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  • LECCE, ITALY - 10 DECEMBER 2020: A closed bar is seen here in a usually busy nightlife area of the historical center of Lecce, Apulia, Italy, on December 10th 2020. Since November 2nd 2020, bars and restaurants across Italy must close at 6pm.<br />
<br />
Unlike the 2008 financial crisis, the pandemic’s employment shock hit women harder than men across much of the Western world. The impact on women has been especially severe in Southern Italy, which already has Europe’s widest employment gender gap.<br />
<br />
In Italy, 51 percent of women work compared with 68 percent of men, the seventh highest women’s unemployment rate in the world despite improvements in the last decade<br />
<br />
The Global Gender Gap Report 2020 published by the World Economic Forum prior to the pandemic states that the advancement of women has regressed by nearly a century.  Italy has performed worse than most European nations in this analysis, falling six spots to seventeenth position in Europe; only Greece, Malta and Cyprus fared more poorly.<br />
<br />
The gender pay gap highlights the most critical issue. On average, non-university-educated men earn 6,000 euro more than women with a degree in Italy.
    CIPG_20201210_WSJ_ITWOMEN_7M30538.jpg
  • SAN PIETRO VERNOTICO, ITALY - 10 DECEMBER 2020: Simona Allegrino (34), an unempoyed mother who resigned shortly after returning from maternity leave, poses for a portrait by her family photos in her living room, in San Pietro Vernotico, Apulia, Italy, on December 10th 2020.<br />
<br />
 Since the age of 21 years old, Simona Allegrino worked in administration services company. In 2019, she gave birth to two twins and went on maternity leave. When she came back to work, she asked for a part-time contractor any other agreement that would allow her to come back earlier home to her children. After she realised her employer didn't accept any of her requests, she resigned. She is unemployed since then.<br />
<br />
Unlike the 2008 financial crisis, the pandemic’s employment shock hit women harder than men across much of the Western world. The impact on women has been especially severe in Southern Italy, which already has Europe’s widest employment gender gap.<br />
<br />
In Italy, 51 percent of women work compared with 68 percent of men, the seventh highest women’s unemployment rate in the world despite improvements in the last decade<br />
<br />
The Global Gender Gap Report 2020 published by the World Economic Forum prior to the pandemic states that the advancement of women has regressed by nearly a century.  Italy has performed worse than most European nations in this analysis, falling six spots to seventeenth position in Europe; only Greece, Malta and Cyprus fared more poorly.<br />
<br />
The gender pay gap highlights the most critical issue. On average, non-university-educated men earn 6,000 euro more than women with a degree in Italy.<br />
<br />
Faced with the  challenge of balancing home schooling and their jobs, figures so far reveal that 76 percent of the applicants for paid parental leave during the pandemic have been women. A research conducted by the Milan Bicocca University claims that 30 percent of working mums are considering leaving their jobs if distance learning were to continue this academic year.
    CIPG_20201210_WSJ_ITWOMEN_7M30413.jpg
  • CIVITAVNOVE MARCHE, ITALY - 28 NOVEMBER 2019: Cesare Catini (81), a former shoemaking entrepreneur, poses for a portrait in Civitanove Marche, Italy, on November 28th 2019. At 12, he left school and began working with his uncle making shoes. In 1961, when Mr. Catini was only 22, he launched his own business, making women’s shoes in a small garage at his home. By the 1980s, they had hired a designer from Milan and were buying advertisements in the Italian edition of Vogue magazine. In 2001, China secured entry to the World Trade Organization, opening markets to its exports.  That year, Italian footwear manufacturers exported 354 million pairs of shoes. By 2018, that number had plunged to 203 million, a drop of more than 40 percent. <br />
Over the same period, China displaced Italy as Germany’s largest source of shoes. By 2017, China was selling $3.7 billion worth of footwear to Germany, according to the World Bank, nearly triple Italy’s sales. Mr. Catini’s sales and production were down by 80 percent by 2005.   He shut it down in 2008, throwing 70 people out of work, unable to compete with China.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around.
    CIPG_20191128_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_4117.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: Signs advertise  Chinese Pronto Moda (Fast Fashion) retailer  in the textile industrial area of Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191127_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3332.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 27 NOVEMBER 2019: Chinese clothes are shown here in a showroom of a Chinese Pronto Moda (Fast Fashion) retailer  in the textile industrial area of Prato, Italy, on November 27th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191127_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3310.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: A sign advertises a Chinese Pronto Moda (Fast Fashion) retailer  in the textile industrial area of Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3241.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: Luca Campigli (56), cuts fabric samples for a client at Marini Industrie, a textile company that has survived Chinese competition in Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. Luca Campagni has been working at Marini Industrie for 27 years. Marini Industrie is one of the few companies in Prato that weren’t hit by Chinese competition, by elevating their quality.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_0489.jpg
  • RUTIGLIANO, ITALY - 21 FEBRUARY 2018: Francesco Divella, CEO of Divella SpA, poses for a portrait at the Divella pasta factory in Rutigliano, Italy, on February 21st 2018.<br />
<br />
Opened in 1895, the plant just outside the regional capital of Bari is run by the grandson of the founder, Francesco Divella. Divella has exports grow substantially and is a prime example of the success of the region in recent years. Yet this has led to very few jobs, given that the plant is highly automated, with more on the way: they just bought a self-driving forklift to handle warehouse work and have already deployed robotic arms that place product into boxes. Divella is an example of how Italy's recent success is not lifting enough people to make a difference in sentiment.
    CIPG_20180221_NYT_Puglia_M3_5968.jpg
  • TARANTO, ITALY - 22 FEBRUARY 2018: Five Stars Movement elections posters are seen here in the local headquarters of the movement in the working-class district of Tamburi, in Taranto, Italy, on February 22nd 2018.<br />
<br />
Taranto, a  formerly lovely town on the Ionian Sea has for the last several decades been dominated by the ILVA steel mill, the largest steel plant in Europe. It was built by the government in the 1960s as a means of delivering jobs to the economically depressed south, but has been implicated for a cancer as dioxin and mercury have seeped into local groundwater, tainting the food supply, while poisoning the bay and its once-lucrative mussels.
    CIPG_20180222_NYT_Puglia_M3_8709.jpg
  • TARANTO, ITALY - 22 FEBRUARY 2018: The ILVA steel mill and the concrete flats of Tamburi, the adjacent working-class district, are seen here in Taranto, Italy, on February 22nd 2018.<br />
<br />
Taranto, a  formerly lovely town on the Ionian Sea has for the last several decades been dominated by the ILVA steel mill, the largest steel plant in Europe. It was built by the government in the 1960s as a means of delivering jobs to the economically depressed south, but has been implicated for a cancer as dioxin and mercury have seeped into local groundwater, tainting the food supply, while poisoning the bay and its once-lucrative mussels.
    CIPG_20180222_NYT_Puglia_M3_8468.jpg
  • TARANTO, ITALY - 22 FEBRUARY 2018: The ILVA steel mill and the concrete flats of Tamburi, the adjacent working-class district, are seen here in Taranto, Italy, on February 22nd 2018.<br />
<br />
Taranto, a  formerly lovely town on the Ionian Sea has for the last several decades been dominated by the ILVA steel mill, the largest steel plant in Europe. It was built by the government in the 1960s as a means of delivering jobs to the economically depressed south, but has been implicated for a cancer as dioxin and mercury have seeped into local groundwater, tainting the food supply, while poisoning the bay and its once-lucrative mussels.
    CIPG_20180222_NYT_Puglia_M3_8447.jpg
  • TARANTO, ITALY - 22 FEBRUARY 2018: Luca Greco, an unemployed 30-years old living with his parents in Tamburi, the working-class district adjacent the ILVA steel mill, poses for a portrait at the Mini Bar in Taranto, Italy, on February 22nd 2018.<br />
<br />
Luca Greco has worked occasionally in call centers for a minimum salary, but hasn't had a job since 2013. His 65 years-old father is unemployed  since 2003 and his mother works as a care-giver. He lives with his parents and 13 years-old brother. "I  absolutely don't see a future in Taranto or in Italy. If I leave Tamburi, I will leave the country. I see a dark, tragic future". When asked who he will vote in the upcoming Italian General Elections, Luca said: "You could still make a distinction between the political parties in the 1960's. They're all the same. The Five Stars Movement is the new thing. One could vote them to give them a chance. But I won't".<br />
<br />
Taranto, a  formerly lovely town on the Ionian Sea has for the last several decades been dominated by the ILVA steel mill, the largest steel plant in Europe. It was built by the government in the 1960s as a means of delivering jobs to the economically depressed south, but has been implicated for a cancer as dioxin and mercury have seeped into local groundwater, tainting the food supply, while poisoning the bay and its once-lucrative mussels.
    CIPG_20180222_NYT_Puglia_M3_8336.jpg
  • TARANTO, ITALY - 22 FEBRUARY 2018: <br />
A banner saying: "No health, no job? No vote" is seen here at the entrance of the ILVA steel mill in Taranto, Italy, on February 22nd 2018.<br />
<br />
Taranto, a  formerly lovely town on the Ionian Sea has for the last several decades been dominated by the ILVA steel mill, the largest steel plant in Europe. It was built by the government in the 1960s as a means of delivering jobs to the economically depressed south, but has been implicated for a cancer as dioxin and mercury have seeped into local groundwater, tainting the food supply, while poisoning the bay and its once-lucrative mussels.
