Power, Governance and Representation: an anthropological analysis of kinship, the ’Ndrangheta and dance within the Greek linguistic minority of Reggio Calabria, South Italy

Abstract

Power within the Greek linguistic minority in Reggio Calabria, South Italy, is found equally within symmetrical and asymmetrical nexuses of relations. In this thesis I argue that these relations have acquired the status and authority of governance. I consider there to be three main intertwined nexuses of relations that condition politics in Reggio; kinship, kin-like relations – such as friendship, godparenthood and the ’Ndrangheta (Calabrian Mafia) – and clientelism. The appropriation of kinship symbols such as the ‘archaic’ family, ancestors and saints into the modes of governance of these nexuses legitimises their authority. The two implicated and at first glance oppositional sovereignties – the ’Ndrangheta and the state – adopt the same language of representation, that of kinship, which suggests that there is no simple opposition between the two. Further examination of the politics of the Grecanici cultural associations problematises the coexistence of various forms of clientelism – inclusive as well as exclusive. Carefully assessing the ‘governmentalities’ of these relations, I conclude that power comes as the direct result of the actors’ productive kinesis across various social points and is not merely localised in ‘conventional’ political forms of representation such as the political parties, local administrators and economic lobbies. Thus my main theoretical argument comes to challenge previous understandings of a Southern Italian society characterised by vertical types of social relations that inhibit collective mobilisation and the empowerment of civil society.