Routledge Studies in Asian Diasporas, Migrations and Mobilities – serie

Visitors to Thailand’s urban and beach-sided tourist hotspots notice the presence of colourful and predominantly female vendors offering self-made and mass-manufactured products. A high percentage of these vendors are members of the highland ethnic minority group of Akha who have become micro-entrepreneurs or self-employed street vendors. The work and everyday life experiences of these ethnic minority migrants are situated at the intersections of tourism, migration, and the informal sector.This book investigates the social, economic, and political embeddedness of street vendors in urban tourist contexts in Thailand. Based on extensive field research, it presents a detailed analysis of urban-directed mobility patterns and revealing strategies and dilemmas in the urban souvenir business. Focusing on the development of urban ethnic minority souvenir stalls run mostly by people belonging to the highland group of Akha, the author explains the spatial expansion of ethnic businesses and assesses the economic and political obstacles micro-entrepreneurs are confronted with. The book offers an understanding of the everyday practices and social relations of and between unequally powerful actors related to ethnic minority tourism in urban contexts, and systematically integrates individual and collective action into socio-economic and politico-institutional contexts. A significant contribution to migration and ethnic minority studies in the Thai and Asian urban tourism context, the book will be of interest to researchers in the fields of Southeast Asian studies, tourism, migration, and ethnic minority studies.

The term ‘circulatory transnational migration’ best describes the unconventional migratory route of many contemporary Chinese migrants – that is an unfinished set of circulatory movements that these migrants engage in between the homeland and various host countries. ‘Return migration’, ‘step migration’ to a third destination and the ‘astronauting’ strategy are all included within this circulatory migration movement wherein ‘returning’ to the country of origin does not always mean to settle back to the homeland permanently; while ‘step migration’ also does not necessarily mean to re-migrate to a third destination country for a permanent purpose. Liu takes a longitudinal perspective to study Chinese migrants’ transnational movements and looks at their transnational migratory movements as a family matter and progressive and dynamic process, using New Zealand as a primary case study. She examines Chinese migrants’ initial motives for immigrating to New Zealand; the driving forces behind their adoption of a transnational lifestyle which includes leaving New Zealand to return to China, moving to a third country – typically Australia - or commuting across borders; family-related considerations; inter-generational dynamics in transnational migration; as well as their future movement intentions. Liu also discusses Chinese migrants’ conceptualisation of ‘home’, citizenship, identity, and sense of belonging to provide a deeper understanding of their transnational migratory experiences.

This book explores the influence which education and migration experiences have on women of Indian origin in Australia and the United Kingdom when (re)negotiating their identities.The intersections of migration and transnationalism are critically examined through multiple theoretical lenses across three thematic domains encompassing socio-historical discourses, postcolonial theory, theories on intersectionality and interceptionality, emotional reflexivity and affects. In doing so, the book highlights the ambiguities around gendered access and equity to education, migration experiences, the acculturation process, dilemmas surrounding transnationality and negotiation of identities, belonging and struggles inherent in simultaneously maintaining ties with home and new social fields. Chapters highlight the practical, methodological, and substantive aspects of affective dimensions and voice with a critical understanding of different tensions, challenges, complexities and conflicts underlining the stories. The book raises the question of voice and agency in advocating emotion-based writing in recalibrating conditions representing gendered subjective multivocality of women in breaking silences. Presenting non-Western perspectives through fragmented and often marginalised accounts within transnational and global spaces, this book will be of interest to researchers in the fields of Sociology, Gender Studies, Migration, Transnational and Diaspora studies, Sociology of Education, Feminist Studies, Cultural Studies, Literature and Cultural Geographies.

This book explores the influence which education and migration experiences have on women of Indian origin in Australia and the United Kingdom when (re)negotiating their identities.The intersections of migration and transnationalism are critically examined through multiple theoretical lenses across three thematic domains encompassing socio-historical discourses, postcolonial theory, theories on intersectionality and interceptionality, emotional reflexivity and affects. In doing so, the book highlights the ambiguities around gendered access and equity to education, migration experiences, the acculturation process, dilemmas surrounding transnationality and negotiation of identities, belonging and struggles inherent in simultaneously maintaining ties with home and new social fields. Chapters highlight the practical, methodological, and substantive aspects of affective dimensions and voice with a critical understanding of different tensions, challenges, complexities and conflicts underlining the stories. The book raises the question of voice and agency in advocating emotion-based writing in recalibrating conditions representing gendered subjective multivocality of women in breaking silences. Presenting non-Western perspectives through fragmented and often marginalised accounts within transnational and global spaces, this book will be of interest to researchers in the fields of Sociology, Gender Studies, Migration, Transnational and Diaspora studies, Sociology of Education, Feminist Studies, Cultural Studies, Literature and Cultural Geographies.