    CIPG_20180222_NYT_Puglia_M3_8225.jpg
  • TARANTO, ITALY - 22 FEBRUARY 2018: The entrance to the ILVA steel mill is seen here in Taranto, Italy, on February 22nd 2018.<br />
<br />
Taranto, a  formerly lovely town on the Ionian Sea has for the last several decades been dominated by the ILVA steel mill, the largest steel plant in Europe. It was built by the government in the 1960s as a means of delivering jobs to the economically depressed south, but has been implicated for a cancer as dioxin and mercury have seeped into local groundwater, tainting the food supply, while poisoning the bay and its once-lucrative mussels.
    CIPG_20180222_NYT_Puglia_M3_7847.jpg
  • LECCE, ITALY - 10 DECEMBER 2020: The terrace of a cafe without customers is seen here in the historical center of Lecce, Apulia, Italy, on December 10th 2020.<br />
<br />
Unlike the 2008 financial crisis, the pandemic’s employment shock hit women harder than men across much of the Western world. The impact on women has been especially severe in Southern Italy, which already has Europe’s widest employment gender gap.<br />
<br />
In Italy, 51 percent of women work compared with 68 percent of men, the seventh highest women’s unemployment rate in the world despite improvements in the last decade<br />
<br />
The Global Gender Gap Report 2020 published by the World Economic Forum prior to the pandemic states that the advancement of women has regressed by nearly a century.  Italy has performed worse than most European nations in this analysis, falling six spots to seventeenth position in Europe; only Greece, Malta and Cyprus fared more poorly.<br />
<br />
The gender pay gap highlights the most critical issue. On average, non-university-educated men earn 6,000 euro more than women with a degree in Italy.
    CIPG_20201210_WSJ_ITWOMEN_7M30557.jpg
  • LECCE, ITALY - 10 DECEMBER 2020: A closed deli is seen here  the historical center of Lecce, Apulia, Italy, on December 10th 2020. <br />
<br />
Unlike the 2008 financial crisis, the pandemic’s employment shock hit women harder than men across much of the Western world. The impact on women has been especially severe in Southern Italy, which already has Europe’s widest employment gender gap.<br />
<br />
In Italy, 51 percent of women work compared with 68 percent of men, the seventh highest women’s unemployment rate in the world despite improvements in the last decade<br />
<br />
The Global Gender Gap Report 2020 published by the World Economic Forum prior to the pandemic states that the advancement of women has regressed by nearly a century.  Italy has performed worse than most European nations in this analysis, falling six spots to seventeenth position in Europe; only Greece, Malta and Cyprus fared more poorly.<br />
<br />
The gender pay gap highlights the most critical issue. On average, non-university-educated men earn 6,000 euro more than women with a degree in Italy.
    CIPG_20201210_WSJ_ITWOMEN_7M30549.jpg
  • LECCE, ITALY - 10 DECEMBER 2020: A closed bar is seen here in a usually busy nightlife area of the historical center of Lecce, Apulia, Italy, on December 10th 2020. Since November 2nd 2020, bars and restaurants across Italy must close at 6pm.<br />
<br />
Unlike the 2008 financial crisis, the pandemic’s employment shock hit women harder than men across much of the Western world. The impact on women has been especially severe in Southern Italy, which already has Europe’s widest employment gender gap.<br />
<br />
In Italy, 51 percent of women work compared with 68 percent of men, the seventh highest women’s unemployment rate in the world despite improvements in the last decade<br />
<br />
The Global Gender Gap Report 2020 published by the World Economic Forum prior to the pandemic states that the advancement of women has regressed by nearly a century.  Italy has performed worse than most European nations in this analysis, falling six spots to seventeenth position in Europe; only Greece, Malta and Cyprus fared more poorly.<br />
<br />
The gender pay gap highlights the most critical issue. On average, non-university-educated men earn 6,000 euro more than women with a degree in Italy.
    CIPG_20201210_WSJ_ITWOMEN_7M30501.jpg
  • LECCE, ITALY - 10 DECEMBER 2020: A closed bar (right) is seen here in a usually busy nightlife area of the historical center of Lecce, Apulia, Italy, on December 10th 2020. Since November 2nd 2020, bars and restaurants across Italy must close at 6pm.<br />
<br />
Unlike the 2008 financial crisis, the pandemic’s employment shock hit women harder than men across much of the Western world. The impact on women has been especially severe in Southern Italy, which already has Europe’s widest employment gender gap.<br />
<br />
In Italy, 51 percent of women work compared with 68 percent of men, the seventh highest women’s unemployment rate in the world despite improvements in the last decade<br />
<br />
The Global Gender Gap Report 2020 published by the World Economic Forum prior to the pandemic states that the advancement of women has regressed by nearly a century.  Italy has performed worse than most European nations in this analysis, falling six spots to seventeenth position in Europe; only Greece, Malta and Cyprus fared more poorly.<br />
<br />
The gender pay gap highlights the most critical issue. On average, non-university-educated men earn 6,000 euro more than women with a degree in Italy.
    CIPG_20201210_WSJ_ITWOMEN_7M30490.jpg
  • LECCE, ITALY - 10 DECEMBER 2020: A closed bar (right) is seen here in a usually busy nightlife area of the historical center of Lecce, Apulia, Italy, on December 10th 2020. Since November 2nd 2020, bars and restaurants across Italy must close at 6pm.<br />
<br />
Unlike the 2008 financial crisis, the pandemic’s employment shock hit women harder than men across much of the Western world. The impact on women has been especially severe in Southern Italy, which already has Europe’s widest employment gender gap.<br />
<br />
In Italy, 51 percent of women work compared with 68 percent of men, the seventh highest women’s unemployment rate in the world despite improvements in the last decade<br />
<br />
The Global Gender Gap Report 2020 published by the World Economic Forum prior to the pandemic states that the advancement of women has regressed by nearly a century.  Italy has performed worse than most European nations in this analysis, falling six spots to seventeenth position in Europe; only Greece, Malta and Cyprus fared more poorly.<br />
<br />
The gender pay gap highlights the most critical issue. On average, non-university-educated men earn 6,000 euro more than women with a degree in Italy.
    CIPG_20201210_WSJ_ITWOMEN_7M30470.jpg
  • SAN PIETRO VERNOTICO, ITALY - 10 DECEMBER 2020: Simona Allegrino (34), an unempoyed mother who resigned shortly after returning from maternity leave, poses for a portrait by her family photos in her living room, in San Pietro Vernotico, Apulia, Italy, on December 10th 2020.<br />
<br />
 Since the age of 21 years old, Simona Allegrino worked in administration services company. In 2019, she gave birth to two twins and went on maternity leave. When she came back to work, she asked for a part-time contractor any other agreement that would allow her to come back earlier home to her children. After she realised her employer didn't accept any of her requests, she resigned. She is unemployed since then.<br />
<br />
Unlike the 2008 financial crisis, the pandemic’s employment shock hit women harder than men across much of the Western world. The impact on women has been especially severe in Southern Italy, which already has Europe’s widest employment gender gap.<br />
<br />
In Italy, 51 percent of women work compared with 68 percent of men, the seventh highest women’s unemployment rate in the world despite improvements in the last decade<br />
<br />
The Global Gender Gap Report 2020 published by the World Economic Forum prior to the pandemic states that the advancement of women has regressed by nearly a century.  Italy has performed worse than most European nations in this analysis, falling six spots to seventeenth position in Europe; only Greece, Malta and Cyprus fared more poorly.<br />
<br />
The gender pay gap highlights the most critical issue. On average, non-university-educated men earn 6,000 euro more than women with a degree in Italy.<br />
<br />
Faced with the  challenge of balancing home schooling and their jobs, figures so far reveal that 76 percent of the applicants for paid parental leave during the pandemic have been women. A research conducted by the Milan Bicocca University claims that 30 percent of working mums are considering leaving their jobs if distance learning were to continue this academic year.
    CIPG_20201210_WSJ_ITWOMEN_7M30400.jpg
  • SAN PIETRO VERNOTICO, ITALY - 10 DECEMBER 2020: Simona Allegrino (34), an unempoyed mother who resigned shortly after returning from maternity leave, poses for a portrait by her family photos in her living room, in San Pietro Vernotico, Apulia, Italy, on December 10th 2020.<br />
<br />
 Since the age of 21 years old, Simona Allegrino worked in administration services company. In 2019, she gave birth to two twins and went on maternity leave. When she came back to work, she asked for a part-time contractor any other agreement that would allow her to come back earlier home to her children. After she realised her employer didn't accept any of her requests, she resigned. She is unemployed since then.<br />
<br />
Unlike the 2008 financial crisis, the pandemic’s employment shock hit women harder than men across much of the Western world. The impact on women has been especially severe in Southern Italy, which already has Europe’s widest employment gender gap.<br />
<br />
In Italy, 51 percent of women work compared with 68 percent of men, the seventh highest women’s unemployment rate in the world despite improvements in the last decade<br />
<br />
The Global Gender Gap Report 2020 published by the World Economic Forum prior to the pandemic states that the advancement of women has regressed by nearly a century.  Italy has performed worse than most European nations in this analysis, falling six spots to seventeenth position in Europe; only Greece, Malta and Cyprus fared more poorly.<br />
<br />
The gender pay gap highlights the most critical issue. On average, non-university-educated men earn 6,000 euro more than women with a degree in Italy.<br />
<br />
Faced with the  challenge of balancing home schooling and their jobs, figures so far reveal that 76 percent of the applicants for paid parental leave during the pandemic have been women. A research conducted by the Milan Bicocca University claims that 30 percent of working mums are considering leaving their jobs if distance learning were to continue this academic year.
