced to launch a second, and much less publicised, repression of this phenomenon. In the course of its careful investigations the body given responsibility for pursuing this repression, the Ispettorato Generale di Pubblica Sicurezza per la Sicilia, compiled a series of reports, including the Processo verbale di denunzia relating to the area around Palermo. With a level of detail never seen before, these reports described the structure, organisation and dynamics of mafia groups. This was possible because police officers had available members of the mafia groups themselves – genuine pentiti – who had decided to make disclosures to the authorities.
L'articolo consiste in un inquadramento della Pubblica sicurezza (Ps) a Palermo tra gli anniS... more L'articolo consiste in un inquadramento della Pubblica sicurezza (Ps) a Palermo tra gli anniSessanta e la prima metà degli anni Settanta del Novecento. Si tratta di un momento significativoperché fu allora che gli apparati di sicurezza cominciarono a riattrezzarsi per il contrastoal fenomeno mafioso, in conseguenza della recrudescenza criminale e del mutato climapolitico. All'interno dell'articolo un particolare rilievo è stato dato sia alle figure dei questoriche si avvicendarono, sia alla squadra mobile che, esercitando le funzioni di polizia giudiziaria,rivestiva un ruolo centrale da un punto di vista investigativo. Inoltre, per ragionare in manierapiù completa della risposta delle istituzioni al crimine organizzato, parallelamente allaPs si è voluto dare spazio anche alle vicende riguardanti le strutture periferiche dei carabinieri.Uno degli aspetti centrali che emerge dall'articolo è la complessa relazione che si è sviluppatatra gli organismi operanti sul campo,...
This article starts by discussing aspects of Christopher Duggan’s first book La mafia durante il ... more This article starts by discussing aspects of Christopher Duggan’s first book La mafia durante il fascismo, published in 1986, whose main topic was the anti-mafia campaign led by the prefect Cesare Mori in the latter half of the 1920s. The book’s distinctive features were its rigorous historical approach and use of archival sources: these set it apart from most other work on these topics at the time, when the idea that the mafia could be subjected to historical research had not yet been properly established. In its central thesis Duggan’s book was influenced by previous interpretations of the mafia, then still widely shared, that denied its nature as a structured organisation. Duggan argued here that Fascism used accusations of mafia involvement essentially as a way of attacking its political opponents. The final part of the article presents key aspects of a newer area of research on the mafia and Fascism, the 1930s, when a new campaign to suppress the mafia was not made use of for p...
This article starts by discussing aspects of Christopher Duggan’s first book La mafia durante il ... more This article starts by discussing aspects of Christopher Duggan’s first book La mafia durante il fascismo, published in 1986, whose main topic was the anti-mafia campaign led by the prefect Cesare Mori in the latter half of the 1920s. The book’s distinctive features were its rigorous historical approach and use of archival sources: these set it apart from most other work on these topics at the time, when the idea that the mafia could be subjected to historical research had not yet been properly established. In its central thesis Duggan’s book was influenced by previous interpretations of the mafia, then still widely shared, that denied its nature as a structured organisation. Duggan argued here that Fascism used accusations of mafia involvement essentially as a way of attacking its political opponents. The final part of the article presents key aspects of a newer area of research on the mafia and Fascism, the 1930s, when a new campaign to suppress the mafia was not made use of for p...
This article analyses the draft of the final report prepared by Senator Giovanni Pellegrino, who ... more This article analyses the draft of the final report prepared by Senator Giovanni Pellegrino, who from 1994 to 2001 chaired the ‘Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry on terrorism in Italy and on the causes of the failure to identify those responsible for the massacres’. The document was completed in 1995 and attempted a general interpretation of the causes of the political violence that had been a major feature of the history of the Italian Republic up to that point. The report was closely connected with what is often described as the moment of the transition between Italy's ‘first’ and ‘second’ Republic and, in keeping with revisionist theories current at the time, attributed responsibility for misdeeds and occult plots (real or imagined) that occurred in Italy over a period of forty years primarily to ideological division caused by the Cold War. This paper argues that this resulted in a highly distorted narrative of Italian history in which events appear to be determined almost exclusively by external factors to the exclusion of important internal dynamics.
