Merchants in the City of Art

Anne Schiller is Professor of Anthropology at George Mason University and Fulbright-Con Il Sud Visiting Professor at the University of Salento, Lecce, Italy. She has conducted research and published extensively on identity and social movements in Italy and Indonesia. She is also active in the field of international education, and writes and presents on issues of cross-border collaboration among universities.

• List of IllustrationsAcknowledgments1. San Lorenzo Neighborhood and Its Globalized MarketA Marketplace in TransitionMigrations and ComplicationsCivic Administration and Politics in San LorenzoFieldwork as an Apprentice VendorMarketplace Performance in the Theater of SalesSome Dilemmas of Fiorentinità2. A Mercantile Neighborhood across TimeA City of MerchantsSan Lorenzo in Medieval and Medicean TimesOld, New, and Newer MarketsFrom Traveling to Stationary PeddlersDiversity in the Most Cosmopolitan Part of the CityChoosing the Right VendorIdentity and Heritage in a World Heritage Site3. Lives and Livelihoods on Silver StreetHow Some Vendors Got Their StartMerchants and Their MerchandiseFinding Work in San LorenzoCompetition in Close QuartersThe Best WorkCustomer RelationsMaking Cents in San Lorenzo4. Into the Heart of FlorenceLong-Term Vendors and NewcomersFixed Merchants and InfringersUnlicensed Vending in the MarketplaceTalking to the Neighbors5. Saving San LorenzoA Neighborhood AssociationThe Saint Orsola Project and the Search for "Monna Lisa"Tsunami on the Market StandsFiorentinità and Its Discontents6. Fiorentinità in a Post-Florentine MarketBibliographyIndex

Like Schiller, I, too, love Florence and have visited it many times, and taught there as well. So I feel very confident in saying that hers is a well-done book, her portrait of the San Lorenzo Market exactly the one I know, too. She cites all the relevant experts: Barth, Bourdieu, Geertz, Goffman, Herzfeld, Kertzer, Turner, as well as many more recent Italian articles and books on Florence. Her knowledge of spoken Italian, particularly its proverbs, appears extensive. - Gloria Nardini, Journal of Folklore Research