View source for 'Ndrina

{{Short description|Basic unit of the 'Ndrangheta of Calabria}}
[[File:Struttura ndrangheta.jpg|thumb|The structure of the [['Ndrangheta]]. Local 'ndrina are the building blocks, at the base of the hierarchy.]]
The ''' 'ndrina''' ({{IPA|it|nˈdriːna|lang}}, <small>plural:</small> {{lang|it|'ndrine}}; {{IPA|scn-IT-78|ɳˈɖɽiːna|lang}},  <small>plural:</small> {{lang|scn|'ndrini}}) is the basic unit of the [['Ndrangheta]] of [[Calabria]], made up of blood relatives, and is the equivalent of the [[Sicilian Mafia]]’s "family" or ''[[cosca]]''.<ref name=varese>Varese, ''[http://www.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/Economics/History/paper59/59varese.pdf How Mafias Migrate]''</ref><ref name=gratteri27>Gratteri & Nicaso ''Fratelli di sangue'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=TTUWeZBiBrUC&pg=PA27 p. 27]</ref><ref name=nicaso1>Nicaso & Danesi, ''Made Men'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=5fEQAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA23 p. 23]</ref> The word derives from [[Greek language|Greek]], meaning "a man who does not bend". Each '' 'ndrina'' is "autonomous on its territory and no formal authority stands above the '' 'ndrina'' boss." The '' 'ndrina'' is usually in control of a small town or a neighbourhood in larger cities, even outside Calabria, in cities and towns in the industrial North of Italy, in and around [[Turin]] and [[Milan]].<ref name=varese/>
If more than one '' 'ndrina'' operates in the same town, they form a ''[[Locale ('Ndrangheta)|locale]]'', the main local organizational unit of the 'Ndrangheta with [[jurisdiction]] over an entire town or an area in a large urban center.<ref name=nicaso1/><ref name=paoli29>Paoli, ''Mafia Brotherhoods'', [https://archive.org/details/mafiabrotherhood0000paol/page/29/mode/1up pp. 29-30]</ref> In some cases, sub-'' 'ndrine'' have been established. The '' 'ndrine'' enjoy a high degree of autonomy – they have a leader, the [[capobastone]], and independent staff. In some contexts the '' 'ndrine'' have become more powerful than the ''locale'' on which they formally depend.<ref name=paoli29/>
Blood family and membership of the crime family overlap to a great extent within the 'Ndrangheta. By and large, the '' 'ndrine'' consist of men belonging to the same family lineage, under the command of the capobastone.<ref name=varese/><ref name=gratteri27/><ref name=nicaso1/> Salvatore Boemi, Anti-mafia prosecutor in Reggio Calabria, told the Italian [[Antimafia Commission]] that "one becomes a member for the simple fact of being born in a mafia family," although other reasons might attract a young man to seek membership, and non-kin have also been admitted.<ref name=varese/>
Marriages help cement relations within each '' 'ndrina'' and to expand membership. As a result, a few blood families constitute each group, hence "a high number of people with the same last name often end up being prosecuted for membership of a given '' 'ndrina''." Since there is no limit to the membership of a single unit, bosses try to maximize descendants.<ref name=varese/>
== References ==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* {{in lang|it}} Gratteri, Nicola & Antonio Nicaso (2006). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=TTUWeZBiBrUC Fratelli di sangue]'', Cosenza: Pellegrini Editore, {{ISBN|88-8101-373-8}}
* Nicaso, Antonio & Marcel Danesi (2013). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=5fEQAAAAQBAJ Made Men: Mafia Culture and the Power of Symbols, Rituals, and Myth]'', Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, {{ISBN|978-1-4422-2227-4}}
* Paoli, Letizia (2003). ''[https://archive.org/details/mafiabrotherhood0000paol/ Mafia Brotherhoods: Organized Crime, Italian Style]'', New York: Oxford University Press {{ISBN|0-19-515724-9}} ([http://www.organized-crime.de/revpao01mafiandrangheta.htm Review] by Klaus Von Lampe) ([https://web.archive.org/web/20071026131902/https://www.ccja-acjp.ca/en/cjcr/cjcr68.html Review] by Alexandra V. Orlova)
* Varese, Federico. ''[http://www.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/Economics/History/paper59/59varese.pdf How Mafias Migrate: The Case of the 'Ndrangheta in Northern Italy]'', Discussion Papers in Economic and Social History, Number 59, University of Oxford, July 2005
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{{'Ndrine}}
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[[Category:History of the 'Ndrangheta]]
[[Category:Organized crime terminology]]
[[Category:Italian words and phrases]]