Migration and the Media: Debating Chinese Migration to Italy, 1992-2012

297 Pages·2019·1.16 MB·English

by  Gaoheng Zhang

MIGRATION AND THE MEDIA
Debating Chinese Migration to Italy, 1992–2012
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Migration and the Media
Debating Chinese Migration
to Italy, 1992–2012
GAOHENG ZHANG
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS
Toronto Buffalo London
© University of Toronto Press 2019
Toronto Buffalo London
utorontopress.com
Printed in Canada
ISBN 978-1-4426-3043-7
Printed on acid-free, 100% post-consumer recycled paper
with vegetable-based inks.
Cultural Spaces
_____________________________________________________________________
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Title: Migration and the media: debating Chinese migration to Italy,
1992–2012 / Gaoheng Zhang.
Names: Zhang, Gaoheng, author.
Series: Cultural spaces.
Description: Series statement: Cultural spaces | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: Canadiana 20190126043 | ISBN 9781442630437 (hardcover)
Subjects: LCSH: Chinese – Italy – History – 20th century. |
LCSH: Chinese – Italy – History – 21st century. | LCSH: Italy – Emigration
and immigration – History – 20th century. | LCSH: Italy – Emigration
and Immigration – History – 21st century. | LCSH: China – Emigration and
immigration – History – 20th century. | LCSH: China – Emigration and
immigration – History – 21st century. | LCSH: Mass media and culture.
Classification: LCC DG457.C47 Z53 2019 | DDC 304.8/45051–dc23
___________________________________________________________________________________
This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Federation
for the Humanities and Social Sciences, through the Awards to Scholarly
Publications Program, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and
Humanities Research Council of Canada.
University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial assistance to its
publishing program of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts
Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario.
Funded by the Financé par le
Government gouvernement
of Canada du Canada
This book is dedicated to my parents,
Yuan Shuijuan and Zhang Erjun.
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 3
1 Chinese Migration to Italy, Globalization, and the News Media 17
2 The “Chinese Mafia” in Italy, 1992–2006 45
3 Milan: The 2007 “Chinatown” Riot in Italian Debates 76
4 Milan: The 2007 “Chinatown” Riot in Migrant Debates 108
5 Prato: Local Debates on “Made in Italy” by the Chinese,
2005–2012 134
6 Prato: Global Debates on “Made in Italy” by the Chinese,
2005–2012 158
7 Rome: The 2012 Chinese March 176
Conclusion 201
Coda 207
Notes 211
Bibliography 253
Index 275
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Acknowledgments
This is my first book, a milestone for my academic growth as a Chinese-
born Italian studies scholar working in North America. It thus gives
me immense pleasure to thank the people who have contributed to its
making since 2012. I would like to begin with three women. My mother,
Yuan Shuijuan, has always worked tirelessly to lend her utmost emo-
tional support to my education and scholarship. After I completed my
PhD dissertation (on a topic unrelated to the current book) at New York
University, my advisor Ruth Ben-Ghiat very generously chaperoned
this book manuscript at various stages and shaped many of its key
features. Then, as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Southern
California, Tita Rosenthal gave me meticulous critique and unwavering
moral support, as well as guidance crucial to the design of the book. I
am grateful for their care and insight.
In the United States and Canada, I further received timely and
thoughtful comments on various forms of this manuscript from friends
and colleagues to which I am indebted: David Forgacs, Kristina Varade,
Valerie McGuire, Aria Cabot, Daniele Forlino, Xin Liu, Alessia Pannese,
Piotr Mirowski, Teresa Fiore, Flavia Laviosa, Francesca Vassalli,
Áine O’Healy, Marguerite Waller, Graziella Parati, Eugene Cooper,
Francesca Italiano, Gianni Chen, Géraldine Fiss, Laura Ruberto,
Konrad Eisenbichler, Luca Somigli, Jill Ross, and Donna Gabaccia.
Invited stand-alone lectures at University College Cork, Stony Brook
University, Smith College, and Columbia University gave me a forum
to receive collective feedback on my research. I thank my hosts at these
institutions: Silvia Ross, Mark Chu, Chiara Giuliani, Mario Mignone,
Anna Botta, and Ernest Ialongo. I also thank the graduate and under-
graduate students who participated in my seminars about Italy and
China at the University of Southern California, the University of
Toronto, and the University of British Columbia. At the University of