ABSTRACT
In this chapter I shall examine the pre-eminent contemporary success story of artisans participating in economic development, that of the Third Italy. For this purpose I explore the circumstances and conditions in which the phenomenon of the Third Italy came into being. The Italian artisans did not merely exist or survive peripherally, but have undergone a veritable renaissance. They expanded numerically, built up their businesses, and became affluent. In good measure their prosperity then set the tone for the rest of Italy, helping it to move from the semi-periphery to centre of capitalism (Gereffi 2000: 245; Lazerson 1997: 279). Italy is now an advanced industrial country, which in the 1980s had the fastest-growing economy in Europe, challenging Britain and Canada for fifth or sixth place in the economy in terms of GDP (see Goodman 1989: 1; Thompson 1989: 540).
