What is the Russian Mafia? This unique book thoroughly researches this question and challenges widely-held views. The author charts the emergence of the Russian Mafia in the context of the transition to the market, the privatization of protection and pervasive corruption. The ability of the Russian State to define property rights and protect contracts is compared to the services offered by fragments of the state apparatus, private security firms, ethnic crime groups, the Cossacks and the Mafia. Past criminal traditions, rituals and norms have been resuscitated by the Mafia of today to forge a powerful new identity and compete in a crowded market for protection. The book draws on and reports of undercover police operations, in-depth interviews conducted over several years with the victims of the Mafia, criminals and officials, and documents from the Gulag archives. It also provides a comparative study, making references to other Mafia (the Japanese Yakuza, the Sicilian Cosa Nostra, American-Italian Mafia and the Hong Kong Triads).
Introduction ; I. THE TRANSITION TO THE MARKET AND PROTECTION IN RUSSIA ; 1. The Transition to the Market ; 2. The State as Supplier of Protection ; 3. Varieties of Protectors ; II. PRIVATE PROTECTION IN PERM ; 4. Searching for Protection ; 5. The Contract and the Serices ; III. THE RUSSIAN MAFIA ; 6. The Mafia in Perm ; 7. Mafia Ancestors ; 8. The Rusian mafia ; Conclusion