Dr Anna Sergi.

An Essex academic has published the first historical and sociological account in English of the Italian based ‘Ndrangheta mafia criminal clan.

The ‘Ndrangheta mafia is now considered to be Italy’s richest and most powerful criminal organisation and the publication of this research comes just weeks after the arrest in Italy of a ‘Ndrangheta boss, Ernesto Fazzalari after almost two decades on the run.

‘Ndrangheta; The Glocal Dimensions of the Most Powerful Italian Mafia has been co-authored by Dr Anna Sergi from our Department of Sociology and Dr Anita Lavorgna from the University of Southampton.

Speaking of the book, Dr Sergi said, “The Italian Anti-mafia prosecutors have labelled the ‘ndrangheta as the most powerful Italian mafia today, in Italy and beyond, because of its control over cocaine trafficking in Europe, its presence in various countries, such as Canada, Australia, Germany, Switzerland and other European countries, and their ability to infiltrate politics and the legal economy.

“This book however is both about the transnational dimension of the clans and their local dimension in Calabria. The ‘ndrangheta is both a criminal organisation and a way of doing mafia, as we say, a criminal behaviour. It is important to understand that the ‘ndrangheta, which is as old as the Italian state, has been changing and transforming in the past decades also thanks to the conditions of its local environment, Calabria.”

In the book, Dr Sergi and Dr Lavorgna discuss the nature, structure, history and trafficking of the ‘Ndrangheta and analyse the increasingly global reach of these mafia clans.

Dr Sergi has studied the Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta for over 5 years and has previously written for The Conversation on why it’s time to bust some myths about the Calabrian mafia.

The book is published by Palgrave and is available as an e-book and hardback now.