Anna Sergi
Biographic Data
| ID | 254672 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Anna Sergi |
| GIVEN NAMES | Anna |
| FAMILY NAME | Sergi |
| SIGNATURE | SERGI A |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Essex |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-9995-117X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 27 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 17 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 27 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2013 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Atmospheric Production of Nostalgia: Walking Through Little Italy in New York City Between Mafia Landmarks and Italian Heritage
This article focuses on mafia-themed tours through Little Italy and Nolita in New York City to interrogate how they reproduce La Cosa Nostra’s, the Italian-American mafia, ongoing relevance. The study shows how this type of ‘dark tourism’ distils complex histories into marketable myths that stabilize past reputation and translate it into present-day social (and eventually criminal) power. The walking-narrative and atmosphere approach combines par…
‘Familiness’ diversification and recognition: Intergenerational changes in mobile ‘ndrangheta families in Australia
Mafia-type families, envisioned as intergenerational (criminal) dynasties or family-based criminal groups, are shaped by recognition in the ‘underworld’ and affected by changes in their familiness . In Australia, mafia-type families or dynasties connected to the Calabrian ‘ndrangheta have been successful at exploiting licit and illicit opportunities across generations and places also thanks to their recognition as well as reputation. In this arti…
The Mafia Journey from Local Resentment to Global Drug Trafficking
This photo essay reconstructs the life of a member of the contemporary ’ndrangheta, the mafia organisation originating in Calabria, southern Italy. Mafia organisations are groups that seek out power and profit through both legal and illegal means. What characterises them, more generally, is a capacity to both ‘trade’ and ‘govern’. The ’ndrangheta is a leader in cocaine trafficking and mafia-type activities around the world
The ‘mafia cultural drift’: A digital ethnography of Calabrian parochialism and ’ndrangheta values on TikTok
This study investigates the relationship between the ’ndrangheta, a mafia organisation from Calabria, Southern Italy and Calabrian parochialism on TikTok. This research explores where and how local culture (‘Calabrianness’) meets mafia subculture also considering the translocal nature of both ‘ndrangheta mobility and Calabrian migration. Using a passive digital ethnography approach, 225 TikTok videos were collected over 3 months; the analysis rev…
Capturing Calabria? 'ndrangheta, corruption, and maladministration in local public institutions in Southern Italy
The ‘ndrangheta is the collective name of mafia-type groups from Calabria, Italy. Some ‘ndrangheta clans’ ability to influence local public institutions has been based on personal connections, systemic corruption, electoral influence, hidden exchanges, blackmailing power, and ‘elitarian handshakes’. Mafias have long-term interests in ‘capturing’ state’s institutions to gain profits, impunity, and generally a dominant position in the resulting bal…
Intergenerational and technological changes in mafia-type groups: A transcultural research agenda to study the ‘ndrangheta and its mobility
Mafia-type groups are increasingly mobile in their structures and in their activities. We propose here to revive cultural studies on mafias and organised crime by critically introducing insights from research on transculturation into mafia mobility studies. Transculturation helps understand how cultures stratify and engage with existing power imbalances in the host countries, within migration setting. We argue that transcultural transformations—p…
Cocaine and the port: Utopias of security, urban relations, and displacement of policing efforts in the port of Piraeus
In large commercial seaports policing and security efforts to counter the drug trade, especially cocaine, do not appear to be effective beyond a mere displacement effect. In the port of Piraeus, Greece, (perceived) rising quantities of cocaine have led to calls for further securitisation of the port to curb illicit trafficking. This article will present the current trends of countering and disrupting cocaine at the port of Piraeus and question ho…
To become ‘ndrangheta in Calabria: Organisational narrative criminology and the constitution of mafia organisations
The ‘ndrangheta is a mafia group from Calabria, Southern Italy. Considerable efforts have been made to understand the structures and the organisation of this mafia, not only in the province of Reggio Calabria where it originated, but also in other Calabrian provinces and even outside the Calabrian region. Building on judicial data from a recent maxi-trial (Rinascita-Scott) against ‘ndrangheta clans in the province of Vibo Valentia, we build a the…
Ethnic profiling of organised crime? A tendency of mafia-cation in the Netherlands
This article will explore how the current narratives (and corresponding changes) in Dutch organised crime policing relate to ethnic profiling of minorities in the Netherlands. It will do so by developing a theoretically informed narrative understanding of what we would like to conceptualise as ethnic profiling of organised crime (in the Netherlands), digging deeper into the connection between the role of ethnicity in organised crime studies inasm…
