A tale of reverse deviance: non-compliant spatial practices in the land of Gomorrah

The paper provides an ethnographic account of the regeneration of space for the establishment of legal worker cooperatives in previous mafia territories. It aims to illuminate, by contrast, how space reflects the social construction of the mafia governance. The account of non-compliant spatial practices of legal worker cooperatives in the area of Caserta elucidates how mafia groups set great value on space, making sense of the societal dimension of territoriality for Italian organised crime. This paper explores the link between space and organised crime not only in ecological terms but also in cultural ones. Furthermore, it suggests an alternative methodology for accessing the unspoken of the mafia phenomenon.