But in at least two senses the word can be said to have created the phenomenon: first, and most obviously, it supplied outsiders with a label to identify an ill-defined conglomerate, thereby making it possible to speak and think of it as a whole (and also, of course, making it possible to think of it wrongly as a mythical whole). More important, the word created a brand name, thereby making it possible to ally oneself to an entity with a threatening and resonant reputation.

QUESTION: What phenomenon is being discussed here? The label's power to unify an ill-defined conglomerate and act as a brand suggests this could relate to a social movement or intellectual school.

Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Busi…, loc. 355