Familismo Amorale o regolazione sociale debole?

The paper explores the usefulness and the up-to-dateness of the analytical categories introduced by Banfield when he studied the community of Montegrano in Southern Italy. It addresses the issue of change with the intent to demonstrate how in the last 50 years Southern Italy has undergone a deep transformation. Change has however taken place trough a process, put in place by a system of patronage, of manipulation of the communities, of the politics, of the market and of the groups of interest. Patronage has weakened and manipulated the ability of regulatory makers (community, politics, market and groups of interest) and created a structural weakness of legality and an increase in organised crime. Mafia, in its various regional shapes, for its ability to control communities and to infiltrate statutory organisations represents the most severe problem of Southern Italy. The last part of the paper presents some cases of civic and social resistance to this process