    CIPG_20201210_WSJ_ITWOMEN_7M30396.jpg
  • SAN PIETRO VERNOTICO, ITALY - 10 DECEMBER 2020: Simona Allegrino (34), an unempoyed mother who resigned shortly after returning from maternity leave, poses for a portrait by her family photos in her living room, in San Pietro Vernotico, Apulia, Italy, on December 10th 2020.<br />
<br />
 Since the age of 21 years old, Simona Allegrino worked in administration services company. In 2019, she gave birth to two twins and went on maternity leave. When she came back to work, she asked for a part-time contractor any other agreement that would allow her to come back earlier home to her children. After she realised her employer didn't accept any of her requests, she resigned. She is unemployed since then.<br />
<br />
Unlike the 2008 financial crisis, the pandemic’s employment shock hit women harder than men across much of the Western world. The impact on women has been especially severe in Southern Italy, which already has Europe’s widest employment gender gap.<br />
<br />
In Italy, 51 percent of women work compared with 68 percent of men, the seventh highest women’s unemployment rate in the world despite improvements in the last decade<br />
<br />
The Global Gender Gap Report 2020 published by the World Economic Forum prior to the pandemic states that the advancement of women has regressed by nearly a century.  Italy has performed worse than most European nations in this analysis, falling six spots to seventeenth position in Europe; only Greece, Malta and Cyprus fared more poorly.<br />
<br />
The gender pay gap highlights the most critical issue. On average, non-university-educated men earn 6,000 euro more than women with a degree in Italy.<br />
<br />
Faced with the  challenge of balancing home schooling and their jobs, figures so far reveal that 76 percent of the applicants for paid parental leave during the pandemic have been women. A research conducted by the Milan Bicocca University claims that 30 percent of working mums are considering leaving their jobs if distance learning were to continue this academic year.
    CIPG_20201210_WSJ_ITWOMEN_7M30364.jpg
  • LECCE, ITALY - 10 DECEMBER 2020: A closed cafe and gelato shop is seen here in the historical center of Lecce, Apulia, Italy, on December 10th 2020.<br />
<br />
Unlike the 2008 financial crisis, the pandemic’s employment shock hit women harder than men across much of the Western world. The impact on women has been especially severe in Southern Italy, which already has Europe’s widest employment gender gap.<br />
<br />
In Italy, 51 percent of women work compared with 68 percent of men, the seventh highest women’s unemployment rate in the world despite improvements in the last decade<br />
<br />
The Global Gender Gap Report 2020 published by the World Economic Forum prior to the pandemic states that the advancement of women has regressed by nearly a century.  Italy has performed worse than most European nations in this analysis, falling six spots to seventeenth position in Europe; only Greece, Malta and Cyprus fared more poorly.<br />
<br />
The gender pay gap highlights the most critical issue. On average, non-university-educated men earn 6,000 euro more than women with a degree in Italy.
    CIPG_20201210_WSJ_ITWOMEN_7M30309.jpg
  • SAN PIETRO VERNOTICO, ITALY - 10 DECEMBER 2020: Simona Allegrino (34), an unempoyed mother who resigned shortly after returning from maternity leave, poses for a portrait by her family photos in her living room, in San Pietro Vernotico, Apulia, Italy, on December 10th 2020.<br />
<br />
 Since the age of 21 years old, Simona Allegrino worked in administration services company. In 2019, she gave birth to two twins and went on maternity leave. When she came back to work, she asked for a part-time contractor any other agreement that would allow her to come back earlier home to her children. After she realised her employer didn't accept any of her requests, she resigned. She is unemployed since then.<br />
<br />
Unlike the 2008 financial crisis, the pandemic’s employment shock hit women harder than men across much of the Western world. The impact on women has been especially severe in Southern Italy, which already has Europe’s widest employment gender gap.<br />
<br />
In Italy, 51 percent of women work compared with 68 percent of men, the seventh highest women’s unemployment rate in the world despite improvements in the last decade<br />
<br />
The Global Gender Gap Report 2020 published by the World Economic Forum prior to the pandemic states that the advancement of women has regressed by nearly a century.  Italy has performed worse than most European nations in this analysis, falling six spots to seventeenth position in Europe; only Greece, Malta and Cyprus fared more poorly.<br />
<br />
The gender pay gap highlights the most critical issue. On average, non-university-educated men earn 6,000 euro more than women with a degree in Italy.<br />
<br />
Faced with the  challenge of balancing home schooling and their jobs, figures so far reveal that 76 percent of the applicants for paid parental leave during the pandemic have been women. A research conducted by the Milan Bicocca University claims that 30 percent of working mums are considering leaving their jobs if distance learning were to continue this academic year.
    CIPG_20201210_WSJ_ITWOMEN_7M30360.jpg
  • SAN PIETRO VERNOTICO, ITALY - 10 DECEMBER 2020: Simona Allegrino (34), an unempoyed mother who resigned shortly after returning from maternity leave, poses for a portrait by her family photos in her living room, in San Pietro Vernotico, Apulia, Italy, on December 10th 2020.<br />
<br />
 Since the age of 21 years old, Simona Allegrino worked in administration services company. In 2019, she gave birth to two twins and went on maternity leave. When she came back to work, she asked for a part-time contractor any other agreement that would allow her to come back earlier home to her children. After she realised her employer didn't accept any of her requests, she resigned. She is unemployed since then.<br />
<br />
Unlike the 2008 financial crisis, the pandemic’s employment shock hit women harder than men across much of the Western world. The impact on women has been especially severe in Southern Italy, which already has Europe’s widest employment gender gap.<br />
<br />
In Italy, 51 percent of women work compared with 68 percent of men, the seventh highest women’s unemployment rate in the world despite improvements in the last decade<br />
<br />
The Global Gender Gap Report 2020 published by the World Economic Forum prior to the pandemic states that the advancement of women has regressed by nearly a century.  Italy has performed worse than most European nations in this analysis, falling six spots to seventeenth position in Europe; only Greece, Malta and Cyprus fared more poorly.<br />
<br />
The gender pay gap highlights the most critical issue. On average, non-university-educated men earn 6,000 euro more than women with a degree in Italy.<br />
<br />
Faced with the  challenge of balancing home schooling and their jobs, figures so far reveal that 76 percent of the applicants for paid parental leave during the pandemic have been women. A research conducted by the Milan Bicocca University claims that 30 percent of working mums are considering leaving their jobs if distance learning were to continue this academic year.
    CIPG_20201210_WSJ_ITWOMEN_7M30340.jpg
  • LECCE, ITALY - 10 DECEMBER 2020: A space for rent is seen here in the historical center of Lecce, Apulia, Italy, on December 10th 2020.<br />
<br />
Unlike the 2008 financial crisis, the pandemic’s employment shock hit women harder than men across much of the Western world. The impact on women has been especially severe in Southern Italy, which already has Europe’s widest employment gender gap.<br />
<br />
In Italy, 51 percent of women work compared with 68 percent of men, the seventh highest women’s unemployment rate in the world despite improvements in the last decade<br />
<br />
The Global Gender Gap Report 2020 published by the World Economic Forum prior to the pandemic states that the advancement of women has regressed by nearly a century.  Italy has performed worse than most European nations in this analysis, falling six spots to seventeenth position in Europe; only Greece, Malta and Cyprus fared more poorly.<br />
<br />
The gender pay gap highlights the most critical issue. On average, non-university-educated men earn 6,000 euro more than women with a degree in Italy.
    CIPG_20201210_WSJ_ITWOMEN_7M30295.jpg
  • LECCE, ITALY - 10 DECEMBER 2020: The terrace of a cafe without customers is seen here in the historical center of Lecce, Apulia, Italy, on December 10th 2020.<br />
<br />
Unlike the 2008 financial crisis, the pandemic’s employment shock hit women harder than men across much of the Western world. The impact on women has been especially severe in Southern Italy, which already has Europe’s widest employment gender gap.<br />
<br />
In Italy, 51 percent of women work compared with 68 percent of men, the seventh highest women’s unemployment rate in the world despite improvements in the last decade<br />
<br />
The Global Gender Gap Report 2020 published by the World Economic Forum prior to the pandemic states that the advancement of women has regressed by nearly a century.  Italy has performed worse than most European nations in this analysis, falling six spots to seventeenth position in Europe; only Greece, Malta and Cyprus fared more poorly.<br />
<br />
The gender pay gap highlights the most critical issue. On average, non-university-educated men earn 6,000 euro more than women with a degree in Italy.
