Second, geographic proximity does not necessarily foster osmosis. Proximity may even increase the need to maintain sharply distinct rituals in order to avoid misunderstandings: there is no danger of confusing a Chinese "family" with a Sicilian one, whereas it is possible to rake one southern Italian group for another. The Calabrese, according to Calderone, "were not at all trying to enter the Cosa Nostra. They had their own organization, which was almost identical to ours, and they were even pretending to be more important than us" (Arlacchi 1992: 139).

Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Busi…, loc. 400