Mussolini had declared that Fascism, through the anti-mafia campaign entrusted to Cesare Mori, pr... more Mussolini had declared that Fascism, through the anti-mafia campaign entrusted to Cesare Mori, prefect of Palermo, in the second half of the 1920s, had conclusively liberated Sicily from the mafia. However, from the early 1930s a new deterioration of public order on the island was evident, and the regime was forced to launch a second, and much less publicised, repression of this phenomenon. In the course of its careful investigations the body given responsibility for pursuing this repression, the Ispettorato Generale di Pubblica Sicurezza per la Sicilia, compiled a series of reports, including the Processo verbale di denunzia relating to the area around Palermo. With a level of detail never seen before, these reports described the structure, organisation and dynamics of mafia groups. This was possible because police officers had available members of the mafia groups themselves – genuine pentiti – who had decided to make disclosures to the authorities.
L'articolo consiste in un inquadramento della Pubblica sicurezza (Ps) a Palermo tra gli anniS... more L'articolo consiste in un inquadramento della Pubblica sicurezza (Ps) a Palermo tra gli anniSessanta e la prima metà degli anni Settanta del Novecento. Si tratta di un momento significativoperché fu allora che gli apparati di sicurezza cominciarono a riattrezzarsi per il contrastoal fenomeno mafioso, in conseguenza della recrudescenza criminale e del mutato climapolitico. All'interno dell'articolo un particolare rilievo è stato dato sia alle figure dei questoriche si avvicendarono, sia alla squadra mobile che, esercitando le funzioni di polizia giudiziaria,rivestiva un ruolo centrale da un punto di vista investigativo. Inoltre, per ragionare in manierapiù completa della risposta delle istituzioni al crimine organizzato, parallelamente allaPs si è voluto dare spazio anche alle vicende riguardanti le strutture periferiche dei carabinieri.Uno degli aspetti centrali che emerge dall'articolo è la complessa relazione che si è sviluppatatra gli organismi operanti sul campo,...
This article starts by discussing aspects of Christopher Duggan’s first book La mafia durante il ... more This article starts by discussing aspects of Christopher Duggan’s first book La mafia durante il fascismo, published in 1986, whose main topic was the anti-mafia campaign led by the prefect Cesare Mori in the latter half of the 1920s. The book’s distinctive features were its rigorous historical approach and use of archival sources: these set it apart from most other work on these topics at the time, when the idea that the mafia could be subjected to historical research had not yet been properly established. In its central thesis Duggan’s book was influenced by previous interpretations of the mafia, then still widely shared, that denied its nature as a structured organisation. Duggan argued here that Fascism used accusations of mafia involvement essentially as a way of attacking its political opponents. The final part of the article presents key aspects of a newer area of research on the mafia and Fascism, the 1930s, when a new campaign to suppress the mafia was not made use of for p...
• ISSN: 1123-5624 • Storia • semestrale • Società editrice il Mulino • DESCRIZIONE » • ALTRI DETT... more • ISSN: 1123-5624 • Storia • semestrale • Società editrice il Mulino • DESCRIZIONE » • ALTRI DETTAGLI » • PRESENTE IN » • Indice del numero 1, 2018, giugno • ISBN: 978-88-15-27591-2 • Annata: XXIV o Temi e problemi o Guido Melis o D'Artagnan va in archivio o pp. 5-7, o Note a margine del libro Tra norma e vita o pp. 25-30, DOI: 10.1411/90158 o La ricerca o Sandro Notari o Manoscritti statutari sulle due sponde del Tevere. Il Comune di popolo e gli statuta Urbis del Trecento tra storia e storiografia o pp. 31-44, DOI: 10.1411/90159 o Cinzia Recca o Il controllo sul corpo sociale della donna nella Sicilia della seconda metà del XVIII secolo o pp. 45-59, DOI: 10.1411/90160 o Andrea Pennini o Da lontano un sole che sorge. Mazzarino e l'ascesa di Luigi XIV nelle carte della diplomazia sabauda o pp. 60-73, DOI: 10.1411/90161 o Alessandra Petrone o Sieyès, Thouret e le riforme amministrativa e giudiziaria (1789-1791) o pp. 74-88,
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