The Reputation of the Invisibles: The Society of Santa as a Para-Masonic Criminal Entity Above the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta
This paper explores how mafia-type and semi-secret organizations construct and preserve their reputation through a calibrated equilibrium between visibility and invisibility. We unpack the case study of the Society of Santa, in Calabria, which was a semi-secret entity, presented as a para-masonic deviant lodge, born within the local mafia clans ('ndrangheta). Through a narrative approach to investigating files, surveillance tapes, and trial docum…
Mafia, Deviant Masons and Corruption: Shifty Brotherhoods in Italy
This book is the first to consider the intersection between mafia power and deviant masonic lodges within the political sphere of the contemporary Italian state. At its core, it offers an analysis of the shifting interactions across powerful actors and the ways in which they balance reciprocal obedience, and a unique insight into the political processes where mafia actors and deviant lodges play a significant role in the allocation of resources. …
The Secret Nexus. A Case Study of Deviant Masons, Mafia and Corruption in Italy
This paper wishes to explore some characteristics of the relevant interconnections between mafias/mafiosi and masonic lodges/masons in the Italian context. The paper sets out to study these interconnections from a social science perspective rooted in sociological and neo-institutional studies of organised crime and mafias, but also in criminological approaches to social constructionism, in the form of symbols and narratives. We will present a cas…
Protection and Obedience. Deviant Masonry, Corruption, and Mafia in Italy
The historical connection between Italian masonry and opaque interests of \nwhite-collar and institutional actors populates common representations of \npower in Italy. The P2 case contributed to shape an Italian collective representation of the role of the masonry as a locus where almost everything can \nbe informally or illegally obtained by affiliates through the right connections, \nbribery, and blackmailing. Using a variety of resources, incl…
Chasing the Mafia: 'Ndrangheta, Memories and Journeys
Chasing the Mafia: 'Ndrangheta Memories and Journeys
The ‘ndrangheta – the Calabrian region of Italy’s mafia – is one of wealthiest and most powerful criminal organisations today. It is considered Italy’s most powerful mafia; it’s not only the main object of concern for anti-mafia units in Italy, but also joint investigative teams in Europe and beyond. Combining autobiography, travel ethnography, memoir, academic rigour and investigative journalism, this book provides a global outlook to the ‘ndran…
Chasing the Mafia: ‘Ndrangheta, Memories and Journeys
The ‘ndrangheta – the Calabrian region of Italy’s mafia – is one of wealthiest and most powerful criminal organizations today. It is considered Italy’s most powerful mafia; it’s not only the main object of concern for anti-mafia units in Italy, but also for joint investigative teams in Europe and beyond. Combining autobiography, travel ethnography, memoir, academic rigour and investigative journalism, this book provides a global outlook on the ‘n…
Playing Pac-Man in Portville: Policing the dilution and fragmentation of drug importations through major seaports
This article presents findings from a qualitative research project into organized crime, policing and security across five major seaports (‘Portvilles’): Genoa (Italy); Melbourne (Australia); Montreal (Canada); New York (USA); and Liverpool (UK). Through content analysis of confidential judicial files, the article will construct the offenders’ scenarios and options for importing drugs in Portville. Through also interviews with law enforcement age…
Mafia Borderland: Narratives, Traits, and Expectations of Italian-American Mafias in Ontario and the Niagara Region
This paper will investigate narratives, traits, and expectations of Italian-American mafias in North America. The specific case study is the area of Niagara, at the border between New York State, USA and Ontario, Canada. In this context, the artricle will mainly explore narratives and traits of so-called "mafia" families in the city of Hamilton, and their apparent connections with other "mafia" groups on the other side of the borderland, in Buffa…
Ports, Crime and Security: Governing and Policing Seaports in a Changing World
The COVID-19 pandemic, Brexit and the US-China trade dispute have heightened interest in the geopolitics and security of modern ports. Ports are where contemporary societal dilemmas converge: the (de)regulation of international flows; the (in)visible impact of globalization; the perennial tension between trade and security; and the thin line between legitimate, illicit and illegal. Applying a multidisciplinary lens to the political economy of por…
Ports, Crime and Security: Governing and Policing Seaports in a Changing World
The Covid-19 pandemic, Brexit and the US-China trade dispute have heightened interest in the geopolitics and security of modern seaports. Ports are where contemporary societal dilemmas converge: the (de)regulation of international flows; the (in)visible impact of globalisation; the perennial tension between trade and security; and the thin line between legitimate, illicit and illegal. Applying a multidisciplinary lens to the political economy of …
