Illegality and the Making of Italy
Crime Italian Style
Published on 13. March 2026
Book
Hardback
378 pages
978-1-80596-639-5 (ISBN)
Description
Italy has long been thought of as a terra di mezzo, a land in between, a crossroads where life "above" exists together with life "below." Italy's underworld is taken as a given fact, and enjoys a global, if not romanticized, reputation. This volume is a first-of-its-kind study that explores how crime and illegality have served to make modern Italy and Italians. Its chapters set into relief "crime Italian style": a distinct formation comprised of the porousness between licit and illicit and the malleability of illegality that has distinguished Italy as a nation-state since Unification. From courtrooms to television screens, and mafia dons to political activists, this volume delves into Italy's criminal patrimony as well as the entanglements between Italian politics and organized crime, how ideas about crime and criminality cross borders and become attached to people, and how the representational force of the media continues to transform who or what is marked as criminal. This volume reconnects Italy to its heritage of crime and punishment to offer a new take on modern Italian identity that recognizes its relationship to illegality as a central, rather than peripheral, attribute.
Reviews / Votes
'This book provides a stimulating and original addition to our knowledge of contemporary Italy and its representation in different media. Crime in relation to Italy's history is an association which resonates amongst readers, but which is also in need for a proper contextualisation beyond cliches and prejudices. This book does so and, as a collection of fourteen separate essays, allows the term to be interpreted and studied in a range of different cases.' Guido Bonsaver, University of OxfordMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Liverpool
United Kingdom
Illustrations
16 Illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 239 mm
Width: 163 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-80596-639-5 (9781805966395)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Stephanie Malia Hom is Professor of Transnational Italian Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Dana Renga is Professor of Italian and Dean of Arts and Humanities at The Ohio State University.
Content
INTRODUCTION
Introduction: Crime Italian Style
Stephanie Malia Hom
I: STATE, SOCIETY, & ILLEGALITY
The Trattativa Stato-mafia: Transforming the State of Mafia Affairs
Robin Pickering-Iazzi
Tangentopoli: Justice, Spectacle, and the Making of a New Political Era
Paolo Campolonghi
Making Italians Aware of Italy: National Public Television and Organized Crime (1962-85)
Alessandra Montalbano
From "Cosa Nostra" to "Cosa Grigia": How Criminal Systems in Italy are Changing after the Arrest of Fugitive Boss Matteo Messina Denaro
Giacomo Di Girolamo
II: CRIMINAL BORDERS
"To Weigh the Hand": Cheaters, Scammers, and Italianness in Sao Paulo
Giulia Ricco
Transatlantic Punishment: The Extradition of Silvia Baraldini
Ellen Nerenberg
Terra dannata / dannati della terra: The Convergence of Farmworker, Food Justice, and Anti-Caporalato Movements
Eleanor Paynter
III: DELINQUENT SUBJECTS
Graphologics: Handwriting, Character, and Social Danger
David Horn
A Laboratory of Male Citizenship: The Juvenile Reformatory of Tivoli, 1879-1914
Mary Gibson
Fascist Woman, Delinquent Woman: The Case of Leonarda Cianciulli
Stephanie Malia Hom
IV: PICTURING CRIME
(Transnational) Crime in Italian Silent Cinema
Robert Rushing
Not The Godfather: Two Investigative Films and Organized Crime
David Forgacs
"This Place Hasn't Changed in 2000 Years": Transnational Italian Crime Television
Dana Renga
EPILOGUE
George Floyd, Soumaila Sacko, and Alika Ogorchukwu. Performative Anti-Racism and Black Lives in Italy
Angelica Pesarini
NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS
INDEX
Introduction: Crime Italian Style
Stephanie Malia Hom
I: STATE, SOCIETY, & ILLEGALITY
The Trattativa Stato-mafia: Transforming the State of Mafia Affairs
Robin Pickering-Iazzi
Tangentopoli: Justice, Spectacle, and the Making of a New Political Era
Paolo Campolonghi
Making Italians Aware of Italy: National Public Television and Organized Crime (1962-85)
Alessandra Montalbano
From "Cosa Nostra" to "Cosa Grigia": How Criminal Systems in Italy are Changing after the Arrest of Fugitive Boss Matteo Messina Denaro
Giacomo Di Girolamo
II: CRIMINAL BORDERS
"To Weigh the Hand": Cheaters, Scammers, and Italianness in Sao Paulo
Giulia Ricco
Transatlantic Punishment: The Extradition of Silvia Baraldini
Ellen Nerenberg
Terra dannata / dannati della terra: The Convergence of Farmworker, Food Justice, and Anti-Caporalato Movements
Eleanor Paynter
III: DELINQUENT SUBJECTS
Graphologics: Handwriting, Character, and Social Danger
David Horn
A Laboratory of Male Citizenship: The Juvenile Reformatory of Tivoli, 1879-1914
Mary Gibson
Fascist Woman, Delinquent Woman: The Case of Leonarda Cianciulli
Stephanie Malia Hom
IV: PICTURING CRIME
(Transnational) Crime in Italian Silent Cinema
Robert Rushing
Not The Godfather: Two Investigative Films and Organized Crime
David Forgacs
"This Place Hasn't Changed in 2000 Years": Transnational Italian Crime Television
Dana Renga
EPILOGUE
George Floyd, Soumaila Sacko, and Alika Ogorchukwu. Performative Anti-Racism and Black Lives in Italy
Angelica Pesarini
NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS
INDEX