    CIPG_20201210_WSJ_ITWOMEN_7M30270.jpg
  • LECCE, ITALY - 10 DECEMBER 2020: A man is seen here looking at Roman ruins in the historical center of Lecce, Apulia, Italy, on December 10th 2020.<br />
<br />
Unlike the 2008 financial crisis, the pandemic’s employment shock hit women harder than men across much of the Western world. The impact on women has been especially severe in Southern Italy, which already has Europe’s widest employment gender gap.<br />
<br />
In Italy, 51 percent of women work compared with 68 percent of men, the seventh highest women’s unemployment rate in the world despite improvements in the last decade<br />
<br />
The Global Gender Gap Report 2020 published by the World Economic Forum prior to the pandemic states that the advancement of women has regressed by nearly a century.  Italy has performed worse than most European nations in this analysis, falling six spots to seventeenth position in Europe; only Greece, Malta and Cyprus fared more poorly.<br />
<br />
The gender pay gap highlights the most critical issue. On average, non-university-educated men earn 6,000 euro more than women with a degree in Italy.
    CIPG_20201210_WSJ_ITWOMEN_7M30266.jpg
  • LECCE, ITALY - 10 DECEMBER 2020: A mother walks down the street next to a cafe that shut down during the lockdown, in the historical center of Lecce, Apulia, Italy, on December 10th 2020.<br />
<br />
Unlike the 2008 financial crisis, the pandemic’s employment shock hit women harder than men across much of the Western world. The impact on women has been especially severe in Southern Italy, which already has Europe’s widest employment gender gap.<br />
<br />
In Italy, 51 percent of women work compared with 68 percent of men, the seventh highest women’s unemployment rate in the world despite improvements in the last decade<br />
<br />
The Global Gender Gap Report 2020 published by the World Economic Forum prior to the pandemic states that the advancement of women has regressed by nearly a century.  Italy has performed worse than most European nations in this analysis, falling six spots to seventeenth position in Europe; only Greece, Malta and Cyprus fared more poorly.<br />
<br />
The gender pay gap highlights the most critical issue. On average, non-university-educated men earn 6,000 euro more than women with a degree in Italy.
    CIPG_20201210_WSJ_ITWOMEN_7M30220.jpg
  • LECCE, ITALY - 10 DECEMBER 2020: A cafe that shut down during the lockdown is seen here in the historical center of Lecce, Apulia, Italy, on December 10th 2020.<br />
<br />
Unlike the 2008 financial crisis, the pandemic’s employment shock hit women harder than men across much of the Western world. The impact on women has been especially severe in Southern Italy, which already has Europe’s widest employment gender gap.<br />
<br />
In Italy, 51 percent of women work compared with 68 percent of men, the seventh highest women’s unemployment rate in the world despite improvements in the last decade<br />
<br />
The Global Gender Gap Report 2020 published by the World Economic Forum prior to the pandemic states that the advancement of women has regressed by nearly a century.  Italy has performed worse than most European nations in this analysis, falling six spots to seventeenth position in Europe; only Greece, Malta and Cyprus fared more poorly.<br />
<br />
The gender pay gap highlights the most critical issue. On average, non-university-educated men earn 6,000 euro more than women with a degree in Italy.
    CIPG_20201210_WSJ_ITWOMEN_7M30195.jpg
  • LECCE, ITALY - 10 DECEMBER 2020: A cafe that shut down during the lockdown is seen here in the historical center of Lecce, Apulia, Italy, on December 10th 2020.<br />
<br />
Unlike the 2008 financial crisis, the pandemic’s employment shock hit women harder than men across much of the Western world. The impact on women has been especially severe in Southern Italy, which already has Europe’s widest employment gender gap.<br />
<br />
In Italy, 51 percent of women work compared with 68 percent of men, the seventh highest women’s unemployment rate in the world despite improvements in the last decade<br />
<br />
The Global Gender Gap Report 2020 published by the World Economic Forum prior to the pandemic states that the advancement of women has regressed by nearly a century.  Italy has performed worse than most European nations in this analysis, falling six spots to seventeenth position in Europe; only Greece, Malta and Cyprus fared more poorly.<br />
<br />
The gender pay gap highlights the most critical issue. On average, non-university-educated men earn 6,000 euro more than women with a degree in Italy.
    CIPG_20201210_WSJ_ITWOMEN_7M30205.jpg
  • LECCE, ITALY - 10 DECEMBER 2020: Stefania Pala (32), an unemployed, poses for a portrait in Lecce, Apulia, Italy, on December 10th 2020.<br />
<br />
After working in a hotel on Lake Garda, Stefania Pala moved to London where she worked in a pizzeria and lived with her partner from 2015 to 2018. When her partner received a job offer with a permanent contract in Apulia, they moved back. "We could finally ask for a loan, get married and buy a house", she said.  She has worked occasionally as a head waiter on short-term contracts during peak season in Apulia. Her last job was at a resort last summer, but has been unemployed ever since. During her last job interview for an available position as a paid intern (750 euros for 44 hours/week) in art supplies store, the potential employer asked her if she had children or if she had intention to have any. Uncertain how to respond, Stefania Pala laughed uncomfortably and replied she had two cats. She wasn't hired.<br />
<br />
Unlike the 2008 financial crisis, the pandemic’s employment shock hit women harder than men across much of the Western world. The impact on women has been especially severe in Southern Italy, which already has Europe’s widest employment gender gap.<br />
<br />
In Italy, 51 percent of women work compared with 68 percent of men, the seventh highest women’s unemployment rate in the world despite improvements in the last decade<br />
<br />
The Global Gender Gap Report 2020 published by the World Economic Forum prior to the pandemic states that the advancement of women has regressed by nearly a century.  Italy has performed worse than most European nations in this analysis, falling six spots to seventeenth position in Europe; only Greece, Malta and Cyprus fared more poorly.<br />
<br />
The gender pay gap highlights the most critical issue. On average, non-university-educated men earn 6,000 euro more than women with a degree in Italy.
    CIPG_20201210_WSJ_ITWOMEN_7M30177.jpg
  • LECCE, ITALY - 10 DECEMBER 2020: A view of the historical center of Lecce, Apulia, Italy, on December 10th 2020.<br />
<br />
Unlike the 2008 financial crisis, the pandemic’s employment shock hit women harder than men across much of the Western world. The impact on women has been especially severe in Southern Italy, which already has Europe’s widest employment gender gap.<br />
<br />
In Italy, 51 percent of women work compared with 68 percent of men, the seventh highest women’s unemployment rate in the world despite improvements in the last decade<br />
<br />
The Global Gender Gap Report 2020 published by the World Economic Forum prior to the pandemic states that the advancement of women has regressed by nearly a century.  Italy has performed worse than most European nations in this analysis, falling six spots to seventeenth position in Europe; only Greece, Malta and Cyprus fared more poorly.<br />
<br />
The gender pay gap highlights the most critical issue. On average, non-university-educated men earn 6,000 euro more than women with a degree in Italy.
    CIPG_20201210_WSJ_ITWOMEN_7M30106.jpg
  • LECCE, ITALY - 10 DECEMBER 2020: Stefania Pala (32), an unemployed, poses for a portrait in Lecce, Apulia, Italy, on December 10th 2020.<br />
<br />
After working in a hotel on Lake Garda, Stefania Pala moved to London where she worked in a pizzeria and lived with her partner from 2015 to 2018. When her partner received a job offer with a permanent contract in Apulia, they moved back. "We could finally ask for a loan, get married and buy a house", she said.  She has worked occasionally as a head waiter on short-term contracts during peak season in Apulia. Her last job was at a resort last summer, but has been unemployed ever since. During her last job interview for an available position as a paid intern (750 euros for 44 hours/week) in art supplies store, the potential employer asked her if she had children or if she had intention to have any. Uncertain how to respond, Stefania Pala laughed uncomfortably and replied she had two cats. She wasn't hired.<br />
<br />
Unlike the 2008 financial crisis, the pandemic’s employment shock hit women harder than men across much of the Western world. The impact on women has been especially severe in Southern Italy, which already has Europe’s widest employment gender gap.<br />
<br />
In Italy, 51 percent of women work compared with 68 percent of men, the seventh highest women’s unemployment rate in the world despite improvements in the last decade<br />
<br />
The Global Gender Gap Report 2020 published by the World Economic Forum prior to the pandemic states that the advancement of women has regressed by nearly a century.  Italy has performed worse than most European nations in this analysis, falling six spots to seventeenth position in Europe; only Greece, Malta and Cyprus fared more poorly.<br />
<br />
The gender pay gap highlights the most critical issue. On average, non-university-educated men earn 6,000 euro more than women with a degree in Italy.
