Augusto Cavadi

This work comprises a theoretical discussion and proposed methodological tools for establishing a critical and comprehensive anti-mafia educational programme. It’s divided into five parts: theoretical aspects of anti-mafia education; pedagogical approaches; practical experiences; law procedures; available bibliographies on the topic.

In this work, Cavadi argues that the anti-mafia movement should be as organised as mafia organisations are. He proposes that alongside the repressive forces of police and policing institutions, a predominant and pedagogical role should be fulfilled by schools, churches and social organisations and should aim at counterposing a moral and intellectual form of resistance to the mafia phenomenon.

By recalling the trauma that society suffered following the homicides by the mafia organisation Cosa Nostra that took place in the Italian island of Sicily in 1992 - which involved more than 20 victims, including the judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, their security and mafia informers -, Cavadi introduces some reflections on how every part of civil society is responsible for building a different society. He discusses the importance of awareness of how mafia works, alongside the importance of adopting a particular ideological, ethical, political, economic, and pedagogic orientation to solidify a strong anti-mafia movement.