ORGANIZATIONS
Italians standing together
What organizations are doing something, on the ground, against organized crime in Italy? There are many. Here are a few, presented with the care they deserve. More are on their way.
GOEL
Gruppo cooperativo
Gioisa Ionica, Calabria
Founded 2003
In Calabria, one of Italy’s most ‘Ndrangheta-affected areas — GOEL brings together cooperatives, organic farmers, and local businesses that have openly refused to submit.
What sets GOEL apart in the antimafia landscape is its insistence on economic independence.
GOEL is not really a well-known name outside Calabria, but it is a great example to know.
LIBERA
NATIONAL NETWORK
Rome, Italy
Founded 1995
Libera brings together more than 1,600 associations, cooperatives, and schools across every region of Italy — the country’s broadest civil network against organized crime.
What sets Libera apart in the antimafia landscape is what happens next: its advocacy led to a law that turns confiscated mafia property into farms, cooperatives, and jobs.
Libera is probably the best-known name here — but its “Libera Terra” cooperatives, farming land once owned by the mafia, are the part worth knowing better.
ADDIOPIZZO
VOLUNTEER ASSOCIATION
Palermo, Sicily
Founded 2004
In 2004, a group of friends in Palermo who wanted to open a pub realized they’d eventually face a demand for pizzo — so they started papering the city with stickers instead.
What sets Addiopizzo apart in the antimafia landscape is its focus on consumers: since 2005, its “consumo critico” campaign has rewarded, with everyday purchases, the shopkeepers who refuse to pay.
Addiopizzo is one of the more recognized names in the antimafia world — a reminder that resistance can start with a sticker and a decision to shop somewhere else.
FAI
NATIONAL FEDERATION
Italy
Founded 1997
FAI’s roots go back to 1990, in Capo d’Orlando, Sicily, where shopkeepers first decided to report extortion together rather than alone — a year before Libero Grassi was murdered for refusing to pay.
What sets FAI apart in the antimafia landscape is who runs it: entrepreneurs who reported their own extortionists, now sitting at the institutional tables where anti-mafia policy gets made.
FAI federates close to a hundred local anti-racket associations across Italy — most of them far less known nationally than their work deserves.
ALA
ANTIRACKET NETWORK
Lamezia Terme, Calabria
Founded 2005
In 2005, thirteen people in Lamezia Terme — including Don Giacomo Panizza — founded ALA to give local entrepreneurs a way to resist extortion and usury together rather than alone.
What sets ALA apart in the antimafia landscape is “Mani Libere in Calabria,” the network of four associations it has led since 2021, offering free legal support to anyone who decides to report.
ALA is not a name most people outside Calabria have heard — which is exactly why it belongs on this list.