Migrants ‘in-between’: Rethinking privilege and social mobility in middle-class migration

Robertson, Shanthi; Roberts, Rosie

doi:10.4324/9781003087588-1

Cited by 11 publications

(13 citation statements)

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“…and Transnational Families Conradson and Latham's (2005) early framing of middling migrants described them as usually, though not always, well-educated and as occupying a middle-class socioeconomic status. While useful, this definition resulted in the demarcation of a wide segment of migrants, where more-recent studies have begun to show that, far from being a homogenous category, the 'middle' includes a diverse range of encounters, non-linear movements, varied migrant classifications, shifting class statuses and mixed experiences of temporariness and permanency (Scott, 2019;Robertson & Roberts, 2022). In addition to spatiality, the 'temporal turn' in migration studies increasingly contests binaries such as student/worker, tourist/worker, skilled/ unskilled and temporary/permanent within contemporary migration policy, where experiences of the 'middle' can be conceptualised as dynamic and multiply constructed (Parutis, 2014;Rutten & Verstappen, 2014;Baas, 2017;Scott, 2019;Robertson, 2020).…”

Section: Middling Mobility Onward Migrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Participants' experiences highlight the often contradictory and sometimes simultaneous experiences of flexibility and risk, social mobility and ongoing precarity, belonging and exclusion, over the course of their lives. This chapter contributes to an emerging scholarship on onward migration trajectories and the broad spectrum of experiences within the migrant 'middle' and the varied constraints and affordances this positionality can involve (Marcu, 2019;Scott, 2019;Robertson & Roberts, 2022).…”

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confidence: 99%

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‘Somehow I’m an Expat and He’s a Migrant’: Intersectional Identities, Multiple Migrations and Family Decision-Making Amongst Middling Migrant Couples

Roberts

2022

IMISCOE Research Series

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This chapter offers a critical reframing of how migration decision-making can shift between partners over time and space. Told through the lens of the female spouse within two heterosexual migrant couples, the chapter shows how experiences of mobility are not just shaped by individuals’ social positionality but also by the complex intersections between their classed, gendered, religious and racialised identities and that of their partners. The literature on middling migration has often been a story of male-led labour migration, with women occupying the status of the accompanying migrant. Less attention is paid to the experiences of migrant women, particularly those who first relocate on family or spousal visas but who seek to re-negotiate gender-differentiated career progression over time and through multiple relocations. Through a detailed biographical case study of two couples, this chapter seeks to capture the shifts in their trajectories, attachments and decision-making that occur spatially, temporally and relationally to show the diverse experiences and statuses that constitute the often-homogenised category of ‘the middle’.

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Section: Middling Mobility Onward Migrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Somehow I’m an Expat and He’s a Migrant’: Intersectional Identities, Multiple Migrations and Family Decision-Making Amongst Middling Migrant Couples

Roberts

2022

IMISCOE Research Series

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“…Increasingly, international talent comprises what is called "middling migrants" Grigoleit-Richter, 2017). This group of migrants is characterised by their (mostly) middle-class status, high level of education, and mid-level career position, but often with mixed or fragile social mobility (Robertson & Roberts, 2022).…”

Section: Relevant Migrant Subgroupsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cities for talent: Good practices for internationalisation in medium-sized European cities

2022

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An interdisciplinary volume combining academic articles with thematic case studies and commentary by policy makers and practitioners, resulting in a combination of academic research and policy recommendations for timely societal impact. Medium-sized cities across Europe are increasingly and actively attracting skilled migrants. How can these cities best manage the challenges of internationalisation? That is to say: How can they attract, facilitate and integrate skilled migrants, enabling them to contribute to the regional culture and economy, while still serving their local populations and maintaining social cohesion? In this volume, we combine academic findings with policy reflections to provide a uniquely interdisciplinary guide for academics, policy makers and professionals in local governments, universities, HRM departments, for successfully co-ordinated international talent management.

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“…This article, which is partially based on the author’s previous fieldwork among the Taiwanese communities in Dongguan and Jakarta, considers both children and adults to explore the settlement of Taiwanese migrants. 1 These migrants are discussed as “middling migrants” in this article because they are “ relatively well-educated and resourced, but not elites ” and their privileged status in the host countries is actually “ in-betweenness and transition ” (Robertson and Roberts, 2022: 3). The adult migrants consider having educational choices for their children as a benefit deriving from migration.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mobility of the educated: Taiwanese migrants in Dongguan and Jakarta

Pan

2023

Asian and Pacific Migration Journal

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Studies on migration, education and social mobility are usually discussed in three separate fields. This article presents the overlap of these three fields by discussing how Taiwanese migrants in Dongguan and Jakarta perceive the educational opportunities for their children and the ethnic-based status for themselves. The study finds that for people from middle- and working-class families, migration overseas to less developed countries is a good opportunity to obtain higher socio-economic status and an upward mobility path for their children. However, the opportunity also creates unexpected anxieties. The privileges that these migrants obtain and the anxieties they have illustrate opportunity traps for these middling migrants.

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Migrants ‘in-between’: Rethinking privilege and social mobility in middle-class migration

Cited by 11 publications

References 0 publications

‘Somehow I’m an Expat and He’s a Migrant’: Intersectional Identities, Multiple Migrations and Family Decision-Making Amongst Middling Migrant Couples

‘Somehow I’m an Expat and He’s a Migrant’: Intersectional Identities, Multiple Migrations and Family Decision-Making Amongst Middling Migrant Couples

Cities for talent: Good practices for internationalisation in medium-sized European cities

Mobility of the educated: Taiwanese migrants in Dongguan and Jakarta

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