THE WELFARE OF FEAR: MAFIAS, NEED AND SOCIAL CONTROL

Organised crime does not thrive only on illegality: it thrives on emptiness. Where services, jobs and protections are lacking, mafias offer protection, money and belonging – a distorted welfare that generates dependence and consensus. Don Luigi Ciotti, founder of Libera, shows how strengthening the welfare state is the real answer to mafia infiltration into the social fabric. Fighting the mafias also – and above all – means restoring rights.