ABSTRACT
I t i s d i f f i c u l t to discuss a phenomenon when one does not know precisely what it is. This problem is particularly vexing in the case of the Mafia. It has been argued that ‘the need for a definition [of the Mafia] is crucial; not just for any definition with some degree of contingent empirical plausibility, but for a definition with some analytical clout’ (i). T he word ‘Mafia* itself has travelled far to distant lands, such as the former Soviet Union. For instance, according to Arkadii Vaksberg, Russian journalist and author of The Russian M afia , the Mafia is ‘the entire soviet power-system, all its ideological, political; economical and administrative manifestations’ (2). In an article publi shed in a magazine for British executives dealing with Russia, the label Mafiosi is used to lump together bureaucrats, smugglers from the Caucasus, the c p s u nomenklatura accused of embezzling state funds, the late British businessman Robert Maxwell and many others (3).
