Overview

Popular histories of organized crime in the United States often look to the Mafia and the sons of early twentieth-century immigrants such as Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, and Meyer Lansky for their origins. In this second edition of Organized Crime and American Power, Michael Woodiwiss refocuses on US organized crime as an American problem. The book starts in 1789, with the birth of a new nation, intended to be run according to laws and conventions, with a written commitment to civil rights. Woodiwiss examines the organization of crime before the Civil War, which damaged or destroyed the lives of those excluded from constitutional protections: Indigenous peoples, Black people, and women. The book focuses on white supremacist crime and the pernicious influence of Southern leaders in alliance with opportunistic politicians. It examines the organized crimes of powerful business interests in alliance with politicians, as well as the corrupt consequences of the US moralistic campaigns against alcohol, gambling, drugs, and abortion. Organized Crime and American Power brings solid historical evidence and analysis to the task of refuting conventional wisdom that frames organized crime as something external to US political, economic, and social systems.

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9781487543464

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Reviews

"""No one better than Michael Woodiwiss has been able to explain the complicated link between the rise of the most important democracy in the Western world and its organized crime 'problem.' In this new edition, Woodiwiss brilliantly revives the debates of the first edition and digs deeper into those processes of politicization that still characterize organized crime discourse and control in North America today."".--Anna Sergi, Professor of Criminology, University of Essex, and author of Chasing the Mafia: 'Ndrangheta, Memories and Journeys ""This second edition by acclaimed historian Michael Woodiwiss revisits his long-held observation that traditional gangsters have been framed as perpetrators outside the mainstream of society, instead of part and parcel of the capital market in illegal goods and services and a diversion from state and corporate venality. This is a must-have volume for those teaching or studying criminal organizations.""--Matthew G. Yeager, Emeritus Professor of Criminology, Western University and editor of Illegal Enterprise: The Work of Historian Mark Haller"

""No one better than Michael Woodiwiss has been able to explain the complicated link between the rise of the most important democracy in the Western world and its organized crime 'problem.' In this new edition, Woodiwiss brilliantly revives the debates of the first edition and digs deeper into those processes of politicization that still characterize organized crime discourse and control in North America today."".--Anna Sergi, Professor of Criminology, University of Essex, and author of Chasing the Mafia: 'Ndrangheta, Memories and Journeys ""This second edition by acclaimed historian Michael Woodiwiss revisits his long-held observation that traditional gangsters have been framed as perpetrators outside the mainstream of society, instead of part and parcel of the capital market in illegal goods and services and a diversion from state and corporate venality. This is a must-have volume for those teaching or studying criminal organizations.""--Matthew G. Yeager, Emeritus Professor of Criminology, Western University and editor of Illegal Enterprise: The Work of Historian Mark Haller

Author Information

Michael Woodiwiss teaches at the University of the West of England and was named a Distinguished Scholar by the International Association for the Study of Organized Crime in 2019.

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