Violence is a means, not an end; a resource, not the final product. The commodity that is really at stake is protection. It may be argued that ultimately protection rests on the ability to use force, but it does not follow that it coincides with it. Protection is an ambiguous commodity. As Charles Tilly writes: "The word protection sounds two contrasting tones. One is comforting, the other ominous. With one tone 'protection' calls up images of the shelter against danger provided by a powerful friend, a large insurance policy, or a sturdy roof. With the other, it evokes the racket in which a local strong man forces merchants to pay tribute in order to avoid damage—damage the strong man himself threatens to deliver" (1985: 170).

XREF: Connects to Tilly's classic work on state formation and protection rackets, likening state coercion to organized crime. Builds on: "The mafia operates as a business selling private protection."

Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Busi…, loc. 12