Shaping space. A conceptual framework on the connections between organised crime groups and territories: An introduction to the special issue on ‘Spaces of Organised Crime’
This paper, which is the introduction to this special issue on ‘Spaces of Organised Crime’, aims to analyse the nexus between organised crime groups and territories. Such groups are able to exploit resources that circulate within territorial contexts in which they are embedded. They also operate concretely as entities that can take part to the transformation of spaces into places . Accordingly, we will lay out an analytical model about the proces…
Survive or perish: Organised crime in the port of Montreal and the port of New York/New Jersey
Policing the port, watching the city. Manifestations of organised crime in the port of Genoa
This article will present the results of a qualitative research into organised crime in the port of Genoa, Italy’s largest port, by looking at the challenges of policing the port space. Through the case of Genoa, the paper reflects on how organised crime manifests across three trajectories in seaports: trafficking through the port, infiltration in the port economy and governance of the port management. This paper argues that the space and geograp…
Constructing the mafia concept on the bench. The legal battles in the ‘Mafia Capitale’ case in Rome
From Mafia to Organised Crime: A Comparative Analysis of Policing Models
This book presents primary research conducted in Italy, USA, Australia and UK on countering strategies against Italian mafia and local organized crime groups. Through interviews and document interpretation, the book wishes first, to interpret the interaction between institutional perceptions of these criminal threats and historical events that have shaped these perceptions the institutional. Second, the book combines analysis of policies and crim…
Policing the port, watching the city. Manifestations of organised crime in the port of Genoa
This article will present the results of a qualitative research into organised crime in the port of Genoa, Italy’s largest port, by looking at the challenges of policing the port space. Through the case of Genoa, the paper reflects on how organised crime manifests across three trajectories in seaports: trafficking through the port, infiltration in the port economy and governance of the port management. This paper argues that the space and geograp…
Survive or perish: Organised crime in the port of Montreal and the port of New York/New Jersey
Types of organised crime in Italy. The multifaceted spectrum of Italian criminal associations and their different attitudes in the financial crisis and in the use of Internet technologies
The Secret Nexus. A Case Study of Deviant Masons, Mafia and Corruption in Italy
This paper wishes to explore some characteristics of the relevant interconnections between mafias/mafiosi and masonic lodges/masons in the Italian context. The paper sets out to study these interconnections from a social science perspective rooted in sociological and neo-institutional studies of organised crime and mafias, but also in criminological approaches to social constructionism, in the form of symbols and narratives. We will present a cas…
Protection and Obedience. Deviant Masonry, Corruption, and Mafia in Italy
The historical connection between Italian masonry and opaque interests of \nwhite-collar and institutional actors populates common representations of \npower in Italy. The P2 case contributed to shape an Italian collective representation of the role of the masonry as a locus where almost everything can \nbe informally or illegally obtained by affiliates through the right connections, \nbribery, and blackmailing. Using a variety of resources, incl…
Constructing the mafia concept on the bench. The legal battles in the ‘Mafia Capitale’ case in Rome
Types of organised crime in Italy. The multifaceted spectrum of Italian criminal associations and their different attitudes in the financial crisis and in the use of Internet technologies
Ndrangheta: The Glocal Dimensions of the Most Powerful Italian Mafia
This book presents an historical and sociological account of the Italian mafia-type organisation known as the ‘ndrangheta. It draws together diverse perspectives on the various ‘ndrangheta clans and their behavioural models, focusing specifically on their organisational skills, their bonds with Calabrian society and Calabrian communities around the world, their mobility, and their characterisation as poly-crime organisations. The authors demonstr…
From Mafia to Organised Crime: A Comparative Analysis of Policing Models
This book presents primary research conducted in Italy, USA, Australia and UK on countering strategies against Italian mafia and local organized crime groups. Through interviews and document interpretation, the book wishes first, to interpret the interaction between institutional perceptions of these criminal threats and historical events that have shaped these perceptions the institutional. Second, the book combines analysis of policies and crim…
Constructing the mafia concept on the bench. The legal battles in the ‘Mafia Capitale’ case in Rome
Survive or perish: Organised crime in the port of Montreal and the port of New York/New Jersey
