Mafia alignment in rural class conflicts varied regionally

Evidence

By contrast, in Calabria after the war, and even relatively recently (1973-74), local mafiosi maintained a more ambiguous position and often sided with the peasants in demanding land redistribution, as the 1985 parliamentary commission report suggests (and as described in Piselli 1988: 147ff.). — Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Business of…, 230

Categorization

• XREF: Contrasts Calabrian mafiosi siding with peasants vs. Sicilian mafiosi protecting landlords — a natural comparison point against Gambetta’s protection-market model.