Community mourning and funerals evidence that mafia protection was genuinely valued
Evidence
Consensus seems easier to achieve in rural areas than in big cities 1954, when Don Calò Vizzini died in Villalba, the whole town attended his funeral; and when Francesco Di Cristina, the boss of Riesi, died in 1961, once again the whole town paid homage. Villalba and Riesi ninety kilometers apart, yet the published obituaries of the two men, despite being tailored to the particular individuals, are broadly similar. Both, under the photograph of the deceased, contain the identical emphatic praise of their manly virtues and conclude: “With both words and deeds he proved that his mafia was not one of delinquency but rather one of abiding by the law of honor, protecting every right; it was greatness of soul, it was love.” … Time has not eroded popular support: when Di Cristina’s son Giuseppe was shot dead in 1978, there was an official day of mourning in Riesi. The same thing occurred in San Giovanni Gemini in 1981 when Gigino Pizzuto was murdered while playing cards with two companions (OSAG Arnone: 5). Carmelo Colletti’s funeral in Ribera in 1983 was attended by ten thousand people, half the total population of the town (OSAG: 409). Mere extortionists could not be the object of such deference. Therefore, mafia protection cannot be dismissed as systematically bogus. — Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Business of…, 658
Categorization
- XREF: This is the payoff of Gambetta’s core thesis that mafia sells genuine protection, not extortion — connects to earlier chapters establishing the trust/protection market.
- QUESTION: Rural consensus vs. big-city difficulty achieving support — worth chasing the mechanism behind this urban-rural difference.