Sociology of Migration and Post-Western Knowledge (original) (raw)

Chinese Migration to and within Europe: Continuity and Renewal in the Light of Demographic Factors and the Impact of Covid-19. An Introduction to the Special Issue.

Journal of Chinese Overseas, 2023

Under the changing demographic effects of Chinese migratory waves in Europe and in the global context of the Covid-19 pandemic, Chinese migratory patterns to Europe as well as the lives of migrants and their descendants in European countries have been renewed since the 2010s, both in material and symbolic or emotional ways. This special issue includes five articles shedding new light on the patterns of Chinese migration to Europe, and on the dynamics of their everyday lives in and beyond the European countries. As the special issue editor, I first argue that Chinese overseas, as an important part of global China, offer a privileged site of study for understanding Chinese society from inside and outside. Then, based on the literature review on Chinese migration to and within Europe from the 1980s to post-2020, I introduce specificities of contemporary Chinese migration to Europe and the Chinese presence in European countries, and highlight four main demographic features: the growth in the population of descendants, the aging of the first-generation migrants, the massive arrival of students and skilled migrants, and the feminization of migration. Thirdly, I provide an overview of the five articles included in this special issue. Finally, I conclude the introduction by underlying the contributions of this volume, the theoretical frameworks that they borrow and consolidate, and new avenues for research opened up by this special issue.

Call for Papers 4th CERPE Workshop in Paris (12-13 November 2020): “Chinese migrations in Europe: between continuity and renewal”

Dear colleagues, On behalf of Professors LI Minghuan and Mette Thuno, and also of all organizing committee members, I am pleased to invite you to join the 4th CERPE Workshop in Paris (12-13 November 2020): “Chinese migrations in Europe: between continuity and renewal”. Updated information on the workshop program, participants and logistic notifications will be available on the workshop webpage: https://4th-cerpe-paris.sciencesconf.org/. For additional general information about the workshop, please contact: 4th.cerpe.paris@gmail.com Best regards, Simeng Wang, for the scientific coordination board and the organizing committee

Introduction: New Dynamics of Chinese Migration to Europe

International Migration, 2020

This introduction provides a presentation of the articles in this special issue by framing the contributions in the context of new dynamics related to Chinese migration studies and the ongoing discussions of the impact of China's powerful economic position. The articles offer new empirical insights to develop new understandings of recent migration and mobilities between China and Europe. By focusing on the changing socioeconomic composition of Chinese migrants in Europe towards highly skilled professionals and investors, changes in Chinese entrepreneurship, increasing Chinese political engagement and activism, and new migration from Europe to China by Chinese descendants, these contributions reflect the importance of developing new theories to better grasp the causes and effects of China's new global economic and political position for Chinese migration. The selected articles identify promising directions for future work on the global discussions of the impact of China as a diaspora state and ensuing policy implications.

Beyond Methodological Nationalism and Epistemological Behaviouralism: Drawing Illustrations from Migrations within and from China

Population, Space and Place

Methodological nationalism takes the nation-state as a pre-given container of social life, and thereby treats internal and international migrations as separate matters. Epistemological behaviouralism redresses this by removing the conceptual divide between internal and international but is problematic in regarding migration as a human behaviour distinct in itself. In explaining why and how these two pitfalls need to be addressed in tandem, I first trace how these contrasting viewpoints are historically deeply intertwined. I then draw on examples from China to demonstrate that migrations should be understood as composites of actions carried out by multiple actors and institutions, which in their turn lead to and become part of other social processes. Internal and international migrations are interlinked as constituted and constitutive assemblages. In the case of China, the nation-state is a central link between the two, and is at the same time itself reconfigured by mobilities. Instead of promoting migration as a subject matter in its own right and migration studies as a distinct field, this article seeks to turn migration into an analytical perspective to examine broad social changes.

Move Abroad to Move Forward? Self-Assessments of Chinese Students and Undocumented Migrants in France

Social Inclusion, 2021

Migrants' self-assessments refer to their perceptions of social mobility and positioning. These assessments are often ambivalent and counterintuitive for observers. To overcome contradictory first impressions, we propose a comprehensive approach to migrants' self-assessments that goes beyond the opposition between objective and subjective social mobility and links the transnational context, various social spheres, actors' migratory projects, and their reflexivity. The empirical materials in this article draw on two studies on Chinese migrants in France and confront the trajectories and viewpoints of undocumented migrants and international students. Beyond the differences between their experiences and their legal, economic, and social statuses in France and China, we highlight several common points: First, both groups considered migration a lever to improve their social status. Second, their evaluations link their regions of origin and destination as well as various social spheres. Third, in a transnational context, many factors at different scales influence migrants' subjective self-assessments of the success or failure of their migration. The migrants' assessments can vary according to their emphasis on professional, personal, or family trajectories, or on their choice of reference groups. They are shaped by the complexity of translations of status from one country to another and by rapid social transformation in China. Thus, many interviewees estimate that they are simultaneously in situations of social progression and regression.

Introduction: New Chinese Migrations

New Chinese Migrations: Mobility, Home, and Inspirations, 2018

The Chinese, as a migrant category, has received much attention amongst scholars in migration studies and migration history. With the rise of China and the overall shift in Asian political economies, there is now an emerging interest to examine ‘new Chinese migrations’ and ‘new Chinese diasporas’. This introductory chapter first explains the rationale for this volume, highlighting in particular the new and emerging motivations for migration, the dynamics of intertwined migrations between ‘Chinese’ sending and host societies, and the formations of new transnational communities. The chapter then sets out some of the conceptual key issues, which includes ‘Chinese’ identity and the politics of naming, the meanings of home and identity, and ‘transnational mobility’ as practice and strategy.

Handbook of Chinese Migration to Europe

2024

The Handbook of Chinese Migration to Europe offers a comprehensive exploration of recent human mobility from China to Europe. Written by leading scholars from various disciplines, its 23 chapters delve into the multifaceted dimensions of Chinese migrants and their descendants across Europe, providing novel explorations into migration motivations and pathways, China’s diaspora engagement, economic entrepreneurship, socialization, and identity constructions. Each chapter presents existing scholarship and contributes with fresh empirical research that challenges conventional assumptions. Whether you are a researcher, policymaker, journalist, commentator, practitioner, or student, this handbook provides invaluable insights, reshaping our understanding of migration and China–Europe dynamics in the 21st century.

The Would-Be Migrant: Post-Socialist Primitive Accumulation, Potential Transnational Mobility, and the Displacement of the Present in Northeast China

RaNS: Trans -Regional and -National Studies of Southeast Asia, 2014

This article argues that 'would-be migrants'people who prepare for migrating overseas to the extent that their present lives are significantly changedshould become a central figure in migration studies. There are many more would-be migrants than actual migrants, and they also have deeper impacts on migration processes and local societies. Instead of treating the would-be migrant as a derivative of the category of 'migrant', this article establishes it as the primary figure, and argues that migration is a contingent outcome of being a 'wouldbe'. In order to do so this article delves into the living conditions of would-be migrants in northeast China, with a focus on two aspects that concern them the most: the exorbitant intermediary fees and the high risks involved. The would-be migrants' experiences suggest that the prevalent pattern of unskilled outmigration since the 1990s should be understood as a result of developments inside of China, particularly a condition that I call the 'displacement of the present'. The figure of would-be migrant is not only methodologically revealing for migration studies, but also urges us to rethink how we may engage with rapid social changes.