Organized crime is becoming a growing problem for Swedish companies. A new SNS report shows that the efforts to combat the mafia in Italy may offer us valuable lessons. In Italy, the so-called “three legs” – political commitment, adequate laws and civil society engagement – have played a key role in terms of successfully combatting the mafia, writes political scientist Carina Gunnarson.
The Italian mafia has for a long time exerted a great influence on both local communities and the business sector. By means of methods such as protection money, debt collection and threats, they weaken the regular economy and pose a serious threat to business owners. Sweden is currently facing similar challenges, despite the substantial differences between the two countries. Criminal networks have started to infiltrate not only companies but also public services, which threatens business activities and may lead to criminal actors having political influence.
In her report Business Owners and Consumers Against the Mafia, Carina Gunnarson studies how anti-mafia movements in Italy, especially in Palermo in Sicily, have successfully addressed the problem of business owners being pressured. She proposes a number of initiatives to proactively improve Sweden’s resilience with regard to organized crime.
Municipalities play a key role in the efforts to create safe environments for Swedish companies and citizens. They must strengthen their control over public procurement processes and property ownership. This, in turn, enables them to prevent criminal networks from establishing themselves in the local business community, shopping centers and city squares. Municipalities may also offer consumer guidance as to which companies are law-abiding while also involving the business community in crime prevention efforts.
Industry associations also play an important role in terms of offering companies both practical and moral support when it comes to filing police reports as well as through training and information materials on the best ways of dealing with threats and blackmail. The report also highlights another powerful but often overlooked resource – consumer power. Carina Gunnarson emphasizes that this method has not been sufficiently highlighted in Sweden despite its great potential.
“By making conscious choices and supporting law-abiding companies, we may all, in a fairly simple and undramatic way, contribute to a healthy and sustainable business sector, simply through the choices we make when shopping and the companies we choose to use,” says Gunnarson.
She also stresses the importance of long-term efforts to address people’s values, which has been a key strategy in the Italian grassroots movements. Working with young people is particularly important. Efforts such as local campaigns and school visits by the police have been used to create a culture in which crime is neither accepted nor normalized.
“In Sweden, we have a strong criminal justice system, committed government agencies and a business sector that is increasingly taking more responsibility. By learning from Italy and by collaborating, we are in a good position to prevent organized crime from gaining a foothold in Sweden,” argues Carina Gunnarson.
About the author
Carina Gunnarson is an associate professor of political science and an affiliated researcher at the Department of Government at Uppsala University. She mainly works at the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI).
About the report
The report is written within the framework of the SNS research project Crime and Society. The report focuses on the local grassroots movement Addiopizzo, which – for the first time in the history of Palermo – mobilized business owners and consumers against the mafia’s practice of demanding pizzo (i.e., protection money). This movement was founded in 2004 by a group of friends and appeared in public a year later. Addiopizzo is now a well-known and well-established actor in Palermo. More than 1,000 business owners and 13,500 consumers have joined Addiopizzo’s campaign “Against protection money – change your shopping habits.” Carina Gunnarson has also written the SNS report The Vulnerable State, published in 2023, as part of the same research project. This report examined the state of knowledge and presented an overall picture of how organized crime may affect the Swedish state and municipalities.