The emergence of criminal organisations has been blamed on state weakness. But recent trends in organised crime expansion show that criminal groups often move to states with strong economies and institutions. As mafias establish permanent roots in new countries, Gemma Dipoppa suggests that migrant exploitation might play an important role
Postdoctoral Fellow in Political Science, Stanford University
Gemma's research studies the strategies used by criminal organisations to influence politicians, their capacity to drain public resources, and the effectiveness of policies to fight against them.
Her book project examines the conditions explaining the expansion of criminal organisations to strong states, focusing on mafias’ ability to control and exploit migrants’ labour and to capture politics.
