Reversible Destiny: Mafia, Antimafia, and the Struggle for Palermo

by Peter T. Schneider, Jane Schneider

Reversible Destiny traces 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 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.

Genres: Society

356 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Zelia]

A fascinating anthropological study on the Sicilian cosa nostra

[Elena]

If you want to know the history of the Mafia, read this book. I had to for class..