Martina Baradel is a Marie Skłodowska Curie Fellow at the Department of Sociology, University of Oxford.

Her research so far has focused on Japanese organised crime - the yakuza - exploring the reasons that upheld their longevity in what is considered a low-crime nation. It includes different academic fields such as criminology, Japanese studies, politics, corruption, comparative criminal law, and criminal justice.

Her current research project addresses the question of what happens when mafias are weakened, focussing on Japan and Italy. The overall objective of the study is to identify the criminogenic effects resulting from the power vacuum left by a declining mafia.