Cultural warfare and trust Fighting the Mafia in Palermo.

Gunnarson, Carina.

Cultural warfare and trust Fighting the Mafia in Palermo. - Manchester : Manchester University Press, (c)2008. - 1 online resource (263 pages) - Perspectives on Democratic Practice .

Includes bibliographies and index.

9780719076725; 9780719076725; Copyright Page; Contents; Tables; Acknowledgements; 1 Introduction; Cultural warfare; Generalised trust and school; This study; The plan of the book; 2 The origins of generalised trust; The blessings of generalised trust; What are the origins of generalised trust?; Institutional explanations; School factors; Competing explanations; Conclusion; 3 Methods; Selection of level, schools and classes; Composition of the questionnaire; Measuring trust; The samples; The panel; Participation in the survey; 4 The Mafia; The Mafia as a parallel institution to the state. The Mafia and politicsThe Mafia and territorial control; Weakness of the state -cause or consequence of the Mafia?; The Mafia and mental control; Conclusion; 5 Cultural warfare; Orlando's new policy for Palermo; Orlando's decline; Increased interest in civic education; Conclusion; 6 Students' trust in political institutions; Vertical trust; Are Palermitan students more distrustfulthan students elsewhere?; Conclusion; 7 Students' perceptions of generalised trust; Generalised trust; Helpfulness; Trust in known people; Trust in unknown people; Conclusion; 8 Explaining generalised trust. Institutions and schoolFormative years; Theory and major hypotheses; Data and method; Levels of trust in 2002 and 2005; Testing the hypotheses; Conclusion; 9 The Letter Project -- students' own stories; Description of the Letter Project; Students' motivation; Distribution of assignments; School life; Students' own stories about trust andfaith in other people; Students' stories about their neighbourhood; Relating letters to statistics; Conclusion; 10 Conclusion; Describing trust; Explaining generalised trust; The Letter Project; Further findings; Some reflections; The need for further research. Cultural warfareAppendix: the distribution ofthe questionnaires; Reliability; Drop-outs and newcomers; References; Index.

Cultural warfare and trust: fighting the Mafia in Palermo concentrates on a central issue in research on democratic processes: the development of generalised trust. The existence of generalised trust and confidence in a society is decisive for economic development and an effective democracy. Is it possible to fight persistent values of distrust and non-cooperation? Is it possible to support the development of generalised trust through public action and education?The book addresses these questions by examining political efforts to combat Palermo?s Mafia-controlled heritage and to turn a traditi.



9781847792174


Civil society--Palermo.--Italy
Cooperation--Palermo.--Italy
Education--Social aspects--Palermo.--Italy
Mafia--Palermo.--Italy
Palermo (Italy)--Politics and government.
Social capital (Sociology)--Palermo.--Italy
Trust.
Trust.
Cooperation--Italy--Palermo.
Mafia--Italy--Palermo.
Civil society--Italy--Palermo.
Social capital (Sociology)--Italy--Palermo.


Electronic Books.

HM708 / .C858 2008