"Turning the Vicious Circle around. New Frontiers in the Fight against the Mafia"

Time period:

1 January 2011 – 31 December 2013

Project leader:

Carina Gunnarsson

Project member:

Francesca Forno

Funder:

Swedish Research Council

Type of award:

Project grant

Total funding:

2,139,000 SEK

This research project explores how cooperation is established in an environment marked by distrust and non-cooperation. The research focuses on the private sector in Palermo and the cooperation that has recently emerged between business owners refusing to pay protection money to the mafia. To date, Addiopizzo has mobilized more than 400 shopkeepers and 10,000 consumers. The strategy proposed by Addiopizzo is "buycotting", i.e. consumers are invited to use their shopping bag power to promote societal change. The project combines theories on political consumption with social capital theory and contributes with an empirical test of the importance of generalized trust, bridging social capital and weak ties for political mobilization. Mixed techniques will be used: survey, network analysis and interviews with a selection of shopkeepers who have joined Addiopizzo. The project includes an analysis of broader changes in the political, cultural and economic opportunity structures that facilitate or hinder cooperation. The results are relevant to research on social capital but also for policy makers wishing to turn a vicious circle of non-cooperation into cooperation, not least in areas controlled by organized crime. The study provides an in-depth analysis of the mechanisms at play.