The Reputation of the Invisibles: The Society of Santa as a Para-Masonic Criminal Entity Above the Calabrian ’Ndrangheta

This paper explores how mafia-type and semi-secret organizations construct and preserve their reputation through a calibrated equilibrium between visibility and invisibility. We unpack the case study of the Society of Santa, in Calabria, which was a semi-secret entity, presented as a para-masonic deviant lodge, born within the local mafia clans ('ndrangheta). Through a narrative approach to investigating files, surveillance tapes, and trial documentation and conducting interviews, we posit a new theoretical framework to explore reputation by invisibility. This kind of reputation can be effective when individuals wish to act both in criminal arenas and in political-institutional ones. We argue that reputation by invisibility can effectively amplify deviance and criminality, such as corruption, by building narratives around specific individual skills and their organizational yet secretive abilities.