Hands over the city: the Mafia, L’Ora and the sack of Palermo

Abstract

The article is a critical investigation of the role played by the Palermo left-wing newspaper L’Ora in uncovering the Sicilian Mafia’s urban affairs and property speculation during the sack of Palermo in the 1960s. It pays particular attention to L’Ora’s complex narrative concerning the urban Mafia and the many obstacles that the newspaper encountered in its attempt to defend the city. The article aims to explain L’Ora’s account of the Mafia as an intersection of violent crime, politics and business. This study uses investigative series and archival sources to explain the emergence of ‘antimafia’ as both concept and political practice in the urban history of Palermo.