What does this research mean for the field?

While anti-mafia movements in Western Sicily have increasingly focused on migrant rights to combat exploitation, Italy's immigration system continues to reproduce vulnerabilities that allow mafias to exploit migrants and local economies. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.INCREMENTAL. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

What question did this study set out to answer?

To examine how and why mafia exploitation of migrant populations became a central concern of anti-mafia activism and community economic development in Western Sicily.

September 14, 2026Urban Affairs ReviewOpen Access

Anti-Mafia, Migrant Rights, and Community Economic Development in Western Sicily

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Authors

DVDomenic VitielloUniversity of Pennsylvania

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Implication

Qualitative analysis demonstrates the integration of migrant rights into anti-mafia activism in Western Sicily, revealing how national immigration policies sustain organized crime exploitation.

Key Points

To examine how and why mafia exploitation of migrant populations became a central concern of anti-mafia activism and community economic development in Western Sicily.
Qualitative case analysis tracing the evolution of anti-mafia activism, urban governance, and community development initiatives in Palermo and Western Sicily since the 1990s.
Evaluation of the structural relationships between state immigration policies, organized crime control over housing and labor markets, and civil society resistance.
Anti-mafia organizations transformed their strategies by incorporating migrant rights and labor protections into broader community economic development and urban revitalization efforts.
National immigration frameworks continuously generate undocumented status and social exclusion, sustaining structural vulnerabilities that organized crime networks exploit within regional labor, housing, and commercial sectors.

Cite This Study

Domenic Vitiello (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6aa7b3ee0926e14a848b33d7 https://doi.org/10.1177/10780874261486849

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Implication

Qualitative analysis demonstrates the integration of migrant rights into anti-mafia activism in Western Sicily, revealing how national immigration policies sustain organized crime exploitation.

Anti-Mafia, Migrant Rights, and Community Economic Development in Western Sicily

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

Anti-Mafia, Migrant Rights, and Community Economic Development in Western Sicily

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

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