    CIPG_20201210_WSJ_ITWOMEN_7M30161.jpg
  • LECCE, ITALY - 10 DECEMBER 2020: Stefania Pala (32), an unemployed, poses for a portrait in Lecce, Apulia, Italy, on December 10th 2020.<br />
<br />
After working in a hotel on Lake Garda, Stefania Pala moved to London where she worked in a pizzeria and lived with her partner from 2015 to 2018. When her partner received a job offer with a permanent contract in Apulia, they moved back. "We could finally ask for a loan, get married and buy a house", she said.  She has worked occasionally as a head waiter on short-term contracts during peak season in Apulia. Her last job was at a resort last summer, but has been unemployed ever since. During her last job interview for an available position as a paid intern (750 euros for 44 hours/week) in art supplies store, the potential employer asked her if she had children or if she had intention to have any. Uncertain how to respond, Stefania Pala laughed uncomfortably and replied she had two cats. She wasn't hired.<br />
<br />
Unlike the 2008 financial crisis, the pandemic’s employment shock hit women harder than men across much of the Western world. The impact on women has been especially severe in Southern Italy, which already has Europe’s widest employment gender gap.<br />
<br />
In Italy, 51 percent of women work compared with 68 percent of men, the seventh highest women’s unemployment rate in the world despite improvements in the last decade<br />
<br />
The Global Gender Gap Report 2020 published by the World Economic Forum prior to the pandemic states that the advancement of women has regressed by nearly a century.  Italy has performed worse than most European nations in this analysis, falling six spots to seventeenth position in Europe; only Greece, Malta and Cyprus fared more poorly.<br />
<br />
The gender pay gap highlights the most critical issue. On average, non-university-educated men earn 6,000 euro more than women with a degree in Italy.
    CIPG_20201210_WSJ_ITWOMEN_7M30095.jpg
  • LECCE, ITALY - 10 DECEMBER 2020: Stefania Pala (32), an unemployed, poses for a portrait in Lecce, Apulia, Italy, on December 10th 2020.<br />
<br />
After working in a hotel on Lake Garda, Stefania Pala moved to London where she worked in a pizzeria and lived with her partner from 2015 to 2018. When her partner received a job offer with a permanent contract in Apulia, they moved back. "We could finally ask for a loan, get married and buy a house", she said.  She has worked occasionally as a head waiter on short-term contracts during peak season in Apulia. Her last job was at a resort last summer, but has been unemployed ever since. During her last job interview for an available position as a paid intern (750 euros for 44 hours/week) in art supplies store, the potential employer asked her if she had children or if she had intention to have any. Uncertain how to respond, Stefania Pala laughed uncomfortably and replied she had two cats. She wasn't hired.<br />
<br />
Unlike the 2008 financial crisis, the pandemic’s employment shock hit women harder than men across much of the Western world. The impact on women has been especially severe in Southern Italy, which already has Europe’s widest employment gender gap.<br />
<br />
In Italy, 51 percent of women work compared with 68 percent of men, the seventh highest women’s unemployment rate in the world despite improvements in the last decade<br />
<br />
The Global Gender Gap Report 2020 published by the World Economic Forum prior to the pandemic states that the advancement of women has regressed by nearly a century.  Italy has performed worse than most European nations in this analysis, falling six spots to seventeenth position in Europe; only Greece, Malta and Cyprus fared more poorly.<br />
<br />
The gender pay gap highlights the most critical issue. On average, non-university-educated men earn 6,000 euro more than women with a degree in Italy.
    CIPG_20201210_WSJ_ITWOMEN_7M30087.jpg
  • LECCE, ITALY - 10 DECEMBER 2020: Stefania Pala (32), an unemployed, poses for a portrait in Lecce, Apulia, Italy, on December 10th 2020.<br />
<br />
After working in a hotel on Lake Garda, Stefania Pala moved to London where she worked in a pizzeria and lived with her partner from 2015 to 2018. When her partner received a job offer with a permanent contract in Apulia, they moved back. "We could finally ask for a loan, get married and buy a house", she said.  She has worked occasionally as a head waiter on short-term contracts during peak season in Apulia. Her last job was at a resort last summer, but has been unemployed ever since. During her last job interview for an available position as a paid intern (750 euros for 44 hours/week) in art supplies store, the potential employer asked her if she had children or if she had intention to have any. Uncertain how to respond, Stefania Pala laughed uncomfortably and replied she had two cats. She wasn't hired.<br />
<br />
Unlike the 2008 financial crisis, the pandemic’s employment shock hit women harder than men across much of the Western world. The impact on women has been especially severe in Southern Italy, which already has Europe’s widest employment gender gap.<br />
<br />
In Italy, 51 percent of women work compared with 68 percent of men, the seventh highest women’s unemployment rate in the world despite improvements in the last decade<br />
<br />
The Global Gender Gap Report 2020 published by the World Economic Forum prior to the pandemic states that the advancement of women has regressed by nearly a century.  Italy has performed worse than most European nations in this analysis, falling six spots to seventeenth position in Europe; only Greece, Malta and Cyprus fared more poorly.<br />
<br />
The gender pay gap highlights the most critical issue. On average, non-university-educated men earn 6,000 euro more than women with a degree in Italy.
    CIPG_20201210_WSJ_ITWOMEN_7M30036.jpg
  • LECCE, ITALY - 10 DECEMBER 2020: Stefania Pala (32), an unemployed, poses for a portrait in Lecce, Apulia, Italy, on December 10th 2020.<br />
<br />
After working in a hotel on Lake Garda, Stefania Pala moved to London where she worked in a pizzeria and lived with her partner from 2015 to 2018. When her partner received a job offer with a permanent contract in Apulia, they moved back. "We could finally ask for a loan, get married and buy a house", she said.  She has worked occasionally as a head waiter on short-term contracts during peak season in Apulia. Her last job was at a resort last summer, but has been unemployed ever since. During her last job interview for an available position as a paid intern (750 euros for 44 hours/week) in art supplies store, the potential employer asked her if she had children or if she had intention to have any. Uncertain how to respond, Stefania Pala laughed uncomfortably and replied she had two cats. She wasn't hired.<br />
<br />
Unlike the 2008 financial crisis, the pandemic’s employment shock hit women harder than men across much of the Western world. The impact on women has been especially severe in Southern Italy, which already has Europe’s widest employment gender gap.<br />
<br />
In Italy, 51 percent of women work compared with 68 percent of men, the seventh highest women’s unemployment rate in the world despite improvements in the last decade<br />
<br />
The Global Gender Gap Report 2020 published by the World Economic Forum prior to the pandemic states that the advancement of women has regressed by nearly a century.  Italy has performed worse than most European nations in this analysis, falling six spots to seventeenth position in Europe; only Greece, Malta and Cyprus fared more poorly.<br />
<br />
The gender pay gap highlights the most critical issue. On average, non-university-educated men earn 6,000 euro more than women with a degree in Italy.
    CIPG_20201210_WSJ_ITWOMEN_7M30024.jpg
  • LECCE, ITALY - 10 DECEMBER 2020: Stefania Pala (32), an unemployed, poses for a portrait in Lecce, Apulia, Italy, on December 10th 2020.<br />
<br />
After working in a hotel on Lake Garda, Stefania Pala moved to London where she worked in a pizzeria and lived with her partner from 2015 to 2018. When her partner received a job offer with a permanent contract in Apulia, they moved back. "We could finally ask for a loan, get married and buy a house", she said.  She has worked occasionally as a head waiter on short-term contracts during peak season in Apulia. Her last job was at a resort last summer, but has been unemployed ever since. During her last job interview for an available position as a paid intern (750 euros for 44 hours/week) in art supplies store, the potential employer asked her if she had children or if she had intention to have any. Uncertain how to respond, Stefania Pala laughed uncomfortably and replied she had two cats. She wasn't hired.<br />
<br />
Unlike the 2008 financial crisis, the pandemic’s employment shock hit women harder than men across much of the Western world. The impact on women has been especially severe in Southern Italy, which already has Europe’s widest employment gender gap.<br />
<br />
In Italy, 51 percent of women work compared with 68 percent of men, the seventh highest women’s unemployment rate in the world despite improvements in the last decade<br />
<br />
The Global Gender Gap Report 2020 published by the World Economic Forum prior to the pandemic states that the advancement of women has regressed by nearly a century.  Italy has performed worse than most European nations in this analysis, falling six spots to seventeenth position in Europe; only Greece, Malta and Cyprus fared more poorly.<br />
<br />
The gender pay gap highlights the most critical issue. On average, non-university-educated men earn 6,000 euro more than women with a degree in Italy.
