The Invisible Camorra: Neapolitan Crime Families across Europe

The organized crime group that dominates much of the socioeconomic life of contemporary Naples, the Camorra, is organized by kin and geography, and it is notoriously the most violent, fractious, and disorganized mafia in Italy. The Camorra controls local extortion rackets, the drug and counterfeit trades, and other legal and illicit activities as well as wielding substantial political influence throughout Naples and its environs. Felia Allum has been researching the Camorra for twenty years, and in The Invisible Camorra she reveals a surprising alteration in Camorra behavior when operatives live outside the Neapolitan base. When gang members move away from Naples, having been forced out by intense policing and gang competition, they are attracted by business opportunities that, on the whole, fit in with their usual activities. When they move to other parts of Western Europe and are therefore no longer criminals simply by virtue of "mafia association" as they are in Italy, they become largely invisible. Gang members avoid the spectacular deployment of violence, they merge quietly into local life, they keep themselves to themselves, and, when necessary, use legitimate local actors such as lawyers and accountants to further their economic well-being.

Allum has constructed a meticulous description and analysis of Camorra activities abroad. To build accounts of the Camorra in Germany and the Netherlands, France, Spain, and the United Kingdom, she has interviewed investigating magistrates, police officers, and confessed criminals; done substantial mining of Italian and European police data; and made extensive use of judicial investigations, court records and transcripts as well as of journalistic accounts. The result is the first systematic analysis of the overseas activities of this major criminal organization.

1123891801
The Invisible Camorra: Neapolitan Crime Families across Europe

The organized crime group that dominates much of the socioeconomic life of contemporary Naples, the Camorra, is organized by kin and geography, and it is notoriously the most violent, fractious, and disorganized mafia in Italy. The Camorra controls local extortion rackets, the drug and counterfeit trades, and other legal and illicit activities as well as wielding substantial political influence throughout Naples and its environs. Felia Allum has been researching the Camorra for twenty years, and in The Invisible Camorra she reveals a surprising alteration in Camorra behavior when operatives live outside the Neapolitan base. When gang members move away from Naples, having been forced out by intense policing and gang competition, they are attracted by business opportunities that, on the whole, fit in with their usual activities. When they move to other parts of Western Europe and are therefore no longer criminals simply by virtue of "mafia association" as they are in Italy, they become largely invisible. Gang members avoid the spectacular deployment of violence, they merge quietly into local life, they keep themselves to themselves, and, when necessary, use legitimate local actors such as lawyers and accountants to further their economic well-being.

Allum has constructed a meticulous description and analysis of Camorra activities abroad. To build accounts of the Camorra in Germany and the Netherlands, France, Spain, and the United Kingdom, she has interviewed investigating magistrates, police officers, and confessed criminals; done substantial mining of Italian and European police data; and made extensive use of judicial investigations, court records and transcripts as well as of journalistic accounts. The result is the first systematic analysis of the overseas activities of this major criminal organization.

33.99 In Stock
The Invisible Camorra: Neapolitan Crime Families across Europe

The Invisible Camorra: Neapolitan Crime Families across Europe

by Felia Allum
The Invisible Camorra: Neapolitan Crime Families across Europe

The Invisible Camorra: Neapolitan Crime Families across Europe

by Felia Allum

eBook

$33.99 

Available on Compatible NOOK devices, the free NOOK App and in My Digital Library.
WANT A NOOK?  Explore Now

Related collections and offers


Overview

The organized crime group that dominates much of the socioeconomic life of contemporary Naples, the Camorra, is organized by kin and geography, and it is notoriously the most violent, fractious, and disorganized mafia in Italy. The Camorra controls local extortion rackets, the drug and counterfeit trades, and other legal and illicit activities as well as wielding substantial political influence throughout Naples and its environs. Felia Allum has been researching the Camorra for twenty years, and in The Invisible Camorra she reveals a surprising alteration in Camorra behavior when operatives live outside the Neapolitan base. When gang members move away from Naples, having been forced out by intense policing and gang competition, they are attracted by business opportunities that, on the whole, fit in with their usual activities. When they move to other parts of Western Europe and are therefore no longer criminals simply by virtue of "mafia association" as they are in Italy, they become largely invisible. Gang members avoid the spectacular deployment of violence, they merge quietly into local life, they keep themselves to themselves, and, when necessary, use legitimate local actors such as lawyers and accountants to further their economic well-being.

Allum has constructed a meticulous description and analysis of Camorra activities abroad. To build accounts of the Camorra in Germany and the Netherlands, France, Spain, and the United Kingdom, she has interviewed investigating magistrates, police officers, and confessed criminals; done substantial mining of Italian and European police data; and made extensive use of judicial investigations, court records and transcripts as well as of journalistic accounts. The result is the first systematic analysis of the overseas activities of this major criminal organization.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781501706387
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Publication date: 09/27/2016
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 288
File size: 4 MB
Age Range: 18 Years

About the Author

Felia Allum is a lecturer in the department of Politics, Languages and International Studies at the University of Bath, UK, and cofounder of the ECPR Standing Group on Organised Crime. She is the author of Camorristi, Politicians, and Businessmen: The Transformation of Organized Crime in Post-war Naples.

What People are Saying About This

Antonio Nicaso

The Invisible Camorra is a riveting account of Italy's oldest Mafia and its expansion across Europe. Written with raw honesty, this book takes us deep into the inner sanctum of this powerful criminal organization and its connection with social, economic, and political establishments. Felia Allum is an outstanding scholar and she has done a commendable job.

Jane Schneider

Impressive empirical research informs this book, which examines camorristi on the move—members of the Neapolitan Camorra who, since 1980, have migrated to several European countries. Having tapped police and judicial records, interviews with prosecutors and prisoners alike, journalistic accounts, and her own past as an ethnographic sociologist in Naples, Felia Allum offers a wealth of data to support her conclusions regarding why camorristi migrate, and how they behave in new locations. Analyses cover the importance to migrants of pragmatic moneymaking initiatives; the fluid relationships they construct, not only with camorristi in other locations but also with business and political enablers; and the efforts they make to become, and remain, invisible. These features are central to Allum's fine-grained assessment of the Camorra's transnational criminal network—and an important contribution to the study of 'criminal migration' overall.

Jay S. Albanese

In this well-written book, Felia Allum uses a small number of well-documented cases to determine both how and why those affiliated with the Camorra leave Italy and pursue criminal activities in five other European countries: Germany, Holland, France, Spain, and the United Kingdom. 'Camorra' is a label used to describe many different individuals, families, clans, and alliances; it is a loose criminal association interested in money and power, combining elements of a traditional secret society as well as a business. The Invisible Camorra is noteworthy for its use of court documents, multiple interviews, and a careful focus on sixteen cases to determine why and how individuals associated with the Camorra export themselves and their activities. Allum's documentation of the relationship between Camorra and legitimate business is significant. The book is a distinguished contribution to the literature on organized crime.

From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews