VALUE CHAINS AND VALUE OF PLACES. THE TUSCAN CRAFT COMPANIES IN THE GLOBAL LUXURY PRODUCTION

Abstract

Based on ethnographic research data and a theoretical review of studies on local systems and industrial districts, this article examines the location strategies of large multinational companies in the luxury leather goods industry in a district with a long tradition of craftsmanship near the city of Florence, Tuscany. Through the analysis of the narratives of foreign and Italian economic actors operating in this cluster, the article examines the development of global value chains at the local level through new investments or reshoring strategies. Firstly, it analyses the rhetoric of the Florentine artisanal tradition and the growing importance attached to the ‘Made in Italy’ label, used by large companies to justify their choice of location. Secondly, it examines the dynamics of power and labour exploitation that have accompanied the development of the value chain at the local level. The aim is to show how the rhetoric and practice of valuing what is local can be seen as a response to economic operations dictated from ‘outside’ and to a series of unpredictable and contingent factors on a global scale. These include the disappearance of competitive advantages in low labour-cost countries, the impact of the 2008-2009 economic crisis and the development of immigrant entrepreneurship.