The effects of the partition of India in 1947 have been more far-reaching and complex than the existing partition narratives of violence and separation reveal. The immediacy of the movement of refugees between India and the newly-formed state of Pakistan overshadowed the actual effect of the drawing of the border between the two states.The book is an empirical study of border narratives across the India-Bangladesh border, specifically the West Bengal part of India’s border with Bangladesh. It tries to move away from the perpetrator state-victim civilian framework usually used in the studies of marginal people, and looks at the kind of agencies that the border people avail themselves of. Instead of looking at the border as the periphery, the book looks at it as the line of convergence and negotiations—the ‘centre of the people’ who survive it every day. It shows that various social, political and economic identities converge at the borderland and is modified in unique ways by the spatial specificity of the border—thus, forming a ‘border identity’ and a ‘border consciousness’. Common sense of the civilians and the state machinery (embodied in the border guards) collide, cooperate and effect each other at the borderlands to form this unique spatial consciousness. It is the everyday survival strategies of the border people which aptly reflects this consciousness rather than any universal border theory or state-centric discourses about the borders. A bottom-up approach is of utmost importance in order to understand how a spatially unique area binds diverse other identities into a larger spatial identity of a ‘border people’.The book’s relevance lies in its attempt to explore such everyday narratives across the Bengal border, while avoiding any major theorising project so as not to choke the potential of such experience-centred insights into the lives of a unique community of people. In that, it contributes towards a study of borders globally, providing potential approaches to understand border people worldwide. Based on detailed field research, this book brings a fresh approach to the study of this border. It will be of interest to researchers in the field of South Asian studies, citizenship, development, governance and border studies.

In recent years, interest in the large group of skilled immigrants coming from India to the United States has soared. However, this immigration is seen as being overwhelmingly male. Female migrants are depicted either as family migrants following in the path chosen by men, or as victims of desperation, forced into the migrant path due to economic exigencies.This book investigates the work trajectories and related assimilation experiences of independent Indian women who have chosen their own migratory pathways in the United States. The links between individual experiences and the macro trends of women, work, immigration and feminism are explored. The authors use historical records, previously unpublished gender disaggregate immigration data, and interviews with Indian women who have migrated to the US in every decade since the 1960s to demonstrate that independent migration among Indian women has a long and substantial history. Their status as skilled independent migrants can represent a relatively privileged and empowered choice. However, their working lives intersect with the gender constraints of labor markets in both India and the US. Vijaya and Biswas argue that their experiences of being relatively empowered, yet pushing against gender constraints in two different environments, can provide a unique perspective to the immigrant assimilation narrative and comparative gender dynamics in the global political economy.Casting light on a hidden, but steady, stream within the large group of skilled immigrants to the United States from India, this book will be of interest to researchers in the fields of political economy, anthropology, and sociology, including migration, race, class, ethnic and gender studies, as well as Asian studies.

Nurse Migration in Asia explores the ever-increasing need for a larger nursing and healthcare workforce in Asia, where countries are undergoing rapid transformation, given economic globalisation and commercial expansion. The book examines some of the major forces that play key roles in the changing dynamics of 21st century nurse and care worker migration in the Asian context; changes which inevitably have global implications. The country case studies range from India, China, Singapore to Japan and the Philippines. Common themes emerge: the rapid and unpredictable nature of nurse migration patterns, including the direction, purpose and frequency of migration; and the changes in professional training, regulation, and workforce policy. Forces causing these shifts include the changing population demography, global and regional economic fluctuations, and finally changing professional roles and gender dynamics. The book analyses the response to these transformations, and how countries adjust their immigration regulations, to attract foreign healthcare professionals. It concludes by highlighting the importance for all countries to remain vigilant as regards the exacerbating workforce crisis, and engage in developing coherent policy governance frameworks to manage healthcare workforce at the national or international levels. A valuable addition to the literature, this book will be of interest to academics in the field of nursing, health and social care workforce studies, population demography, labour markets, gender and international migration studies, globalisation in health and Asian studies.

