%0 Journal Article
%T Behaviour Codes in Sicily. Bypassing the Law
%A Anton Blok
%J Behemoth : a Journal on Civilisation
%D 2010
%I University of Freiburg
%X Focused on oral culture in western Sicily, this paper explores informal behaviour codes in their interaction with formal law. State-formation in Italy left people in peripheral areas to forge strategies of self-help and negotiate support from patrons (called ¡°friends¡±). Ironically, the very networks of clientelism and their attendant behaviour codes further weakened the state¡¯s control over its southern periphery and hindered its economic integration into the national and international economy ¨C which in turn reinforced the impact of informal codes and practices on the working of formal law. The Sicilian case provides an example of the periphery as a locus of innovation.
%U http://www.oldenbourg-link.com/doi/pdf/10.1524/behe.2010.0012