    CIPG_20201210_WSJ_ITWOMEN_7M30057.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: Chinese immigrants are seen here in a public park by an abandoned wool mill, closed in 2002, in the Chinatown of Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Today, roughly one-tenth of the city’s 200,000 inhabitants are Chinese immigrants who have arrived legally, while many estimates put the total number at 45,000 after accounting for those without proper documents. <br />
Chinese grocery stores and restaurants have emerged to serve the local population. On the outskirts of the city, Chinese entrepreneurs oversee warehouses teeming with racks of clothing destined for markets across the continent. Estimates have it that 80 percent of clothing sold in street markets within the European Union is made by Chinese workers in Prato.<br />
<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. The
    SMAS_20191126_NYT_Italy-Crisis_DSCF7...jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: Rolls of fabrics are stored here in the warehouse of Marini Industrie, a textile company that has survived Chinese competition in Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. Marini Industrie is one of the few companies in Prato that weren’t hit by Chinese competition, by elevating their quality.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    SMAS_20191125_NYT_Italy-Crisis_DSCF7...jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: A view of the quality control area of Marini Industrie, a textile company that has survived Chinese competition in Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. Marini Industrie is one of the few companies in Prato that weren’t hit by Chinese competition, by elevating their quality.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    SMAS_20191125_NYT_Italy-Crisis_DSCF7...jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: Luca Campigli (56),  walks by the stocked fabric samples at Marini Industrie, a textile company that has survived Chinese competition in Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. Luca Campagni has been working at Marini Industrie for 27 years. Marini Industrie is one of the few companies in Prato that weren’t hit by Chinese competition, by elevating their quality.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    SMAS_20191125_NYT_Italy-Crisis_DSCF7...jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: Wool fabric samples are seen here at Marini Industrie, a textile company that has survived Chinese competition in Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. Marini Industrie is one of the few companies in Prato that weren’t hit by Chinese competition, by elevating their quality.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    SMAS_20191125_NYT_Italy-Crisis_DSCF7...jpg
  • MONTEGRANARO, ITALY - 28 NOVEMBER 2019: A failed show factory is seen here in Montegranaro, Italy, on November 28th 2019.<br />
<br />
Montegranaro is a hilltop town that has seen its 600 footwear companies cut down to 150. The town’s population has dropped from about 14,000 two decades ago to 13,000 today, and about 1,000 are now immigrants -- Albanians, Africans, Chinese. According to Mauro Lucentini, this is not a trend to be proud of. The Africans loiter the streets, drunkenly harassing women, he says: “The Nigerians are savages.”<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around.
    CIPG_20191128_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_4334.jpg
  • TORRE SAN PATRIZIO ITALY - 28 NOVEMBER 2019:  Federica Castricini, a 40-year-old mother of two who works at a shoemaker in the Marche region, and has dumped the left for the League, poses for a portrait in her home in Torre San Patrizio, Italy, on November 28th 2019.  “The left doesn’t even see the problems of Italian families right now”, she says.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around.
    CIPG_20191128_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_4301.jpg
  • CIVITAVNOVE MARCHE, ITALY - 28 NOVEMBER 2019: Cesare Catini (81), a former shoemaking entrepreneur, poses for a portrait in Civitanove Marche, Italy, on November 28th 2019. At 12, he left school and began working with his uncle making shoes. In 1961, when Mr. Catini was only 22, he launched his own business, making women’s shoes in a small garage at his home. By the 1980s, they had hired a designer from Milan and were buying advertisements in the Italian edition of Vogue magazine. In 2001, China secured entry to the World Trade Organization, opening markets to its exports.  That year, Italian footwear manufacturers exported 354 million pairs of shoes. By 2018, that number had plunged to 203 million, a drop of more than 40 percent. <br />
Over the same period, China displaced Italy as Germany’s largest source of shoes. By 2017, China was selling $3.7 billion worth of footwear to Germany, according to the World Bank, nearly triple Italy’s sales. Mr. Catini’s sales and production were down by 80 percent by 2005.   He shut it down in 2008, throwing 70 people out of work, unable to compete with China.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around.
    CIPG_20191128_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_4096.jpg
  • CIVITAVNOVE MARCHE, ITALY - 28 NOVEMBER 2019: Cesare Catini (81), a former shoemaking entrepreneur, poses for a portrait in Civitanove Marche, Italy, on November 28th 2019. At 12, he left school and began working with his uncle making shoes. In 1961, when Mr. Catini was only 22, he launched his own business, making women’s shoes in a small garage at his home. By the 1980s, they had hired a designer from Milan and were buying advertisements in the Italian edition of Vogue magazine. In 2001, China secured entry to the World Trade Organization, opening markets to its exports.  That year, Italian footwear manufacturers exported 354 million pairs of shoes. By 2018, that number had plunged to 203 million, a drop of more than 40 percent. <br />
Over the same period, China displaced Italy as Germany’s largest source of shoes. By 2017, China was selling $3.7 billion worth of footwear to Germany, according to the World Bank, nearly triple Italy’s sales. Mr. Catini’s sales and production were down by 80 percent by 2005.   He shut it down in 2008, throwing 70 people out of work, unable to compete with China.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around.
    CIPG_20191128_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_4056.jpg
  • CIVITAVNOVE MARCHE, ITALY - 28 NOVEMBER 2019: Cesare Catini (81), a former shoemaking entrepreneur, poses for a portrait in Civitanove Marche, Italy, on November 28th 2019. At 12, he left school and began working with his uncle making shoes. In 1961, when Mr. Catini was only 22, he launched his own business, making women’s shoes in a small garage at his home. By the 1980s, they had hired a designer from Milan and were buying advertisements in the Italian edition of Vogue magazine. In 2001, China secured entry to the World Trade Organization, opening markets to its exports.  That year, Italian footwear manufacturers exported 354 million pairs of shoes. By 2018, that number had plunged to 203 million, a drop of more than 40 percent. <br />
Over the same period, China displaced Italy as Germany’s largest source of shoes. By 2017, China was selling $3.7 billion worth of footwear to Germany, according to the World Bank, nearly triple Italy’s sales. Mr. Catini’s sales and production were down by 80 percent by 2005.   He shut it down in 2008, throwing 70 people out of work, unable to compete with China.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around.
    CIPG_20191128_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_4039.jpg
  • MONTEGRANARO, ITALY - 28 NOVEMBER 2019: Mauro Lucentini (46), a real estate agent and elected member of the of the League in his hometown Montegranaro, poses for a portrait in his office in Montegranaro, Italy, on November 28th 2019.<br />
<br />
Montegranaro is a hilltop town that has seen its 600 footwear companies cut down to 150. The town’s population has dropped from about 14,000 two decades ago to 13,000 today, and about 1,000 are now immigrants -- Albanians, Africans, Chinese. According to Mauro Lucentini, this is not a trend to be proud of. The Africans loiter the streets, drunkenly harassing women, he says: “The Nigerians are savages.”<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around.
    CIPG_20191128_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3958.jpg
  • MONTEGRANARO, ITALY - 28 NOVEMBER 2019: Mauro Lucentini (46), a real estate agent and elected member of the of the League in his hometown Montegranaro, poses for a portrait in his office in Montegranaro, Italy, on November 28th 2019.<br />
<br />
Montegranaro is a hilltop town that has seen its 600 footwear companies cut down to 150. The town’s population has dropped from about 14,000 two decades ago to 13,000 today, and about 1,000 are now immigrants -- Albanians, Africans, Chinese. According to Mauro Lucentini, this is not a trend to be proud of. The Africans loiter the streets, drunkenly harassing women, he says: “The Nigerians are savages.”<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around.
    CIPG_20191128_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3892.jpg
  • MONTEGRANARO, ITALY - 28 NOVEMBER 2019: Mauro Lucentini (46), a real estate agent and elected member of the of the League in his hometown Montegranaro, poses for a portrait in his office in Montegranaro, Italy, on November 28th 2019.<br />
<br />
Montegranaro is a hilltop town that has seen its 600 footwear companies cut down to 150. The town’s population has dropped from about 14,000 two decades ago to 13,000 today, and about 1,000 are now immigrants -- Albanians, Africans, Chinese. According to Mauro Lucentini, this is not a trend to be proud of. The Africans loiter the streets, drunkenly harassing women, he says: “The Nigerians are savages.”<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around.
    CIPG_20191128_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3875.jpg
  • MONTEGRANARO, ITALY - 28 NOVEMBER 2019: Mauro Lucentini (46), a real estate agent and elected member of the of the League in his hometown Montegranaro, poses for a portrait in his office in Montegranaro, Italy, on November 28th 2019.<br />
<br />
Montegranaro is a hilltop town that has seen its 600 footwear companies cut down to 150. The town’s population has dropped from about 14,000 two decades ago to 13,000 today, and about 1,000 are now immigrants -- Albanians, Africans, Chinese. According to Mauro Lucentini, this is not a trend to be proud of. The Africans loiter the streets, drunkenly harassing women, he says: “The Nigerians are savages.”<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around.
    CIPG_20191128_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3777.jpg
  • MONTEGRANARO, ITALY - 28 NOVEMBER 2019: A nine-story apartment block above a supermarket, entirely vacant save for one unit, is seen here in Montegranaro, Italy, on November 28th 2019.<br />
<br />
Montegranaro is a hilltop town that has seen its 600 footwear companies cut down to 150. The town’s population has dropped from about 14,000 two decades ago to 13,000 today, and about 1,000 are now immigrants -- Albanians, Africans, Chinese. According to Mauro Lucentini, this is not a trend to be proud of. The Africans loiter the streets, drunkenly harassing women, he says: “The Nigerians are savages.”<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around.
    CIPG_20191128_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3727.jpg
  • MONTEGRANARO, ITALY - 28 NOVEMBER 2019: A failed show factory is seen here in Montegranaro, Italy, on November 28th 2019.<br />
<br />
Montegranaro is a hilltop town that has seen its 600 footwear companies cut down to 150. The town’s population has dropped from about 14,000 two decades ago to 13,000 today, and about 1,000 are now immigrants -- Albanians, Africans, Chinese. According to Mauro Lucentini, this is not a trend to be proud of. The Africans loiter the streets, drunkenly harassing women, he says: “The Nigerians are savages.”<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around.
