Terreni confiscati alla criminalità: il riuso sociale come leva di governo del territorio bene comune

Since 80s the Italian State allows the confiscation of properties belonging to organised crime and Mafia associations. Since 90s anti-mafia policies introduced the principle of reallocation of confiscated assets to a ‘social’ or ‘institutional’ new use. After forty years about 35,000 properties have been seized across the whole Italian territory, mainly real estates and lands. The literature shows the positive effects of re-allocations of confiscated assets: institutional and social reuse contribute to revitalization of civil participation, strengthening of local welfare systems, support for social innovation. The aim of this paper is to analyse the evolution of this anti-mafia policy since 1982 until today, reflecting on its connections with local government and with the practices of ‘commoning’. The opportunities and criticalities of the projects of reuse of confiscated land in multifunctional agriculture are explore.