Nurse Migration in Asia explores the ever-increasing need for a larger nursing and healthcare workforce in Asia, where countries are undergoing rapid transformation, given economic globalisation and commercial expansion. The book examines some of the major forces that play key roles in the changing dynamics of 21st century nurse and care worker migration in the Asian context; changes which inevitably have global implications. The country case studies range from India, China, Singapore to Japan and the Philippines. Common themes emerge: the rapid and unpredictable nature of nurse migration patterns, including the direction, purpose and frequency of migration; and the changes in professional training, regulation, and workforce policy. Forces causing these shifts include the changing population demography, global and regional economic fluctuations, and finally changing professional roles and gender dynamics. The book analyses the response to these transformations, and how countries adjust their immigration regulations, to attract foreign healthcare professionals. It concludes by highlighting the importance for all countries to remain vigilant as regards the exacerbating workforce crisis, and engage in developing coherent policy governance frameworks to manage healthcare workforce at the national or international levels. A valuable addition to the literature, this book will be of interest to academics in the field of nursing, health and social care workforce studies, population demography, labour markets, gender and international migration studies, globalisation in health and Asian studies.

Based on a four‐year-long empirical study, this book employs contemporary theories from the Global South to investigate the role of education in the experience of migration and settlement of the Chakma people of Bangladesh in the city of Melbourne, Australia.Exploring the migration opportunities taken up by the Chakma and their efforts to retain, promote, and enrich their ethnic identity in Australia, the book critically examines the importance of education for ethnic, linguistic, and religious minorities and the extent to which education helped the diasporic community in achieving a ‘better’ and ‘more secure’ life. It also positions education as a tool to help revive, maintain, and enrich the importance of culture and tradition, both in the home country and in the place of settlement and offers a theorisation of how the self-directed pursuit of education can create opportunities for minority peoples, to advocate human rights, Indigenous recognition and criticise a state’s failure to provide safety and security.This book will be of interest to academics and postgraduate students researching in the fields of education, diaspora studies, Indigenous studies, and migration studies.

Based on a four‐year-long empirical study, this book employs contemporary theories from the Global South to investigate the role of education in the experience of migration and settlement of the Chakma people of Bangladesh in the city of Melbourne, Australia.Exploring the migration opportunities taken up by the Chakma and their efforts to retain, promote, and enrich their ethnic identity in Australia, the book critically examines the importance of education for ethnic, linguistic, and religious minorities and the extent to which education helped the diasporic community in achieving a ‘better’ and ‘more secure’ life. It also positions education as a tool to help revive, maintain, and enrich the importance of culture and tradition, both in the home country and in the place of settlement and offers a theorisation of how the self-directed pursuit of education can create opportunities for minority peoples, to advocate human rights, Indigenous recognition and criticise a state’s failure to provide safety and security.This book will be of interest to academics and postgraduate students researching in the fields of education, diaspora studies, Indigenous studies, and migration studies.

This multidisciplinary work addresses a critical gap by integrating Girmitiya identity into broader theories of diaspora and transnationalism. It redefines unique diasporic spaces by bridging theoretical frameworks with a deep empirical exploration of the Indo-Fijian experience.Tracing the evolution of Indian indentured labourers transported under the British colonial system into settled, influential citizens of Fiji, this book maps their migration, settlement, and contemporary life. By navigating complex host-land politics and economic contributions, and by maintaining an unbroken, vibrant connection to their ancestral homeland, Indo-Fijians created dynamic, hybrid zones that are uniquely their own, distinct from both India and Fiji. The book first establishes robust theoretical frameworks for diasporic identity, then situates specific elements of Indo-Fijian political activism, economic impact, and cultural retention.A trailblazing reference for scholars, researchers, and enthusiastic readers, this book offers a systematic account of how historical migration shapes modern transnational identities. Its deep insights into transnational community dynamics also provide valuable perspectives for policymakers.

This book explores how low-wage labour migration policies in seven Asian economies affect millions of migrant workers. It identifies two contrasting regulatory approaches that bookend a governance spectrum, offering an original theoretical framework for understanding which policies heighten workers’ vulnerability to exploitation and which improve their chances of success.The book argues that the regulatory choice to either invest in and manage, or privatise and outsource, key labour migration governance functions has a material impact on outcomes for workers. Specifically, the data demonstrate that migrant workers in destination economies in Asia that take a government-managed approach pay lower recruitment costs, enjoy greater labour market mobility and earn higher wages as they benefit from greater labour law protections. Conversely, migrant workers in employer-managed regimes pay higher recruitment costs, have more limited labour market mobility, earn less and are more vulnerable to mistreatment at the hands of their employers. In addition to a thorough regional analysis, the book presents three case studies that examine the employer-managed approach followed by Singapore since the 1970s, the government-managed approach adopted by South Korea in 2004, and the government-managed approach pursued in Thailand including through legislative reforms implemented in 2017, and outcomes for low-wage migrant workers in all three countries. The final chapter argues that apex court judgments from these three countries reflect and reinforce their government’s approach to low-wage labour migration governance.Identifying urgently needed reforms that would materially improve outcomes for millions of low-wage migrant workers in Asia and beyond, this book will be of interest to lawmakers, migrant worker advocates and researchers of Asian migration, labour migration, labour law and socio-legal studies.

