Italian Mafia: Origins and Development in Italy

Dr Gloria Pastorino, Professor Emerita, FDU
 5 Tuesday afternoons, 1:30–3:30 pm; January 20, 27, February 3, 10, and 17, 2026

Four OPTIONAL films are available on streaming or for viewing in the Madison Library prior to class

These Zoom lectures look at the development of organized crime in Italy from its inception as Cosa nostra in Sicily in the 19th century to its ramifications as Mafia, camorra, ‘Ndrangheta, and Sacra Corona Unita in the 21st century. We will analyze issues of power, political corruption, governmental connivance (national and international), and gender.

Interested attendees will watch four films (available on streaming, subtitled) on their own before each of the last four lectures. For those who do not have access to the streaming service, the Madison Library will show the films in the Chase Room prior to each class. 

-One Hundred Steps, Marco Tullio Giordana, 2000

-The Sicilian Girl, Marco Amenta, 2008

-Gomorrah, Matteo Garrone, 2008

-Black Souls, Francesco Munzi, 2014

Even though the term “mafia” has become popular worldwide to define any kind of organized crime, these lectures focus on Italy alone.