Collaborative governance against organised crime: fighting caporalato ‘from below’

Abstract Italy’s dynamics of labour exploitation in agriculture have recently attracted intense scrutiny, nationally and internationally. Legislative reform and multiple policy initiatives have been introduced since 2016 to address some of the factors driving exploitation within and beyond traditional mafia areas. While much scholarship has examined the effectiveness of legislation and enforcement, little attention has been paid to the policies’ more innovative dimensions. Indeed, recognising that repression is not enough to deter criminal exploitation of workers, Italy has devised a model of governance-with-civil-society, seeking to mobilise and empower grassroots actors to tackle the causes of these crimes. This article assesses whether this collaborative governance approach is proving able to achieve its goals. It draws on grey literature and semi-structured interviews with civil society actors tasked with fighting exploitation from ‘below’: unionists, activists, NGOs, independent observers, and alternative food producers. Borrowing from collaborative governance studies, it identifies strengths and weakness, and discusses whether the model offers a viable approach for fighting organised and white-collar crime in Italy beyond traditional ‘anti-mafia’ systems.