Hibernation: Can Mafias Become Dormant?

• In Event: WG Organized Crime and Criminal Networks Panel 4. Mafias & governance-type organized crime

Abstract

Based on a study of mafia expansion grounded in empirical evidence, this paper examines whether, why, and with what consequences criminal organisations can become dormant over a sustained period of time. It argues that the outcome of mafia expansion is not binary (success/failure) but a continuum ranging from full transplantation of governance functions to mere market participation – and, at its extreme, hibernation. The term is borrowed from biology, where it indicates a lethargic state of reduced activity induced by external factors. Drawing on intercepts, judicial documentation, and fieldwork, the paper reconstructs the story of a series of Calabrian mafia clans operating around Lake Constance on the Swiss-German border. After decades of activity, they appear to have entered a period of dormancy between 2009 and 2016: they did not abandon the new territory, continued meeting, and kept their structures alive - but became inactive.

The concept of hibernation is virtually absent from discussions of mafia mobility specifically – and organised crime more broadly. This is partly due to the difficulty of documenting inactivity while simultaneously proving the persistence of a criminal structure. The paper argues that recognising hibernation as a distinct outcome of mafia expansion not only fills a theoretical gap but also raises critical ethical and legal questions. Are inactive mafiosi still mafiosi? What are the implications for stigma and reintegration policies? By introducing hibernation as a category of analysis, this paper contributes to scholarship on organised crime, criminology, and sociology by expanding our understanding of how criminal structures persist, adapt, and challenge conventional notions of activity, legality, and dissolution.

Author

• Zora Lea Hauser, University of Cambridge