Tracing the history of the Sicilian mafia to its 19th-century roots, this text examines its late-20th-century involvement in urban real estate and construction as well as drugs. Based on research in the regional capital of Palermo, the book suggests lessons regarding secretive organized crime.

List of Illustrations 
Acknowledgments
Maps 
1. The Palermo Crucible 
2. The Genesis of the Mafia 
3. The Mafia and the Cold War 
4. The Cultural Production of Violence 
5. Seeking Causes, Casting Blame 
6. Mysteries and Poisons 
7. The Antimafia Movement 
8. Backlash and Renewal 
9. Civil Society Groundwork 
10. Recuperating the Built Environment 
11. “Cultural Re-education” 
12. Reversible Destiny 
Notes 
References 
Index 
 

"In Sicily politics, mafia, and social history are impenetrably entangled—or so I had thought until I read Reversible Destiny. The Schneiders have performed a near miracle: an accurate, objective, and very readable account of the Palermo anti-mafia movement, its roots, its accomplishments, its shortcomings, and its prospects. In a time when these prospects are ever bleaker, this should be obligatory reading for anyone concerned with the consequences of organized crime and corruption for civic life."—Mary Taylor Simeti, author, most recently, of Travels with a Medieval Queen

"Written by scholars renowned for both their expertise on Sicilian society and their political savvy, Reversible Destiny tells, for the first time, the story of the rise of the anti-mafia movement in Sicily. Eagerly awaited by scholars, it offers a highly readable examination of a fascinating topic."—David I. Kertzer, author of The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara

"Jane and Peter Schneider have done it again. Using a variety of ethnographic, documentary, interview, and judicial sources, combined with their deep knowledge of the Mafia, they document the rise of the anti-Mafia movement in Palermo, the reaction to it of the elite, and its varied impacts on the city's life. Far from utopian, their clear-eyed vision illuminates the deep roots of the Mafia's cultural legitimacy, the obstacles that the anti-Mafia movement has encountered, and the continuing struggle to build a civil society in the city."—Sidney Tarrow, author of Power in Movement: Social Movements and Contentious Politics