La costruzione sociale della camorra: L’arena dei discorsi pubblici in un caso studio in Campania

Abstract

In the field of scientific studies on mafias, their relationship with the territorial context is configured as a specific space of genesis and reproduction of criminal groups but also as a place of production of social representations of the phenomenon. A plurality of actors defines and directs the public discourse on the Mafia, participating in its social construction. This work investigates these modes of social representation associated with the criminal phenomenon, presenting the case of a community traditionally affected by the presence of Camorra clans. In this community the progressive affirmation of the clans is accompanied by numerous episodes of violence, which are the main symbolic element on which the process of recognition of the Camorra by the local community develops. The analysis of the case study is therefore a useful starting point for the historical-sociological understanding of the processes of social construction of mafia phenomena.