Policing the port, watching the city. Manifestations of organised crime in the port of Genoa
This article will present the results of a qualitative research into organised crime in the port of Genoa, Italy’s largest port, by looking at the challenges of policing the port space. Through the case of Genoa, the paper reflects on how organised crime manifests across three trajectories in seaports: trafficking through the port, infiltration in the port economy and governance of the port management. This paper argues that the space and geograp…
Ports, Crime and Security: Governing and Policing Seaports in a Changing World
The COVID-19 pandemic, Brexit and the US-China trade dispute have heightened interest in the geopolitics and security of modern ports. Ports are where contemporary societal dilemmas converge: the (de)regulation of international flows; the (in)visible impact of globalization; the perennial tension between trade and security; and the thin line between legitimate, illicit and illegal. Applying a multidisciplinary lens to the political economy of por…
Ports, Crime and Security: Governing and Policing Seaports in a Changing World
The Covid-19 pandemic, Brexit and the US-China trade dispute have heightened interest in the geopolitics and security of modern seaports. Ports are where contemporary societal dilemmas converge: the (de)regulation of international flows; the (in)visible impact of globalisation; the perennial tension between trade and security; and the thin line between legitimate, illicit and illegal. Applying a multidisciplinary lens to the political economy of …
Shaping space. A conceptual framework on the connections between organised crime groups and territories: An introduction to the special issue on ‘Spaces of Organised Crime’
This paper, which is the introduction to this special issue on ‘Spaces of Organised Crime’, aims to analyse the nexus between organised crime groups and territories. Such groups are able to exploit resources that circulate within territorial contexts in which they are embedded. They also operate concretely as entities that can take part to the transformation of spaces into places . Accordingly, we will lay out an analytical model about the proces…
Chasing the Mafia: 'Ndrangheta, Memories and Journeys
Chasing the Mafia: 'Ndrangheta Memories and Journeys
The ‘ndrangheta – the Calabrian region of Italy’s mafia – is one of wealthiest and most powerful criminal organisations today. It is considered Italy’s most powerful mafia; it’s not only the main object of concern for anti-mafia units in Italy, but also joint investigative teams in Europe and beyond. Combining autobiography, travel ethnography, memoir, academic rigour and investigative journalism, this book provides a global outlook to the ‘ndran…
Chasing the Mafia: ‘Ndrangheta, Memories and Journeys
The ‘ndrangheta – the Calabrian region of Italy’s mafia – is one of wealthiest and most powerful criminal organizations today. It is considered Italy’s most powerful mafia; it’s not only the main object of concern for anti-mafia units in Italy, but also for joint investigative teams in Europe and beyond. Combining autobiography, travel ethnography, memoir, academic rigour and investigative journalism, this book provides a global outlook on the ‘n…
Playing Pac-Man in Portville: Policing the dilution and fragmentation of drug importations through major seaports
This article presents findings from a qualitative research project into organized crime, policing and security across five major seaports (‘Portvilles’): Genoa (Italy); Melbourne (Australia); Montreal (Canada); New York (USA); and Liverpool (UK). Through content analysis of confidential judicial files, the article will construct the offenders’ scenarios and options for importing drugs in Portville. Through also interviews with law enforcement age…
Mafia Borderland: Narratives, Traits, and Expectations of Italian-American Mafias in Ontario and the Niagara Region
This paper will investigate narratives, traits, and expectations of Italian-American mafias in North America. The specific case study is the area of Niagara, at the border between New York State, USA and Ontario, Canada. In this context, the artricle will mainly explore narratives and traits of so-called "mafia" families in the city of Hamilton, and their apparent connections with other "mafia" groups on the other side of the borderland, in Buffa…
Mafia, Deviant Masons and Corruption: Shifty Brotherhoods in Italy
This book is the first to consider the intersection between mafia power and deviant masonic lodges within the political sphere of the contemporary Italian state. At its core, it offers an analysis of the shifting interactions across powerful actors and the ways in which they balance reciprocal obedience, and a unique insight into the political processes where mafia actors and deviant lodges play a significant role in the allocation of resources. …
The Secret Nexus. A Case Study of Deviant Masons, Mafia and Corruption in Italy
This paper wishes to explore some characteristics of the relevant interconnections between mafias/mafiosi and masonic lodges/masons in the Italian context. The paper sets out to study these interconnections from a social science perspective rooted in sociological and neo-institutional studies of organised crime and mafias, but also in criminological approaches to social constructionism, in the form of symbols and narratives. We will present a cas…
