Postcolonial Intersections - Asia on the Move (original) (raw)
Related papers
SPECIAL SECTION Postcolonial Intersections: Asia on the Move
Th e past decade has witnessed an exponential growth in literature on the diverse forms, practices, and politics of mobility. Research on migration has been at the forefront of this fi eld. Th emes in this respect include heterogeneous practices that have developed out of traditions of resistance to a global historical trajectory of imperialism and colonialism. In response to such historical transformations of recent decades, the nature of postcolonial inquiry has evolved. Such changing postcolonial trajectories and power negotiations are more pronounced in specifi c parts of the world than in others. To that end, "Postcolonial Intersections: Asia on the Move" is a special section that engages, examines, and analyzes everyday power negoti ations, focusing particularly on Asia. Such everyday negotiations explicitly point to pressure points and movements across multiple geosocial scales where gender, religion, age, social class, and caste, to name a few, are constantly negotiated and redefi ned via changing subjectivities.
Postcolonial Approaches to Migration in Asia: Reflections and Projections
Geography Compass, 2015
This article argues that postcolonial approaches to migration in Asia are relevant and useful in this age of unprecedented migration for two important reasons. Firstly, such approaches enable the interrogation of fundamental migration-related concepts such as citizenship, race and ethnicity, diaspora, indigeneity and development. This critically questions the need for these categories of difference which have been augmented and exacerbated by migration, the nation-state and its bordering strategies. Secondly, such approaches shed light on fundamental issues of inequality, through which migration occurs as a response to differential access to opportunities and resources. By tracing how and why migration occurs in specific locations through a postcolonial lens, we can then map out the underlying power inequalities and discover possibilities for agency and social change.
Asian Migrations and Mobilities: Continuities, Conceptualisations and Controversies
Handbook of Asian Migrations, 2018
This PDF is a truncated section of the full text for preview purposes only. Where possible the preliminary material, first chapter and list of bibliographic references used within the text have been included. For more information on how to purchase or subscribe to this or other Taylor & Francis titles, please visit https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781315660493\. ISBN: 9781317337256 (eBook) i
Social & Cultural Geography, 2013
In this commentary, we argue for the relevance and importance of postcolonial theory to the study of migration and mobility. Building on a panel discussion at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, we highlight a number of different ways in which this could take place. We suggest three possible interventions: stretching the boundaries of the spaces of the postcolonial; interrogating the spatial connections that are forged between disparate places through migration; and challenging singular or hierarchical notions of identity and/or place. In these ways, we conclude that postcolonial theory can complicate and enhance our understanding of migration, and that attention to migration research could, in turn, facilitate a 'social turn' for postcolonial geographies.
Call for submissions ROUTLEDGE SERIES ON ASIAN MIGRATION SERIES EDITORS: PUBLISHED TITLES
Asia is now the most essential and dynamic region receiving and sending both long-term and short-term migrants, undertaking migration in all routes and in various forms. Books in the series broaden the discussions of the relationship between migration and globalization, transnationalism, development, inter-cultural studies, and identity and diaspora. They address specific social and cultural dynamics-such as gender relations, population, family and marriage patterns, new class formation, and the transformation of cultural values-that have been brought by Asian migration. This series highlights Asia as a region with the most active migration movements, which should be one of the most essential areas bringing critical social changes within and across national boundaries. The series welcomes submissions from prominent scholars in Asian Migration studies as well as emerging scholars with empirically rich and updated research.
Migrants and Movements Across Asia
2018
What is termed as the current ‘European’ migration crisis is in actuality mostly about ‘Asian’ migrants. The elusive Afghan ‘peace’, manifold levels of conflictual engagements in Syria, the unresolved question of the Rohingya, numerous instances where state borders do not match ethnic boundaries but also the fact that in certain situations short term migration is the only way to ensure basic economic survival has meant that Asians are on the move.This movement does not follow a linear Asia to Europe trajectory by any stretch of imagination. Migrants mostly treadtraditional routes that were once accepted as ‘normal’ but have now become problematic with increasing levels of securitization and the rhetoric that accompanies it. The debate on these movements, however, is clearly oriented towards the lack of mechanisms to deal with ‘ethnic’ issues in various Asian states and the subsequent humanitarian problem it poses which then becomes ‘global’ and requires a coordinated response.This b...
The Postcolonial Migration State
European Journal of International Relations, 2021
The evolution of migration policymaking across the Global South is of growing interest to International Relations. Yet, the impact of colonial and imperial legacies on states’ migration management regimes outside Europe and North America remains under-theorised. How does postcolonial state formation shape policies of cross-border mobility management in the Global South? By bringing James F. Hollifield’s framework of the contemporary ‘migration state’ in conversation with critical scholarship on postcolonialism, we identify the existence of a ‘postcolonial paradox,’ namely two sets of tensions faced by newly independent states of the Global South: first, the need to construct a modern sovereign nation-state with a well-defined national identity contrasts with weak institutional capacity to do so; second, territorial realities of sovereignty conflict with the imperatives of nation-building seeking to establish exclusive citizenship norms towards populations residing both inside and outside the boundaries of the postcolonial state. We argue that the use of cross-border mobility control policies to reconcile such tensions transforms the ‘postcolonial state’ into the ‘postcolonial migration state,’ which shows distinct continuities with pre-independence practices. In fact, postcolonial migration states reproduce colonial-era tropes via the surveillance and control of segmented migration streams that redistribute labour for the global economy. We demonstrate this via a comparative study of post-independence migration management in India and Egypt, which also aims to merge a problematic regional divide between scholarship on the Middle East and South Asia. We urge further critical interventions on the international politics of migration that prioritise interregional perspectives from the broader Global South.
Mobilities and Migrations in Modern East Asia: Review Essay 2020
Sungkyun Journal of East Asian Studies, 2020
This essay reviews six book focused on migration and mobility in modern East Asian history. 1. Eiichiro AZUMA, In Search of Our Frontier: 2. Sayaka CHATANI, Nation-Empire; 3. Sidney Xu LU, The Making of Japanese Settler Colonialism; 4. Alyssa M. PARK, Sovereignty Experiments; 5. Bill SEWELL, Constructing Empire; 6. Kirsten L. ZIOMEK, Lost Histories
Transfers, Interdisciplinary Journal of Mobility , 2018
This article examines the arrangements that authorities put in place for populations of mixed ancestry from two former colonies in Asia—the Dutch East Indies and British India—and compares them with those of French Indochina during decolonization. These people of mixed ancestry, or “Eurasians,” as they were commonly called at the time, were a heterogeneous group. Some could pass themselves off as Europeans, while others were seen as indigenous people. The arrangements were negotiated during round table conferences, at which decolonization in all three colonies was prepared. Which agreements were made, what consequences did they have, and how and why did these differ across the three colonial contexts? To answer these questions, I use material from governmental archives from all three former colonial contexts. The article shows that information on the paternal ancestry of Eurasians was decisive in the allocation of European citizenship and admission to the colonizing country.