What is the Mafia organization?

Mafia is a term now popular worldwide, with which we are referring to a particular type of criminal organizations. The modern analysis of the phenomenon of Mafia consider it, even before a criminal organization, an "organization of power": it shows that the main guarantee of its existence is not much in the proceeds of illegal activities, as alliances and partnerships with officials of the state, particularly politicians and the media of certain segments of the population.
The term Mafia was first used to describe a native of Sicily criminal organization, more precisely defined as Cosa Nostra.
The word Mafia has several possible etymological origins, more or less realistic and verifiable:
But Hias derived from the Arabic word, "bravado", which is related to the bravado displayed by the members of this organization.
Derived from the expression of Arabic spoken, and not that of literature, but has significant financial "no" or "no".
Derivation of the word from Arabic mu'afak, "protection of the weak", or maha, "quarry".
Derivation of the Tuscan dialect word meaning maffia "misery" or "showy ostentation, arrogance."
Derived from the Sicilian Vespers and adopted as the theme song for Death to the French (Angevin) Independence Anela, Italy or Next (the historical currents Saints believes that the term is, however, before the Angevin rule).
Another reconstruction, leg connected to Sicily on the eve of Mazzini Unit, is one made in 1897 by historian William Heckethorn Ch. Although not considered acceptable, considering the term as an acronym for Mazzini Authorizes Mafia Fire Theft poisoning. This appeal was addressed to the secret organizations that were born on the island.
Traditionally it is said that a French soldier raped a young woman called Droetto. The terrified mother for what happened to his daughter ran the streets, shouting "But - ffia, Tue - ffia! 'Or' my daughter, my daughter." The cry of the mother was repeated by others, and the word spread from Palermo in Sicily. The term became so mafia slogan of the resistance movement, then was the genesis of the struggle by the Sicilians. [Citation needed]
In the event that the term derived from the Tuscan, would come into popular in Sicily shortly after the unification of Italy in 1862, taking the dell'affievolimento phonetic phenomenon, as revenue using the Sicilian Tuscan other words, that " machine "machine becomes," disease "diseases, and" morning "morning, and was used to determine both the secret organization of the working classes, that precisely in the" mafia "at that time were defending against the excessive power of the dominant classes, both the bravado and the showy display, typical of the "mafia" at that time.
And even today, in Sicily, the adjective "mafiusu" is also used to indicate something incredibly flashy or expensive: a dress elegant or prestigious car is "a vistitu mafiusu, 'na mafiusa machine" because once the people saw in the mafia at that time his lawyer because it puts the idea of ​​social justice with that dell'avvenenza and athleticism.
According to historian Giuseppe Pitrè, popular traditions, the term was used in the parlance of a popular neighborhood of Palermo and was synonymous with beauty and boldness.
The phrase becomes a common word Mafia since 1863, with the drama The Vicar of Joseph de la mafiusi Rizzotto and Gaetano Mosca, which had great success and was translated into Italian, Neapolitan and Milanese, spreading the word throughout the national territory .
In this drama, mafiuso is the Camorra, the choleric, the '"man of honor", ie the individual who joins an association which is opposed to the institutions and who displays courage and superiority. In "Mafia, or association malandrinesca" mentions a confidential document signed by the then prefect of Palermo, Filippo Antonio Gualterio in April 1865.
In the sixties of the nineteenth century begins, however, the luck of the word, even in official documents, such as state officials in communications, indicates, as well as a criminal, an act widely spread in Sicilian society.

Leonardo Sciascia, 1972, by written notice at the release of "Day of the Owl" in the series "Readings for the middle school" Einaudi "But the Mafia was, and is something else: a system that moves and has interests in Sicily economic and power of a class that can be said about middle-class, and does not arise and develop in a vacuum state (ie when the state, with its laws and its functions, is weak or missing), but within a state. The Mafia is in fact nothing more than a parasitic bourgeoisie, a bourgeoisie that entrepreneurs but only uses "
The Mafia adopting behaviors based on a model of state economy, but it is parallel and underground. The Mafia organization benefits from numerous types of criminal activity:

arms trafficking
forgery
smuggling of cigarettes, tobacco and other goods
drug trafficking, hard and soft drugs (mainly)
trafficking of illegal refugees
gamble
prostitution
kidnapping
extortion racket (lace)
theft
Procurement
traffic hulls
agricultural fraud against the EU and AIMA
usury
Major organizations
Cosa Nostra - Sicily
Camorra - Naples
'Ndrangheta - Calabria
Sacra Corona Unita - Puglia
Remo free Lecce - Puglia
Stidda - Sicily
Similar organizations
Mala del Brenta - Veneto
Banda Magliana - Rome
Basilisks - Basilicata (Potenza, Matera, Policoro)
Case Delcorte - Feltre (Treviso)
The Mafia abroad
American Cosa Nostra - USA
Organizatsya - Russia
Yakuza - Japan
Triads - China
Turkish Mafia - Turkey
Nigerian Mafia - Nigeria
Bulgarian Mafia - Bulgaria
Mexican Mafia - Mexico
Albanian mafia - Albania
Narcos - Colombia
Some movies about the Mafia that I recommend:

Placido Rizzotto (2000) regia di Pasquale Scimeca
I cento passi (2000) regia di Marco Tullio Giordana
Luna Rossa (2001) regia di Antonio Capuano
L'attentatuni (2001) regia di Claudio Bonivento
Angela (2002) regia di Roberta Torre
Era mio padre (2002) regia di Sam Mendes
Un boss sotto stress (2002) regia di Harold Ramis
Gli angeli di Borsellino (2003) regia di Rocco Cesareo
E io ti seguo (2003) regia di Maurizio Fiume
Segreti di stato (2003) regia di Paolo Benvenuti
Io non ho paura (2003) regia di Gabriele Salvatores
Ultimo l'infiltrato (2004) regia di Michele Soavi
Certi bambini (2004) regia di Andrea Frazzi e Antonio Frazzi
Alla luce del sole (2005) regia di Roberto Faenza
La mafia è bianca (2005) regia di Stefano Maria Bianchi e Alberto Nerazzini
In un altro paese (2006) regia di Marco Turco
Il fantasma di Corleone (2006) regia di Marco Amenta
Romanzo criminale (2006) regia di Michele Placido
Prova ad incastrarmi (2006) regia di Sidney Lumet
The Departed (2007) regia di Martin Scorsese
L'ultimo dei corleonesi (2007) regia di Alberto Negrin
Scacco al re (2007) regia di Claudio Canepari e Piergiorgio Di Cara
Vedi Napoli e poi muori (2007) regia di Enrico Caria