CRIMINALITA' ORGANIZZATA CALABRESE TRA PERIODO LIBERALE E FASCISMO NELLE PROVINCE DI REGGIO CALABRIA E CATANZARO.

Abstract This research investigates the history of organized crime in the provinces of Catanzaro and Reggio Calabria, with particular attention to the district of Monteleone (today part of the province of Vibo Valentia), between the late nineteenth century and the Fascist period. The aim is to reconstruct, through the analysis of judicial sources, archival documents, and contemporary press materials, the dynamics of formation, diffusion, and repression of criminal organizations active in this area. Long considered a “minor” mafia, Calabrian organized crime has only recently attracted the attention of historians. This study fits into a line of research that seeks to fill the gaps in the historiography of the ’ndrangheta in peripheral areas compared to the better-studied Reggio Calabria context. In particular, it examines the evolution of the so-called picciotteria and its transformations over time, highlighting a ritual and symbolic continuity with the modern forms of the ’ndrangheta. The investigation begins with an analysis of judicial proceedings held between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, which reveal the presence in the Monteleone district of true camorrist “sects,” often interconnected with the criminal networks of the Gioia Tauro plain, especially with Palmi. Even in late-nineteenth-century documentation, we find ritual elements, specific terminology, hierarchical structures, and operational practices that anticipate the organizational model later attributed to the ’ndrangheta. Some trials reveal a structure divided into ranks (picciotti and camorristi), initiation rites involving symbolic use of blood and honor, and a territorial network encompassing various municipalities in the region. One of the most significant aspects emerging from the research concerns the role of spaces of forced coexistence—prisons, barracks, public worksites—in the dissemination of criminal models. Judicial records and testimonies show that the military environment, during and after the First World War, served as a privileged space for the transmission of mafia knowledge, as evidenced by the case of the “Società di Onore e Sangue di Pachì” (“Society of Honor and Blood of Pachì”). Special attention is also given to the role of women within ritual and operational contexts—an often overlooked yet recurrent element. The postwar period and the rise of Fascism marked a phase of reorganization for organized crime, but also of transformation in the political and judicial landscape. Fascist repression of Calabrian organized crime, although less systematic than in Sicily, was nonetheless documented in Monteleone and surrounding areas. However, the limited number of convictions for criminal association and the involvement of influential figures in the defense of the accused (such as lawyer and politician Ignazio La Russa) raise questions about the real effectiveness of Fascist repression and the possible political protection enjoyed by local criminal groups. The thesis also addresses the internal structure of the ’ndrangheta during this period, engaging with the historiographical debate over the existence of hierarchical leadership bodies—such as the “Criminale di Polsi” or the “Gran Criminale”—capable of exercising coordinating or judicial authority. While some testimonies support the idea of a structured and centralized organization, other sources suggest a more horizontal network of autonomous yet culturally homogeneous local groups. Ultimately, this research interprets Calabrian organized crime as a territorially rooted social phenomenon. The picciotteria thus appears as a historically and culturally continuous criminal model, anticipating many of the defining features of the modern ’ndrangheta. The proposed interpretative hypothesis points to a shared genesis of the Italian mafias (Camorra, Cosa Nostra, and ’Ndrangheta), originating in coercive environments—prisons, military regiments, construction camps—where violence, rituality, coded language, and secret structures were transmitted and transformed into a transregional criminal code. Post-unification Calabria, marked by poverty, weak state control, and the overlap between local political power and clientelistic interests, offered an ideal setting for the consolidation of these forms of organization. This thesis aims to contribute to the broader historical understanding of organized crime, providing a more nuanced and documented account of its roots in central and southern Calabria, and identifying the continuities and discontinuities that connect its early manifestations to the later evolution of the mafia phenomenon.