Abstract

The article introduces this special issue on mafias and their expansion in contemporary Italy. It moves from an evaluation of the current state of mafia studies as it appears from general data on the Italian book market to offer some reasons for sustaining further investment in this research area. It also recalls the relevance of mafia as a research topic in the journal «Polis» since its inception in 1987 till this special issue - the third devoted to mafia after the first in 1987 and the second in 2000. The article then briefly introduces the contents of the following articles and concludes with a few critical remarks on present mafia studies as represented in these articles, including the absence of a truly sociological consideration of the state as an institutional model and its limits.