Autenticita', nazionalismo metodologico e made in Italy

Starting from the obstacles a newly established ice-cream seller of Chinese background bumped into a famous Italian touristic city, this article stresses how authenticity has become a main axiological principle that – in Italy as elsewhere- produces inequality in access to professions. After briefly describing the main characteristics of the Chinese migrants’ mode of emplacement in Italy, I discuss some controversial questions regarding Chinese migration and labor in Italy. First, I discuss the culturalist approach to migration that stresses cultural traits and adopts a “methodological nationalism” lens. Second, I question the “Wenzhou model” concept according to which similarities between Wenzhou’s and Italy’s fashion industries have played a crucial role in attracting Chinese migrants into the Italian fashion districts. Third, I ask whether a Chinese model of labor is gaining ground, or even becoming dominant, in Europe and in Italy.