“Tengo famiglia”: The family as a metaphor of corruption in Italy

In this article I will pursue two goals: the first is to outline how the family works as a metaphor in public discourses on corruption; the second is to consider some aspects in social anthropology that have influenced the creation of theoretical paradigms on corruption through the analytical filter of kinship. The final idea of this article is that the metaphor of the family, although not new in the context of corruption, serves to create cognitive schemas of reference that simplify and banalise the debate on corruption, by diverting attention from its true nature. The persistence of the importance of the metaphor of “I have a family” may imply new forms and meanings of corruption in Italy, including the importance of the mechanisms of social exchange, the practice of building symbolic relationships and the change in social roles and power within these dynamics and transactions.