Ebook: Cultural Warfare and Trust: Fighting the Mafia in Palermo

Cultural Warfare and Trust: Fighting the Mafia in Palermo concentrates on a central issue in research on democratic processes: the development of generalized trust. The existence of generalized trust and confidence in a society is decisive for economic development and an effective democracy. The book examines political efforts to combat Palermo's mafia-controlled heritage and to turn a tradition of non-cooperation and distrust into cooperation and trust. In particular, it focuses on the school program launched in Palermo during the mid-1990s, which was designed to break the mafia's territorial and mental control. Fusing theories from the discourses of social capital and civic education, the author presents and analyses new quantitative and qualitative research carried out in seven public schools in Palermo.