Activist sinology and accented documentary: China on the (Italian?) internet

Abstract

On the Italian internet, the dominant, Italian-centred – and arguably often nationalistic – discourse on Global China, and, by extension, Global Italy, emphasises economic growth and opportunities. The celebratory and homogenising rhetoric of this discourse has been challenged by a counter-discourse on subaltern China, which focuses on the many, localised social inequities and discriminations suffered by the Chinese – or, more accurately, sinophone – workers. In this counter- discourse, an important role is played by small-screen documentaries on displaced migrants both in the People's Republic of China (PRC) and in Italy. I propose that they provide meaningful evidence of anItalian-accented‘sinologia di sinistra’ oractivistsinology, which views research as a transnationalpracticeand advocates a stronger link between academic discourse and civil society.