Abstracts
Abstract
As in many other countries, bingo in Italy occupies a peculiar status: it exists in a gray area between the image of pathological gambling and a harmless pastime for the elderly. This marginal position within public gambling offers an opportunity to study the phenomenon beyond the pathological narrative. Through a team ethnography conducted in a bingo hall in Milan, we explored how practices of chance-taking intertwine with social dynamics of solidarity. Our observations reveal that engagement with chance—often through repeated losses—fosters a sense of shared fate among players, reinforced by collective superstitions and ritual behaviors that transform gaming tables into spaces of communal emotion. Individual wins become collective celebrations through ritualized redistribution of money, while losses are softened by mutual recognition and complaint. These practices create emotional bonds, particularly among marginalized groups. In this article, we interweave diary-like narrative reflections with theoretical analysis and contextualize our findings within Italy’s gambling regulatory framework. Our aim is to restore dignity to bingo players, emphasizing the hall not merely as a site of consumption, but also as a space where social ties and emotional solidarities emerge and are sustained.
Keywords:
- bingo,
- solidarity,
- gambling,
- team ethnography,
- solitudes,
- Italy
Download the article in PDF to read it. Download
Appendices
Biographical notes
Marco Manzocchi graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Sociology and a Master's degree in Social Process Analysis from the University of Milano-Bicocca. His main interests lie in the field of the sociology of deviance, with a focus on the symbolic interactionist approach.
Beatrice Galbignani graduated in Sociology and currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Social Process Analysis at the University of Milano-Bicocca.
Sofia Lanfranchi graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Sociology and a Master's degree in Social Process Analysis from the University of Milano-Bicocca.
Marco Romito is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Social Research at the University of Milano-Bicocca. His research focuses primarily on inequalities in school and higher education, as well as on education policy, using qualitative research methods.
Giorgio Michele Zanutto graduated in Sociology and currently pursuing a Master's degree in Social Process Analysis at the University of Milano-Bicocca.
Bibliography
- Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli (ADM). (2023). Il Libro Blu 2022. https://www.adm.gov.it/portale/documents/20182/151943740/Libro+blu+2022+-+Appendice.pdf/22df313e-a77a-bc1d-ae95-96789fe70499?t=1704734887870
- American Psychiatric Association. (1980). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed.). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780521315289.dsm-iii.
- American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596.
- Bartholini, I. (2017). Il Bingo. Consociazioni fra disaffiliati in una sala giochi siciliana. Etnografia e ricerca qualitativa, 2017(2), 243–262. https://doi.org/10.3240/87490
- Becker, H. S. (2017). Outsiders: Studi di sociologia della devianza (C-L. Vuandens, M. Croce, & D. Brignoli, Trans.). Meltemi. (Original work published 1963).
- Bedford, K. (2019). Bingo capitalism: The law and political economy of everyday gambling. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198845225.001.0001
- Bertaux, D. (1997). Les récits de vie: Perspective ethnosociologique. Nathan.
- Bloch, H. A. (1951). The sociology of gambling. American Journal of Sociology, 57(3), 215–221. https://doi.org/10.1086/220938
- Breen, H. (2009). Senior citizen bingo players in Australian registered and licensed clubs: A case study at Tweed Heads, New South Wales. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 26(4), 383-394. https://doi.org/10.1080/10548400902976513
- Cardano, M. (2011). La ricerca qualitativa. Il Mulino.
