Temporary migration and inequalities in the Asian–European migration system

Aksakal, Mustafa; Schmidt-Verkerk, Kerstin

doi:10.1177/0117196820968293

Cited by 2 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…For temporary migrants, the distribution and redistribution of time in their lives across borders was constant. Scholars have conceptualized recent migration issues through the use of adjectives referring to different groups of migrants, including circular migration (Vertovec, 2007), lifestyle migration (Benson and Osbaldiston, 2014), or more generally, temporary migration (Aksakal and Schmidt, 2020; Gibson et al, 2014), to analyze and signify the flow of people and the consequent flow of things and their impact on the globe. The corresponding groups of people are usually contract workers, “dwelling” tourists, international students who have stayed or remigrated after graduation and other more stable job seekers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the 1990s, a new mode of migration governance emerged in Asia that is characterized by managing mobility through regulating mobile populations, not by blocking, but rather by facilitating movements (Xiang et al, 2013). A trend of constant in-and-out circular migration has been configured into the hypermobility, instability, diversity and complexity of human experiences in the globalized world (Aksakal and Schmidt, 2020; Griffiths et al, 2013; Solé et al, 2016; Vertovec, 2007). Following this trend, research has recently shifted focus to more temporary modes of international migration and/or global mobilities amid the globalized context of temporal acceleration and spatial compression due to rapid advancements in transport and communication technologies and the flexibilization of lifestyles and work cultures under neoliberalism (Benson, 2011; Cohen et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Consumption, ongoingness and everyday-life embeddedness: Lifestyle experiences of Chinese transient migrants in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Siriphon

2022

Asian and Pacific Migration Journal

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This article examines recent Chinese migrants to Thailand, with a specific focus on those who migrate for education and remain in Thailand after graduation. It aims to drive the analytical theory from a methodological nationalism to a transient migration approach, and to capture the sense of “transience” of the new wave of Chinese migration in a broader Asia-Pacific context. A mixed-methods approach was adopted, with data collected from Chinese migrant website communities, questionnaires and in-depth interviews. The findings show that the Chinese migrants lead a consumption-oriented migration life that benefits from hypermobility by enjoying a “mobility surplus” in education as a family project. This article discusses the temporariness as a strategy that the Chinese use to bridge migratory resources in a permanent state of in-betweenness. The key issue that has been highlighted is the meaning of being transient in everyday life. As it articulates authenticity and the meaning of “self” in modern life, transient migration, thus, does not aim at its overcoming, but is rather a form of life in itself.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consumption, ongoingness and everyday-life embeddedness: Lifestyle experiences of Chinese transient migrants in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Siriphon

2022

Asian and Pacific Migration Journal

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“…While immigrants are expected to assimilate into the host society over time by the host states, temporary migrants remain in the host society for limited and intermittent periods only, as their journeys are expected to end with return or onward migration to other destinations (Bauböck 2011; Aksakal and Schmidt-Verkerk 2015). Even if temporary migrants have settlement intentions and can extend their stays by renewing their visas, their integration intention and adaptation processes might be disrupted, due to their intermittent travels and constant sense of instability.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporariness and Post-Migration Adaptation of Older Migrants: The Case of Chinese Grandparenting Migrants in Singapore

Chiu¹,

2022

International Migration Review

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Post-migration adaptation has been a major theme in migration studies. Yet extant research has typically focused on immigrants who will presumably settle in the host society and overlooked temporary migrants, especially those who move in later life. While the former is expected to assimilate into the host society over time, temporary migrants spend limited and intermittent periods of time in the host society only. The normative frameworks of migrant adaptation are, therefore, inadequate for analyzing the experience of older temporary migrants. Drawing on ethnographic data collected from 41 Chinese grandparenting migrants in Singapore, this article uses temporariness as a central analytic lens to examine their post-migration adaption experience, including their attitudes towards their temporary presence in the host country, the constraints they encountered, and the strategies they used to cope with such experiences. We introduce the concepts of “objective temporariness” and “subjective temporariness” to illustrate how the duration of stay allowed by the host state and migrants’ feelings towards their temporary presence respectively affect migrants’ intentions and ability to adapt to the new environment. Conceptualizing temporariness as a continuum, we show how diverse forms of temporariness (transient versus extended) have differentially shaped the adaptation patterns of short-term stayers (staying one to three months each time) and long-term stayers (staying at least a year or more). Our findings underscore the importance of analyzing the temporal alongside the spatial when examining temporariness as a condition experienced by older temporary migrants and as an instrumental tool used by nation-states to regulate migrant populations.

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Temporary migration and inequalities in the Asian–European migration system

Cited by 2 publications

References 38 publications

Consumption, ongoingness and everyday-life embeddedness: Lifestyle experiences of Chinese transient migrants in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Consumption, ongoingness and everyday-life embeddedness: Lifestyle experiences of Chinese transient migrants in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Temporariness and Post-Migration Adaptation of Older Migrants: The Case of Chinese Grandparenting Migrants in Singapore

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