Table of Contents

Introduction
I. The Transition to the Market and Protection in Russia
1: The Transition to the Market
2: The State as Supplier of Protection
3: Varieties of Protectors
II. Private protection in Perm
4: Searching for Protection
5: The Contract and the Serices
III. The Russian Mafia
6: The Mafia in Perm
7: Mafia Ancestors
8: The Rusian mafia
Conclusion

Promotional Information

Co-winner, 2002 Ed A. Hewett Book Prize for the Best Book on the Political Economy of Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union, American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies

Reviews

Federico Varese's study of the Russian mafia is aimed primarily at students of crime rather than exclusively at Russia-watchers ... With considerable intrepidity, Varese has conducted numerous interviews (and contextualised them with scrupulous documentary research) with people who have availed themselves of the mafia's services. The resulting picture of economic and social life in Perm is instructive and sobering. The Political Quarterly A work of incontestable quality ... The appearance of this work must definitely be welcome, because it marks the emergence of scientific rigor in the treatment of the Russian Mafia and calls for a multidisciplinary examination of post-Soviet society. Gilles Favarel-Garrigues, Revue d'Etudes Comparatives Est-Ouest (Paris) Enlightening, perceptive and superbly researched. Essential reading for anybody seriously interested in the mind and heart of contemporary Russian criminal society. John le Carre In his scholarly study, Varese systematically surveys the source of the problem, inventories the origins and resources of those groups providing protection, and then describes the way the relationship works. At the core of his book is an elaborate case study of the city of Perm, where he spent months working with police records, conducting interviews, and collecting newspaper stories. Robert Legvold, Foreign Affairs Headlines on Russian organized crime appear regularly in the Western Press and carry alarming messages ... Now we finally have a sober, scholarly account. Unlike headline writers, Varese is cautious about the use of the term 'Mafia' ... The history of the vory-v-zakone is fascinating. Alena Ledeneva, Times Literary Supplement The first comprehensive study of the Russian Mafia is by a young Italian scholar, Federico Varese. His book is an extraordinary account. Daniele Archibugi, Il Manifesto (Rome)