Relations between Italy and other countries – such as China – are often imagined within a binary frame that essentialises national and ethnic communities and fails to recognise the complex transcultural ramifications of an increasingly globalising world. This is particularly problematic when studying those social and cultural spaces that Ilaria Vanni (2016) has described as transcultural edges. These are marginal spaces of transition and encounters between different cultures and societies, which have the potential to create new, innovative and productive ecosystems. We argue that one such space is Prato, an industrial town near Florence, well known for its textile district, and host to one of the largest Chinese communities in Europe. Significant academic attention has been devoted to the Chinese community in Prato, including studies of its social and economic impact on the host local community and the textile industry. Most of these studies tend to isolate the Chinese community from the ethnic complexity of the area, within a binary frame that fails to acknowledge the large presence of other migrant groups and the reciprocal permeability and transculturation between the Chinese community, the Italian community, and other ethnic groups. As part of a larger project, a group of scholars is currently digitally remapping Prato, to include quantitative and qualitative geolocalised information collected through a multidisciplinary method that includes ethnography, media analysis, translation studies, transcultural studies, and digital participatory action research. Through a brief description of the aims and characteristics of this research project, the paper will discuss the importance of rethinking the relationship between Italy and China, and between Italians and Chinese, within a more complex and nuanced transcultural frame.

In this article we discuss the extent to which sport might effectively encourage processes of integration and civic participation in Prato, one of the most multicultural cities in Italy. A discourse analysis of recent policies that aim to foster social inclusion of migrants and their children through sport in the city and in the broader region of Tuscany is conducted in the first half of the article; this is followed by the analysis of qualitative interviews and focus groups with city councillors, sport operators and educators. Framed by theories of transculturation, we argue that sport may provide great opportunities for intercultural communication and transcultural socialization – mostly in its informal manifestations and in some of the more progressive and innovative public initiatives carried out in the city. Yet we also suggest that processes of social inclusion through sport promoted at a policy level are often hindered ‘on the ground’ by assimilationist attitudes and practices.

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