Mafia

The Mafia is a network of organized crime groups originating in Italy that functioned as an entrenched private provider of protection and control, predating and competing with the Italian state. It institutionalized distrust as a control mechanism and maintained strong geographic rigidity within Italy while regulating criminal and economic activity among its paying customers.

Claims that use this term

• The Mafia protects even low-output parking attendants but not taxi drivers
• The Mafia industry shows strong geographic rigidity within Italy
• The Mafia predated and competed with the Italian state as an entrenched protection provider
• The Mafia forbade kidnaping to protect its paying customers.
• The Mafia institutionalized distrust itself as a mechanism of control