Protection and Obedience. Deviant Masonry, Corruption, and Mafia in Italy
The historical connection between Italian masonry and opaque interests of \nwhite-collar and institutional actors populates common representations of \npower in Italy. The P2 case contributed to shape an Italian collective representation of the role of the masonry as a locus where almost everything can \nbe informally or illegally obtained by affiliates through the right connections, \nbribery, and blackmailing. Using a variety of resources, incl…
Intergenerational and technological changes in mafia-type groups: A transcultural research agenda to study the ‘ndrangheta and its mobility
Mafia-type groups are increasingly mobile in their structures and in their activities. We propose here to revive cultural studies on mafias and organised crime by critically introducing insights from research on transculturation into mafia mobility studies. Transculturation helps understand how cultures stratify and engage with existing power imbalances in the host countries, within migration setting. We argue that transcultural transformations—p…
Cocaine and the port: Utopias of security, urban relations, and displacement of policing efforts in the port of Piraeus
In large commercial seaports policing and security efforts to counter the drug trade, especially cocaine, do not appear to be effective beyond a mere displacement effect. In the port of Piraeus, Greece, (perceived) rising quantities of cocaine have led to calls for further securitisation of the port to curb illicit trafficking. This article will present the current trends of countering and disrupting cocaine at the port of Piraeus and question ho…
To become ‘ndrangheta in Calabria: Organisational narrative criminology and the constitution of mafia organisations
The ‘ndrangheta is a mafia group from Calabria, Southern Italy. Considerable efforts have been made to understand the structures and the organisation of this mafia, not only in the province of Reggio Calabria where it originated, but also in other Calabrian provinces and even outside the Calabrian region. Building on judicial data from a recent maxi-trial (Rinascita-Scott) against ‘ndrangheta clans in the province of Vibo Valentia, we build a the…
Ethnic profiling of organised crime? A tendency of mafia-cation in the Netherlands
This article will explore how the current narratives (and corresponding changes) in Dutch organised crime policing relate to ethnic profiling of minorities in the Netherlands. It will do so by developing a theoretically informed narrative understanding of what we would like to conceptualise as ethnic profiling of organised crime (in the Netherlands), digging deeper into the connection between the role of ethnicity in organised crime studies inasm…
The Reputation of the Invisibles: The Society of Santa as a Para-Masonic Criminal Entity Above the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta
This paper explores how mafia-type and semi-secret organizations construct and preserve their reputation through a calibrated equilibrium between visibility and invisibility. We unpack the case study of the Society of Santa, in Calabria, which was a semi-secret entity, presented as a para-masonic deviant lodge, born within the local mafia clans ('ndrangheta). Through a narrative approach to investigating files, surveillance tapes, and trial docum…
Capturing Calabria? 'ndrangheta, corruption, and maladministration in local public institutions in Southern Italy
The ‘ndrangheta is the collective name of mafia-type groups from Calabria, Italy. Some ‘ndrangheta clans’ ability to influence local public institutions has been based on personal connections, systemic corruption, electoral influence, hidden exchanges, blackmailing power, and ‘elitarian handshakes’. Mafias have long-term interests in ‘capturing’ state’s institutions to gain profits, impunity, and generally a dominant position in the resulting bal…
Atmospheric Production of Nostalgia: Walking Through Little Italy in New York City Between Mafia Landmarks and Italian Heritage
This article focuses on mafia-themed tours through Little Italy and Nolita in New York City to interrogate how they reproduce La Cosa Nostra’s, the Italian-American mafia, ongoing relevance. The study shows how this type of ‘dark tourism’ distils complex histories into marketable myths that stabilize past reputation and translate it into present-day social (and eventually criminal) power. The walking-narrative and atmosphere approach combines par…
‘Familiness’ diversification and recognition: Intergenerational changes in mobile ‘ndrangheta families in Australia
Mafia-type families, envisioned as intergenerational (criminal) dynasties or family-based criminal groups, are shaped by recognition in the ‘underworld’ and affected by changes in their familiness . In Australia, mafia-type families or dynasties connected to the Calabrian ‘ndrangheta have been successful at exploiting licit and illicit opportunities across generations and places also thanks to their recognition as well as reputation. In this arti…
Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance (25 works) · Political science (21 works) · Sociology (19 works) · Criminology (15 works) · Law (15 works) · Organised crime (11 works) · Computer Science (10 works) · Crime Patterns and Interventions (8 works) · Geography (8 works) · Business (6 works)