International Journal on Criminology Volume 7, Number 1, Winter 2019/2020 | Page 72

Criminal Networks: The Forgotten Actors of International Politics
side the Russian Bratva. Currently, it is arguable that the most powerful criminal
organizations are the Ndrangheta, Mexican cartels, and the Triad Sun Yee On,
which alone has over 50,000 members.
New comers in the criminal upper-world such as Mexican cartels and Nigerian
Crime Syndicates (NCS) share many characteristics with traditional Mafias.
They run large and highly profitable illicit and licit economic activities and thrive
within varied legal and regulatory environments (Williams 2014). Yet, their short
existence and structural instability, their excessive use of violence and, for some,
their interest in short-term profits rather than long-term power differentiates them
from Mafias (Criminal Intelligence Agency 2000).
1.3. Literature Review
Mafias are by essence a sensitive issue, difficult to treat or controversial to write
about. Mafias have suffered a historic academic oblivion in most fields of research,
from Anthropology to History and from Economics to Sociology. Yet, Mafias are
ancient actors, present in the political and geopolitical landscapes over past centuries,
and mentioned in official documents since the eighteenth century for Triads
or nineteenth century for Cosa Nostra (Grennan and Britz 2006). Mafias have often
played an unknown, yet crucial, role in pivotal historical moments such as the
Second World War, the Cuban Missile Crisis or the birth of the so-called Françafrique
system at the end of the decolonization process in the former A.O.F. and
A.E.F. 1 Example: Asserting their nationalistic heritage and the defense of the Samurai
Bushido (code of honours), Yakuzas notably proved their know-how during
colonial adventures by providing intelligence, conducting terrorist actions in enemy’
territories, and funding the war effort by developing all sorts of licit and illicit
trafficking, enriching themselves considerably in the process (Chomsky 2011).
Nonetheless, Mafias are barely mentioned in any mainstream historical, political
science, or economic analysis.
Moreover, Mafias are rarely defined separately from organized crime and
even less as a Weberian type of actor with a strategic aim to obtain power (Den
Boer 1999). Mafias are not considered potential competitors to Nation-States. Finally,
Hagedorn’s work highlights the blatant shortfall in criminologists’ sociological
approach of crime. In fact, academic obsession with structural inequalities in
global markets pushing marginalized communities into illicit activities has incited
liberal scholars like Kelly or Cockayne to focus on organized crime’ influence in
under-developed territories, voluntarily turning a blind eye on the fact that Mafias
are thriving in every part of the world thanks to liberal market flaws and evolution,
notably in the finance world. Thus, even when Mafias are considered as distinctive
and powerful entities, their economic, territorial, coercive, and social influences
are partially or separately considered (Pearce and Woodiwiss 1993).
1 Afrique Occidentale Française and Afrique Equatoriale Française.
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