Reversible Destiny

by Schneider, Jane C.

• ISBN13: 9780520221000
• ISBN10: 0520221001
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-03-01
• Publisher: Univ of California Pr

Summary

Reversible Destinytraces the history of the Sicilian mafia to its nineteenth-century roots and examines its late twentieth-century involvement in urban real estate and construction as well as drugs. Based on research in the regional capital of Palermo, this book suggests lessons regarding secretive organized crime: its capacity to reproduce a subculture of violence through time, its acquisition of a dense connective web of political and financial protectors during the Cold War era, and the sad reality that repressing it easily risks harming vulnerable people and communities. Charting the efforts of both the judiciary and a citizen's social movement to reverse the mafia's economic, political, and cultural power, the authors establish a framework for understanding both the difficulties and the accomplishments of Sicily's multifaceted antimafia efforts.

Author Biography

Jane C. Schneider is Professor of Anthropology at the Graduate Center, City University of New York Peter T. Schneider is Professor of Sociology at Fordham University

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	ix
Acknowledgments	xi
Maps	xiv
The Palermo Crucible	1	(21)
The Genesis of the Mafia	22	(27)
The Mafia and the Cold War	49	(32)
The Cultural Production of Violence	81	(22)
Seeking Causes, Casting Blame	103	(24)
Mysteries and Poisons	127	(33)
The Antimafia Movement	160	(33)
Backlash and Renewal	193	(23)
Civil Society Groundwork	216	(19)
Recuperating the Built Environment	235	(25)
``Cultural Re-education''	260	(30)
Reversible Destiny	290	(15)
Notes	305	(12)
References	317	(14)
Index	331