Spaces Speak Louder than Words: Contesting Social Inclusion through Conflicting Rhetoric about Prato’s Chinatown

Abstract

This chapter examines the conflicting and contested discourses about the urban space that is Prato’s so-called Chinatown to show how the relationship between the Pratesi (‘locals’ from Prato) and the Cinesi (Chinese in Prato) is socially constructed through both abstract rhetorical and concrete cultural and political practices. The complexities of identity and belonging are evident in how ‘migrants’ and ‘locals’ are named and defined in Prato and how the relationship between these two groups is evolving over time. Given that urban space is both a container and a producer of social relationships, its political management is a crucial issue in places like Prato, which represent newly and rapidly emerging sites of ‘super-diversity’ (Vertovec, 2010; Vertovec & Wessendorf, 2010). Prato is an especially interesting case because of its relatively small size and comparatively large proportion and diversity of immigrants.

As requested by the Italian Agency for the Evaluation of University Research (ANVUR), the authors specify that in the chapter the conceptualisation of space was mainly developed by the first author, while that related to social inclusion was mainly developed by the second author.