Prethodno priopćenje
Globalising Chinese Migration: New Spaces, New Meanings
Pál Nyíri
; Humanities Center, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary
Sažetak
The paper reviews new trends in international migration from the People’s Republic of China in the last decade, focusing on two aspects: 1) The geographic expansion and merger of formerly distinct translocal migration flows into a global migration system. It includes the opening up of new migration spaces in Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia; increased mobility between destination countries; and increased interchange between different social strata of migrants, from students to illegal workers; 2) A shift in what the social and cultural meaning of migration is to the migrant, to non-migrants, and to elites, which can be described as “upgrading the migrant” (Wang,1998). Various discourses of migration have converged into a highly success-oriented discourse, which reduces the relevance of social background and path of migration. The People’s Republic of China imbues this discourse with tropes of patriotism and development. Concerning the first aspect, the paper problematises the distinction of flows of legal and illegal migrants, students, tourists, and workers, and calls for a holistic approach in studying the configuration of current migration from the PRC. Concerning the second aspect, the paper questions the persistent theory that the PRC as an entity supports emigration, and points out the conflicting interests of various levels and organisations within the state apparatus. At the same time, it recognises that the PRC, like other states, is currently enjoying a honeymoon with state-sanctioned transnationalism, in which migrants are often being more engaged into nation-building and enfranchised as political citizens than are rural non-migrants.
Ključne riječi
overseas Chinese; international migration; transnationalism
Hrčak ID:
107347
URI
Datum izdavanja:
11.4.2002.
Posjeta: 2.284 *