The Mobile Emplacement: Chinese Migrants in Italian Industrial Districts

Abstract

The death of seven Chinese migrants in a fire in Prato, Italy sparked debate on the productive regime of the Chinese migrants in Italian industrial districts (IDs). This paper addresses the issue of Chinese entrepreneurship in IDs by highlighting the structural factors at work and their interaction with Chinese migrants’ agency. It shows that the Chinese migrants’ working regime is the result of the legal regimes of Italy, the degrees at which regulations are enforced by authorities or left as a threat but not enforced, demands for labour originating from China, changing structures of production, demand and distribution of textiles and clothing, globally. To do so, the analysis in this paper brings together topics usually separated out as migration studies, labour studies, urban studies and the global value chain debate. The paper documents the radical reconfiguration of space taking place through the complementary use of intra-firm stasis and inter-firm mobility in the Chinese workshops and argues that it contributes to shape a unique productive regime. Thus, a new dimension is added to the different forms of migrant employment. It further highlights the link between the downscaling of the industrial district of Prato and the contestation of Chinese migrants’ entrepreneurship.