- Cardano, M., Numerato, D., Gariglio, L., Hasmanová Marhánková, J., Scavarda, A., Bracke, P., Patrícia Hilàrio, A., & Polak, P. (2023). A team ethnography on vaccine hesitancy in Europe. A case study of a local truth construction. Rassegna Italiana di Sociologia, 2023(4), 615–642. https://doi.org/10.1423/112399
- Cassidy, R. (2020). Vicious Games: Capitalism and Gambling (1st ed.). Pluto Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvx077sp
- Chapple, C., & Nofziger, S. (2000). Bingo!: Hints of deviance in the accounts of sociability and profit of bingo players. Deviant Behavior, 21(6), 489–517. https://doi.org/10.1080/01639620050184645
- Cox, J., Maltzahn, K., Lee, H., Whiteside, M., & Maclean, S. (2022). Bingo, gender and the moral order of the household: Everyday gambling in a migrant community. Journal of Consumer Culture, 22(4), 852–869. https://doi.org/10.1177/14695405211022082
- D’Agati, M. (2005). La sociologia del gioco d’azzardo: Bilanci, prospettive e ambizioni di un campo di studi “in progress”. Rassegna Italiana di Sociologia, 2005(4), 687–698. https://doi.org/10.1423/21019
- Denzin, N. K. (1978). The research act: A theoretical introduction to sociological methods (2nd ed.). McGraw-Hill.
- Dixey, R., & Talbot, M. (1982). Women, leisure and bingo. Trinity & All Saints College.
- Dostoevskij, F. (2014). Il giocatore [The gambler] (S. Prina, Trans.). Feltrinelli. (Original work published 1866).
- Ellis, C., & Bochner, A. P. (2000). Autoethnography, personal narrative, reflexivity: Researcher as subject. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed., pp. 733–768). Sage Publications.
- Foucault, M. (with Tutti, V.) (2004). L’ordine del discorso e altri interventi (M. Bertani & A. Fontana, Trans.). Einaudi. (Original work published 1970).
- Foucault, M. (2013). La volontà di sapere (P. Pasquino & G. Procacci, Trans.). Feltrinelli. (Original work published 1976).
- Foucault, M. (2005). Sicurezza, territorio, popolazione. Corso al Collège de France (1977-1978) (P. Napoli, Trans.). Feltrinelli.
- Geertz, C. (1973). The interpretation of cultures: Selected essays. Basic Books.
- Giddens, A. (1994). Le conseguenze della modernità. Fiducia e rischio, sicurezza e pericolo. (M. Guani, Trans.). Il Mulino. (Original work published 1990).
- Giliberti, L., & Queirolo Palmas, L. (2024). Boza! Diari dalla frontiera. Eléuthera.
- Harrigan, K., Brown, D., & MacLaren, V. (2015). Gamble while you gamble: Electronic games in Ontario charitable gaming centres. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 13(6), 740–750. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-015-9557-y
- Hewitt, D., & Hodgson, M. (1994). Spirit of Bingoland: A study of problem gambling among Alberta native people. Nechi Training and Research & Health Promotions Institute. https://www.greo.ca/Modules/EvidenceCentre/files/NTR%20et%20al(1994)Spirit_of_bingoland_a_study_of_problem_gambling_among_Alberta_native_people.pdf
- Heider, K. G. (1988). The Rashomon effect: When ethnographers disagree. American Anthropologist, 90(1), 73–81. https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.1988.90.1.02a00050
- Laitinen, A., & Pessi, A. B. (2014). Solidarity: Theory and practice. An introduction. In A. Laitinen & A. B. Pessi (Eds.), Solidarity: Theory and practice (pp. 1–29). Lexington Books. https://doi.org/10.5771/9780739177280
- Lassiter, L. E. (2005). The Chicago guide to collaborative ethnography. University of Chicago Press.
- Lucchini, F., & Comi, S. L. (2022). Social costs of gambling harm in Italy. Critical Gambling Studies, 3(1), 71–82. https://doi.org/10.29173/cgs50
- Maclure, R., Smith, J. D., Wood, S. L., Leblanc, R., Li, J., & Cuffaro, A. M. (2006). Entertainment or imprudence? An ethnography of female bingo players. In J. Cosgrave (Ed.), The Sociology of Risk and Gambling Reader (pp. 163–184). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203820070
- Malaby, T. M. (2003). Gambling Life: Dealing in Contingency in a Greek City. University of Illinois Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/j.ctt2tt9z6
- Maltzahn, K., Cox, J., MacLean, S., Whiteside, M., & Lee, H. (2022). Evolving understandings of bingo in four decades of literature: From eyes down to new vistas. Critical Gambling Studies, 3(1), 110–120. https://doi.org/10.29173/cgs89
- Marazziti, D., Presta, S., Picchetti, M., & Dell’Osso, L. (2015). Behavioral addiction: Clinical and therapeutic aspects. Journal of Psychopathology, 21, 72–84.
