Social enterprises and the use of confiscated goods, previously owned by mafias: the added value of social economy for supporting social innovation.
Social enterprises are developing innovative projects for using goods previously owned by mafias. The economic value of the confiscated assets is very high and the ability of the State to manage them is still quite underdeveloped. How would be possible to promote a scaling up of these pivotal experiences in order to promote a national and broader strategy based on social economy actors? Italy is a country in which the problem of mafia is huge but the answers to this problem are innovative too. In particular way, Italian legislation (l. 104/94) recognizes and promotes the role of third sector for the use of the goods confiscated by the State to the organized crime. In the last decade we can see some very positive effects of this law above all in Southern Italy where many social cooperatives started to cultivate confiscated land and to sell products at international level. Sustainable social enterprises can be the most effective instrument for social innovation in a context with high level of mafia dominance but also in other regions where the presence of mafia is less strong and different (Dalla Chiesa 2012, Mulgan 2010, Ostrom 2000).
The paper aims to develop a first conceptual map of the different experiences of social enterprises using confiscated goods. We will focus on three case studies, representing the three main typologies of use of the confiscated assets by social enterprises. We will deepen the cases of Libera Terra, the Goel Consortium and the Forlì paradigm. Libera Terra is the first and more developed experience, starting from Sicily now is managing confiscated lands also in Calabria, Puglia, Campania and Lazio. They work only on confiscated lands and have a good chain of distribution in Italy and abroad. The Goel Consortium is rooted in Calabria, works also on non confiscated lands and they started a fashion brand based on Milan. Finally, the Forlì case is presented for his specific features but also as an example of the local and innovative experiences that in the last years started in the urban areas of Northern and Central Italy for using confiscated goods. We will elaborate a comparative analysis of the three case studies and we will support the idea that the existence of multiple styles and strategies for using confiscated goods is a positive factor.
Finally, starting from this analysis we will offer some policy recommendations about the role of social enterprises on the scaling up of the use of confiscated goods for social purposes. We think that social economy is the best player in this kind of activity that is important from an economic, legal, civic and symbolic point of view. In many contexts we need also economic players able to build again the market previously destroyed by the control and the violence of the mafias and the trust-building capabilities of the social economy players could be a very effective added value for this aim. A national strategy on the use of confiscated assets based on the role of the social enterprises would be a great source of social innovation, a real challenge for the social economy too and it will be our final suggestion.
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