Federico Varese

Federico Varese is Professor of Sociology (Professeur des Universités) in the Centre d'études européennes et de politique comparée (Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics), affiliated to the Department of Sociology, Oxford University, a Senior Research Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford, and the Director of the Extra-legal Institute. Between 2021 and 2023, he was Director of the Department of Sociology at Oxford University.

His main area of research is the study of organised crime. He has written on the Russian mafia, Soviet criminal history, migration of mafia groups, Somali piracy, the dynamics of altruistic behaviour, and the application of Social Network Analysis to criminology. Currently, he is involved in research projects on the governance dimension of organised gangs in the UK, cybercrime markets, the Russian mafia and substandard medicines. He holds an Advanced ERC Grant, titled CRIMGOV, held at Sciences Po and Oxford University, for the period 2022-2026.

He is the author of four monographs - The Russian Mafia (OUP, 2001), Mafias on the Move (PUP, 2011), Mafia Life (2018), La Russia in quattro criminali (2022), and an edited collected, Organized Crime (Routledge, 2010). His books have been translated into eight different languages.

He has published papers in journals such as Social Networks, The British Journal of Criminology, Law and Society Review, Crime and Justice, Archives Européenes de Sociologie, Political Studies, Cahiers du Monde Russe, Rationality & Society, European Sociological Review, and Trends in Organized Crime , among others. He contributes to The Times Literary Supplement and, in Italy, the daily La Repubblica. His work has been featured in The Economist, Newsweek, The BBC News & World Service, ABC, The Guardian, The New York Times, The Monkeycage Blog and Freakonomics blog , among others. Mafias on the Move was the Recipient of The International Association for the Study of Organized Crime 2012 Outstanding Publication Award. The Russian Mafia was The Co-Recipient of ED A. HEWETT BOOK PRIZE awarded by The American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies. Mafia Life has won the first prize for non-fiction of the Niccolini Prize. For his work, Varese has also won the Bernagozzi Prize from the city of Portomaggiore, Italy. He has collaborated with the writer John le Carr é on several projects and he is curating a major exhibition on him and his work (with Andy Hurrell).

Professor Varese holds degrees from Bologna University, Cambridge University and Oxford University. He was a Prize Research Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford, and a visiting professor at Yale University, City University of Hong Kong and Milan University. He is currently on the editorial board of The British Journal of Criminology and is a past Editor of Global Crime.

John le Carré has written: "Federico Varese is two writers rolled into one: a fearless fact-hunter who goes after his quarry with the zeal of a thoroughbred journalist, and a dedicated academic who examines and analyzes his catch with relentless detachment. Throw in a robust understanding of the impact of contemporary history on the behavior of a globalized criminal underworld and you have both a compelling read and an impeccable work of reference.”

Article in la Repubblica - Encrochat e Eurojust, quegli strumenti nascosti (ed efficaci) per sconfiggere la 'Ndragheta

Contact : 

federico.varese@sciencespo.fr