The effects of the partition of India in 1947 have been more far-reaching and complex than the existing partition narratives of violence and separation reveal. The immediacy of the movement of refugees between India and the newly-formed state of Pakistan overshadowed the actual effect of the drawing of the border between the two states.The book is an empirical study of border narratives across the India-Bangladesh border, specifically the West Bengal part of India’s border with Bangladesh. It tries to move away from the perpetrator state-victim civilian framework usually used in the studies of marginal people, and looks at the kind of agencies that the border people avail themselves of. Instead of looking at the border as the periphery, the book looks at it as the line of convergence and negotiations—the ‘centre of the people’ who survive it every day. It shows that various social, political and economic identities converge at the borderland and is modified in unique ways by the spatial specificity of the border—thus, forming a ‘border identity’ and a ‘border consciousness’. Common sense of the civilians and the state machinery (embodied in the border guards) collide, cooperate and effect each other at the borderlands to form this unique spatial consciousness. It is the everyday survival strategies of the border people which aptly reflects this consciousness rather than any universal border theory or state-centric discourses about the borders. A bottom-up approach is of utmost importance in order to understand how a spatially unique area binds diverse other identities into a larger spatial identity of a ‘border people’.The book’s relevance lies in its attempt to explore such everyday narratives across the Bengal border, while avoiding any major theorising project so as not to choke the potential of such experience-centred insights into the lives of a unique community of people. In that, it contributes towards a study of borders globally, providing potential approaches to understand border people worldwide. Based on detailed field research, this book brings a fresh approach to the study of this border. It will be of interest to researchers in the field of South Asian studies, citizenship, development, governance and border studies.

Visitors to Thailand’s urban and beach-sided tourist hotspots notice the presence of colourful and predominantly female vendors offering self-made and mass-manufactured products. A high percentage of these vendors are members of the highland ethnic minority group of Akha who have become micro-entrepreneurs or self-employed street vendors. The work and everyday life experiences of these ethnic minority migrants are situated at the intersections of tourism, migration, and the informal sector.This book investigates the social, economic, and political embeddedness of street vendors in urban tourist contexts in Thailand. Based on extensive field research, it presents a detailed analysis of urban-directed mobility patterns and revealing strategies and dilemmas in the urban souvenir business. Focusing on the development of urban ethnic minority souvenir stalls run mostly by people belonging to the highland group of Akha, the author explains the spatial expansion of ethnic businesses and assesses the economic and political obstacles micro-entrepreneurs are confronted with. The book offers an understanding of the everyday practices and social relations of and between unequally powerful actors related to ethnic minority tourism in urban contexts, and systematically integrates individual and collective action into socio-economic and politico-institutional contexts. A significant contribution to migration and ethnic minority studies in the Thai and Asian urban tourism context, the book will be of interest to researchers in the fields of Southeast Asian studies, tourism, migration, and ethnic minority studies.

The term ‘circulatory transnational migration’ best describes the unconventional migratory route of many contemporary Chinese migrants – that is an unfinished set of circulatory movements that these migrants engage in between the homeland and various host countries. ‘Return migration’, ‘step migration’ to a third destination and the ‘astronauting’ strategy are all included within this circulatory migration movement wherein ‘returning’ to the country of origin does not always mean to settle back to the homeland permanently; while ‘step migration’ also does not necessarily mean to re-migrate to a third destination country for a permanent purpose. Liu takes a longitudinal perspective to study Chinese migrants’ transnational movements and looks at their transnational migratory movements as a family matter and progressive and dynamic process, using New Zealand as a primary case study. She examines Chinese migrants’ initial motives for immigrating to New Zealand; the driving forces behind their adoption of a transnational lifestyle which includes leaving New Zealand to return to China, moving to a third country – typically Australia - or commuting across borders; family-related considerations; inter-generational dynamics in transnational migration; as well as their future movement intentions. Liu also discusses Chinese migrants’ conceptualisation of ‘home’, citizenship, identity, and sense of belonging to provide a deeper understanding of their transnational migratory experiences.