    CIPG_20191128_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3662.jpg
  • MONTEGRANARO, ITALY - 28 NOVEMBER 2019: A nine-story apartment block above a supermarket, entirely vacant save for one unit, is seen here in Montegranaro, Italy, on November 28th 2019.<br />
<br />
Montegranaro is a hilltop town that has seen its 600 footwear companies cut down to 150. The town’s population has dropped from about 14,000 two decades ago to 13,000 today, and about 1,000 are now immigrants -- Albanians, Africans, Chinese. According to Mauro Lucentini, this is not a trend to be proud of. The Africans loiter the streets, drunkenly harassing women, he says: “The Nigerians are savages.”<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around.
    CIPG_20191128_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3613.jpg
  • MONTEGRANARO, ITALY - 28 NOVEMBER 2019: A two-story home has been, on sale for more than a year, remains unsold in Montegranaro, Italy, on November 28th 2019. A decade ago, it was worth 250,000 euros. Now listed at 125,000 euros.<br />
<br />
Montegranaro is a hilltop town that has seen its 600 footwear companies cut down to 150. The town’s population has dropped from about 14,000 two decades ago to 13,000 today, and about 1,000 are now immigrants -- Albanians, Africans, Chinese. According to Mauro Lucentini, this is not a trend to be proud of. The Africans loiter the streets, drunkenly harassing women, he says: “The Nigerians are savages.”<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around.
    CIPG_20191128_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3586.jpg
  • MONTEGRANARO, ITALY - 28 NOVEMBER 2019: A failed retailer that sold shoelaces and other footwear accessories is seen here in Montegranaro, Italy, on November 28th 2019.<br />
<br />
Montegranaro is a hilltop town that has seen its 600 footwear companies cut down to 150. The town’s population has dropped from about 14,000 two decades ago to 13,000 today, and about 1,000 are now immigrants -- Albanians, Africans, Chinese. According to Mauro Lucentini, this is not a trend to be proud of. The Africans loiter the streets, drunkenly harassing women, he says: “The Nigerians are savages.”<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around.
    CIPG_20191128_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3488.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 27 NOVEMBER 2019: The fabric fabric produced in the Tronci textile factory, a supplier of Marini Industrie, is seen here in Prato, Italy, on November 27th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191127_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3409.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 27 NOVEMBER 2019: A man is seen here at work in the Tronci textile factory, a supplier of Marini Industrie, in Prato, Italy, on November 27th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191127_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3400.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 27 NOVEMBER 2019: The weaving of a fabric is seen here in the Tronci textile factory, a supplier of Marini Industrie, in Prato, Italy, on November 27th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191127_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3389.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 27 NOVEMBER 2019: The weaving of a fabric is seen here in the Tronci textile factory, a supplier of Marini Industrie, in Prato, Italy, on November 27th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191127_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3367.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 27 NOVEMBER 2019: A woman is seen here at work in the Tronci textile factory, a supplier of Marini Industrie, in Prato, Italy, on November 27th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191127_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3349.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: A sign advertises a Chinese Pronto Moda (Fast Fashion) retailer  in the textile industrial area of Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191127_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3344.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: A Chinese Pronto Moda (Fast Fashion) retailer is seen here in the textile industrial area of Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191127_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3322.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 27 NOVEMBER 2019: Chinese clothes with a "Made in Italy" label are shown here in a showroom of a Chinese Pronto Moda (Fast Fashion) retailer  in the textile industrial area of Prato, Italy, on November 27th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191127_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3300.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 27 NOVEMBER 2019: A graffiti saying "Here are the slaves" is seen here by the Chinese clothing retailers in the textile industrial area of Prato, Italy, on November 27th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191127_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3285.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: Chinese immigrants are seen here loading a truck at a showroom of a Chinese Pronto Moda (Fast Fashion) retailer in the textile industrial area of Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3275.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: A man is seen here in a makeshift pastry shop the textile industrial area of Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3264.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: A Chinese Pronto Moda (Fast Fashion) retailer is seen here in the textile industrial area of Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3215.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: Signs advertise  Chinese Pronto Moda (Fast Fashion) retailer  in the textile industrial area of Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3177.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: A building with Chinese Pronto Moda (Fast Fashion) retailers is seen here in the textile industrial area of Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3172.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: A sign advertises a Chinese Pronto Moda (Fast Fashion) retailer  in the textile industrial area of Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3159.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: A sign advertises a Chinese Pronto Moda (Fast Fashion) retailer  in the textile industrial area of Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3153.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: A Chinese truck drivers pulls out of the parking lot of a Chinese supermarket after delivering goods, in the Chinatown of Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Today, roughly one-tenth of the city’s 200,000 inhabitants are Chinese immigrants who have arrived legally, while many estimates put the total number at 45,000 after accounting for those without proper documents. <br />
Chinese grocery stores and restaurants have emerged to serve the local population. On the outskirts of the city, Chinese entrepreneurs oversee warehouses teeming with racks of clothing destined for markets across the continent. Estimates have it that 80 percent of clothing sold in street markets within the European Union is made by Chinese workers in Prato.<br />
<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion br
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3123.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: Chinese immigrants gathered as the local police confiscated the vegetables sold illegally by a Chinese immigrant in the Chinatown of Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Today, roughly one-tenth of the city’s 200,000 inhabitants are Chinese immigrants who have arrived legally, while many estimates put the total number at 45,000 after accounting for those without proper documents. <br />
Chinese grocery stores and restaurants have emerged to serve the local population. On the outskirts of the city, Chinese entrepreneurs oversee warehouses teeming with racks of clothing destined for markets across the continent. Estimates have it that 80 percent of clothing sold in street markets within the European Union is made by Chinese workers in Prato.<br />
<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3090.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: A local policewoman confiscates the vegetables sold illegally by a Chinese immigrant in the Chinatown of Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Today, roughly one-tenth of the city’s 200,000 inhabitants are Chinese immigrants who have arrived legally, while many estimates put the total number at 45,000 after accounting for those without proper documents. <br />
Chinese grocery stores and restaurants have emerged to serve the local population. On the outskirts of the city, Chinese entrepreneurs oversee warehouses teeming with racks of clothing destined for markets across the continent. Estimates have it that 80 percent of clothing sold in street markets within the European Union is made by Chinese workers in Prato.<br />
<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixe
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3084.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: The walled entrance and closed fate of an abandoned wool mill, that went out of business in 2002, in the Chinatown of Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Today, roughly one-tenth of the city’s 200,000 inhabitants are Chinese immigrants who have arrived legally, while many estimates put the total number at 45,000 after accounting for those without proper documents. <br />
Chinese grocery stores and restaurants have emerged to serve the local population. On the outskirts of the city, Chinese entrepreneurs oversee warehouses teeming with racks of clothing destined for markets across the continent. Estimates have it that 80 percent of clothing sold in street markets within the European Union is made by Chinese workers in Prato.<br />
<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3067.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: A Chinese immigrant rides his bycicle in a public park by an abandoned wool mill, tat went out of business in 2002, in the Chinatown of Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Today, roughly one-tenth of the city’s 200,000 inhabitants are Chinese immigrants who have arrived legally, while many estimates put the total number at 45,000 after accounting for those without proper documents. <br />
Chinese grocery stores and restaurants have emerged to serve the local population. On the outskirts of the city, Chinese entrepreneurs oversee warehouses teeming with racks of clothing destined for markets across the continent. Estimates have it that 80 percent of clothing sold in street markets within the European Union is made by Chinese workers in Prato.<br />
<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Ital
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_3026.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: Teenagers, including first generation Italian Chinese, are seen here walking back from school in the Chinatown of Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Today, roughly one-tenth of the city’s 200,000 inhabitants are Chinese immigrants who have arrived legally, while many estimates put the total number at 45,000 after accounting for those without proper documents. <br />
Chinese grocery stores and restaurants have emerged to serve the local population. On the outskirts of the city, Chinese entrepreneurs oversee warehouses teeming with racks of clothing destined for markets across the continent. Estimates have it that 80 percent of clothing sold in street markets within the European Union is made by Chinese workers in Prato.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. The
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2949.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: A Chinese worker assembles a new Chinese business sign in the Chinatown of Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Today, roughly one-tenth of the city’s 200,000 inhabitants are Chinese immigrants who have arrived legally, while many estimates put the total number at 45,000 after accounting for those without proper documents. <br />
Chinese grocery stores and restaurants have emerged to serve the local population. On the outskirts of the city, Chinese entrepreneurs oversee warehouses teeming with racks of clothing destined for markets across the continent. Estimates have it that 80 percent of clothing sold in street markets within the European Union is made by Chinese workers in Prato.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their cre