- Matteucci, N. (2022). Il boom italiano del gioco d’azzardo: Mercato, istituzioni e politiche. Stato e Mercato, 2022(2), 327–361. https://doi.org/10.1425/105233
- Moreira, D., Azeredo, A., & Dias, P. (2023). Risk factors for gambling disorder: A systematic review. Journal of Gambling Studies, 39(2), 483–511. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-023-10195-1
- Moubarac, J. C., Shead, N. W., & Derevensky, J. L. (2010). Bingo playing and problem gambling: A review of our current knowledge. Journal of Gambling Issues, 24, 164–184. https://doi.org/10.4309/jgi.2010.24.10
- Ortalli, G. (2012). Barattieri: Il gioco d’azzardo fra economia ed etica. Secoli XIII–XV. Il Mulino.
- Pedroni, M., & Scavarda, A. (2023). Un’agenda di ricerca per la sociologia del gioco d’azzardo. Quaderni di Teoria Sociale, 2(1), 153-179. https://doi.org/10.57611/qts.v2i1.239
- Pelizzari, M. R. (2002). “Giochi proibiti”: Pratiche e divieti di gioco nel Mezzogiorno tra Seicento e Ottocento. FrancoAngeli.
- Pryor, F. L. (1976). The Friedman–Savage utility function in cross-cultural perspective. Journal of Political Economy, 84(4), 821–834. https://doi.org/10.1086/260479
- Ragioneria Generale dello Stato. (2023). Rapporto sulle entrate tributarie e contributive – Anno 2022. Ministero dell’Economia e delle Finanze. https://www.rgs.mef.gov.it/VERSIONE-I/attivita_istituzionali/previsione/contabilita_e_finanza_pubblica/rapporto_sulle_entrate_tributarie_e_contributive/2022/index.html
- Reith, G. (2007). Gambling and the contradictions of consumption. A genealogy of the “pathological” subject. American Behavioral Scientist, 51(1), 33–55. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764207304856
- Rockloff, M., Donaldson, P., Browne, M., Greer, N., Moskovsky, N., Armstrong, T., Thorne, H., Goodwin, B., & Langham, E. (2016). Innovation in traditional gambling products. Gambling Research Australia. https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:941bd44
- Rolando, S., & Scavarda, A. (2016). Gambling policy in European welfare regimes. A European research project on the profitability of gambling. [Italian report]. University of Helsinki. http://hdl.handle.net/2318/1851278
- Saltari, L. (2012). Il regime giuridico dei giochi e delle scommesse. Ragioni per un cambiamento. Munus, 2012(2), 309–338.
- Sarti, S., & Triventi, M. (2012). Il gioco d’azzardo: L’iniquità di una tassa volontaria. La relazione tra posizione socio-economica e propensione al gioco. Stato e Mercato, 2012(3), 503-534. https://doi.org/10.1425/38647
- Schensul, J. J., & LeCompte, M. D. (Eds.). (2016). Ethnographer’s toolkit (2nd ed.). AltaMira Press.
- Schüll, N. D. (2012). Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas. Princeton University Press.
- Sciarrone, R., & Storti, L. (2019). Le mafie nell’economia legale: Scambi, collusioni, azioni di contrasto. Il Mulino.
- Sciarrone, R., Esposito, F., & Picarella, L. (2023). Il gioco d’azzardo, lo stato e le mafie. Donzelli Editore.
- Tirole, J. (2017). Economia del bene comune. Mondadori.
- Weber, M. (1976). Il lavoro intellettuale come professione (A. Giolitti, Trans.). Einaudi. (Original work published 1919).
- Wilcox, S. (2021). A genealogical analysis of the medical model of problem gambling. Critical Gambling Studies, 2(1), 97–107. https://doi.org/10.29173/cgs72