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2914.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: A projection of the history of the local textile industry and the Chinese presence is seen here the textile museum in Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2895.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: A projection of the history of the local textile industry is seen here the textile museum in Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2864.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: An interior view of the textile museum in Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2840.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: An interior view of the textile museum in Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2831.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: A rag opener of 1953 used in a Prato textile factory is seen here in the textile museum in Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2830.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: Edoardo Nesi (55), who inherited a textile factory from his father but closed it a few years ago because of Chinese competition, poses for a portrait in his home in Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019. “In Prato, we thought we were the best in the world,” says Edoardo Nesi, who spent his days running the textile factory his grandfather started, and his nights penning novels. “ Everybody was making money.” “We lived in a place where everything had been good for 40 years,” Mr. Nesi says. “Nobody was afraid of the future.”<br />
<br />
In the 1990s, the Germans began purchasing cheaper fabrics woven in the former East Germany, Bulgaria and Romania. Then, they shifted their sights to China, where similar fabric could be had for less than half the price of Prato’s. Chinese factories were buying the same German-made machinery used by the mills in Prato. They were hiring Italian consultants who were instructing them on the modern arts of the trade. By 2000, Mr. Nesi’s business was no longer making money.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2740.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: Edoardo Nesi (55), who inherited a textile factory from his father but closed it a few years ago because of Chinese competition, poses for a portrait in his home in Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019. “In Prato, we thought we were the best in the world,” says Edoardo Nesi, who spent his days running the textile factory his grandfather started, and his nights penning novels. “ Everybody was making money.” “We lived in a place where everything had been good for 40 years,” Mr. Nesi says. “Nobody was afraid of the future.”<br />
<br />
In the 1990s, the Germans began purchasing cheaper fabrics woven in the former East Germany, Bulgaria and Romania. Then, they shifted their sights to China, where similar fabric could be had for less than half the price of Prato’s. Chinese factories were buying the same German-made machinery used by the mills in Prato. They were hiring Italian consultants who were instructing them on the modern arts of the trade. By 2000, Mr. Nesi’s business was no longer making money.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2636.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: Edoardo Nesi (55), who inherited a textile factory from his father but closed it a few years ago because of Chinese competition, poses for a portrait in his home in Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019. “In Prato, we thought we were the best in the world,” says Edoardo Nesi, who spent his days running the textile factory his grandfather started, and his nights penning novels. “ Everybody was making money.” “We lived in a place where everything had been good for 40 years,” Mr. Nesi says. “Nobody was afraid of the future.”<br />
<br />
In the 1990s, the Germans began purchasing cheaper fabrics woven in the former East Germany, Bulgaria and Romania. Then, they shifted their sights to China, where similar fabric could be had for less than half the price of Prato’s. Chinese factories were buying the same German-made machinery used by the mills in Prato. They were hiring Italian consultants who were instructing them on the modern arts of the trade. By 2000, Mr. Nesi’s business was no longer making money.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2582.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: Edoardo Nesi (55), who inherited a textile factory from his father but closed it a few years ago because of Chinese competition, poses for a portrait in his home in Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019. “In Prato, we thought we were the best in the world,” says Edoardo Nesi, who spent his days running the textile factory his grandfather started, and his nights penning novels. “ Everybody was making money.” “We lived in a place where everything had been good for 40 years,” Mr. Nesi says. “Nobody was afraid of the future.”<br />
<br />
In the 1990s, the Germans began purchasing cheaper fabrics woven in the former East Germany, Bulgaria and Romania. Then, they shifted their sights to China, where similar fabric could be had for less than half the price of Prato’s. Chinese factories were buying the same German-made machinery used by the mills in Prato. They were hiring Italian consultants who were instructing them on the modern arts of the trade. By 2000, Mr. Nesi’s business was no longer making money.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2580.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: Edoardo Nesi (55), who inherited a textile factory from his father but closed it a few years ago because of Chinese competition, poses for a portrait in his home in Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019. “In Prato, we thought we were the best in the world,” says Edoardo Nesi, who spent his days running the textile factory his grandfather started, and his nights penning novels. “ Everybody was making money.” “We lived in a place where everything had been good for 40 years,” Mr. Nesi says. “Nobody was afraid of the future.”<br />
<br />
In the 1990s, the Germans began purchasing cheaper fabrics woven in the former East Germany, Bulgaria and Romania. Then, they shifted their sights to China, where similar fabric could be had for less than half the price of Prato’s. Chinese factories were buying the same German-made machinery used by the mills in Prato. They were hiring Italian consultants who were instructing them on the modern arts of the trade. By 2000, Mr. Nesi’s business was no longer making money.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2575.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: Edoardo Nesi (55), who inherited a textile factory from his father but closed it a few years ago because of Chinese competition, poses for a portrait in his home in Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019. “In Prato, we thought we were the best in the world,” says Edoardo Nesi, who spent his days running the textile factory his grandfather started, and his nights penning novels. “ Everybody was making money.” “We lived in a place where everything had been good for 40 years,” Mr. Nesi says. “Nobody was afraid of the future.”<br />
<br />
In the 1990s, the Germans began purchasing cheaper fabrics woven in the former East Germany, Bulgaria and Romania. Then, they shifted their sights to China, where similar fabric could be had for less than half the price of Prato’s. Chinese factories were buying the same German-made machinery used by the mills in Prato. They were hiring Italian consultants who were instructing them on the modern arts of the trade. By 2000, Mr. Nesi’s business was no longer making money.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2558.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: Edoardo Nesi (55), who inherited a textile factory from his father but closed it a few years ago because of Chinese competition, poses for a portrait in his home in Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019. “In Prato, we thought we were the best in the world,” says Edoardo Nesi, who spent his days running the textile factory his grandfather started, and his nights penning novels. “ Everybody was making money.” “We lived in a place where everything had been good for 40 years,” Mr. Nesi says. “Nobody was afraid of the future.”<br />
<br />
In the 1990s, the Germans began purchasing cheaper fabrics woven in the former East Germany, Bulgaria and Romania. Then, they shifted their sights to China, where similar fabric could be had for less than half the price of Prato’s. Chinese factories were buying the same German-made machinery used by the mills in Prato. They were hiring Italian consultants who were instructing them on the modern arts of the trade. By 2000, Mr. Nesi’s business was no longer making money.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2547.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: Edoardo Nesi (55), who inherited a textile factory from his father but closed it a few years ago because of Chinese competition, poses for a portrait in his home in Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019. “In Prato, we thought we were the best in the world,” says Edoardo Nesi, who spent his days running the textile factory his grandfather started, and his nights penning novels. “ Everybody was making money.” “We lived in a place where everything had been good for 40 years,” Mr. Nesi says. “Nobody was afraid of the future.”<br />
<br />
In the 1990s, the Germans began purchasing cheaper fabrics woven in the former East Germany, Bulgaria and Romania. Then, they shifted their sights to China, where similar fabric could be had for less than half the price of Prato’s. Chinese factories were buying the same German-made machinery used by the mills in Prato. They were hiring Italian consultants who were instructing them on the modern arts of the trade. By 2000, Mr. Nesi’s business was no longer making money.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2463.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: A 1926 photograph of the owners and workers in the Nesi textile factory is seen here in the house of Edoardo Nesi, who inherited the business that went out of business because of globalization and Chinese competition, in Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2346.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: A view of the former Nesi textile factory, that went out of business, is seen here in Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
In the 1990s, the Germans began purchasing cheaper fabrics woven in the former East Germany, Bulgaria and Romania. Then, they shifted their sights to China, where similar fabric could be had for less than half the price of Prato’s. Chinese factories were buying the same German-made machinery used by the mills in Prato. They were hiring Italian consultants who were instructing them on the modern arts of the trade. By 2000, the Nesi textile factory was no longer making money.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2328.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: A view of the former Nesi textile factory, that went out of business, is seen here in Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
In the 1990s, the Germans began purchasing cheaper fabrics woven in the former East Germany, Bulgaria and Romania. Then, they shifted their sights to China, where similar fabric could be had for less than half the price of Prato’s. Chinese factories were buying the same German-made machinery used by the mills in Prato. They were hiring Italian consultants who were instructing them on the modern arts of the trade. By 2000, the Nesi textile factory was no longer making money.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2231.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: The entrance of the former Nesi textile factory, that went out of business, is seen here in Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
In the 1990s, the Germans began purchasing cheaper fabrics woven in the former East Germany, Bulgaria and Romania. Then, they shifted their sights to China, where similar fabric could be had for less than half the price of Prato’s. Chinese factories were buying the same German-made machinery used by the mills in Prato. They were hiring Italian consultants who were instructing them on the modern arts of the trade. By 2000, the Nesi textile factory was no longer making money.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2119.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: Chinese furs are seen here outside a showroom of a Chinese Pronto Moda (Fast Fashion) retailer  in the textile industrial area of Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019.<br />
<br />
Today, roughly one-tenth of the city’s 200,000 inhabitants are Chinese immigrants who have arrived legally, while many estimates put the total number at 45,000 after accounting for those without proper documents. <br />
Chinese grocery stores and restaurants have emerged to serve the local population. On the outskirts of the city, Chinese entrepreneurs oversee warehouses teeming with racks of clothing destined for markets across the continent. Estimates have it that 80 percent of clothing sold in street markets within the European Union is made by Chinese workers in Prato.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fas
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2103.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: Chinese clothes are shown here in a showroom of a Chinese Pronto Moda (Fast Fashion) retailer  in the textile industrial area of Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019.<br />
<br />
Today, roughly one-tenth of the city’s 200,000 inhabitants are Chinese immigrants who have arrived legally, while many estimates put the total number at 45,000 after accounting for those without proper documents. <br />
Chinese grocery stores and restaurants have emerged to serve the local population. On the outskirts of the city, Chinese entrepreneurs oversee warehouses teeming with racks of clothing destined for markets across the continent. Estimates have it that 80 percent of clothing sold in street markets within the European Union is made by Chinese workers in Prato.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fash
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