Mobility,Stasis and Transnational Kin: Western Later-life Migrants in Southeast Asia

Studies of transnational families tend to filter understandings of mobility and stasis through a bi-national framework that juxtaposes the movement of migrants across international borders with the immobility of in-place kin within equally static national spaces. This article examines the concept-metaphors of mobility and stasis through the eyes of later-life (over 50 year-old) Western migrants living in Penang, Malaysia and Bali, Indonesia. By treating “in-place” kin as mobile subjects I examine the extent to which the movement of individuals and families within and across a range of national borders affects the lives, concerns and movements of these older, Western migrants and retirees in Southeast Asia. By examining the concept-metaphors from the perspective of these migrants I illustrate the extent to which such people both succumb to yet exceed scholarly imaginings of im/mobility and juxtapositions between mobile selves and immobile others. Migrant thinking about these concept-metaphors, I suggest, complicates an ongoing tendency within the field of transnational family studies to view mobility and stasis as categorical opposites and offers fresh insights into the role and relevance of these concept-metaphors in the lives of Western migrants in Southeast Asia and their transnational relations with teenage and adult children, ageing parents and grandchildren.     

东北亚区域经济合作与跨国城市体系

东北亚在整个亚太地区最具有一体化特点,其区域经济合作潜力深厚,前景可观。在东北亚区域沿海地带,目前已初步形成一个跨国的大中城市组成的城市走廓,成为带动东北亚经济合作与发展的中坚及空间依托。随着区域经济一体化的发展,相关国家的城市功能、地位、辐射范围都会有较大的调整与变化,对此,我们应该有思想准备,以便合理规划我国的城市战略布局,迎接东北亚新时代的挑战。     

Lawrence A. Babb and Susan S. Wadley,eds., Media and the Transformation of Religion in South Asia

Indo-Iranian Journal -     

Transnational Migration and the Economy of Funerals: Changing Practices in Ghana

Migrants are increasingly leading transnational lives, impacting the institutions that shape local economies both in their place of residence and in their home communities. One example of this is the institution of funerals in developing countries. Funerals are becoming multi‐sited events as migrants from developing countries play important roles in the organization, financing and practice of funeral ceremonies in their home countries. Funerals thus give rise to flows of money, goods and people across national borders, ultimately affecting different economies around the world. This article uses a multi‐sited research design to follow the flows associated with a funeral held in a village in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Detailed data were collected simultaneously in four locations involved in the funeral, and a multiplier analysis was used to trace funeral spending in different locations and sectors. The analysis shows that funeral spending supports various economic sectors in Ghana and across the globe, reinforcing the nature of funerals as (partly) economic events, which should be included in economic analyses of remittances and migration. Funeral practices are modified in various ways to accommodate transnational elements. At the same time, funerals continue to act, even in a transnational context, as occasions for reaffirming ties and a sense of belonging; they form a way for home communities, both rural and urban, to keep migrants interested in them.     

道义、交换与移民跨国实践——基于衰退型侨乡海南文昌的个案研究

论文以海南文昌侨乡为例,探讨了基于传统道义与交换互惠两种跨国关系的移民跨国实践的变化及其给侨乡带来的影响。研究发现,文昌的海外移民在迁移过程中经历了经济与声誉地位同时上升的过程,再加上受到多层社会结构因素的影响,纯粹社会声誉与身份归属方面的补偿不再对其构成吸引力,使得文昌移民与家乡一直持续的传统道义关系受到了不同程度的摧毁,基于传统道义关系发展起来的社会文化馈赠模式对于文昌移民的吸引力在下降。不少文昌移民试图与家乡重新建立起一种不同于传统道义的、互惠互利的社会交换关系,发展出一种既可赚钱又可普惠地方的跨国实践模式。而由于土地纠纷、行政干预等问题,海外移民与当地政府并没有建立良好的交换与互惠关系,使得盈利性跨国实践也没有在文昌移民群体中大规模兴起。这些都进一步导致文昌移民在祖籍地的跨国实践逐渐衰落,也使得侨乡的象征意义与示范效应逐渐式微。华人本着爱国和慈善精神汇款回中国的时代,已经转变为在一个全球性的资本主义环境中着重投资的时代。     

芝加哥华人：19世纪70年代至20世纪30年代的跨国移民与商业活动

论文通过中英文原始资料,追述了芝加哥唐人街历史,论证了19世纪70年代至20世纪30年代的芝加哥华人社区在跨国移民与商业网络中的重要作用。认为芝加哥所拥有的水陆空交通枢纽的优越地理位置让城中的华人杂货业得以扩大生意范围;芝加哥的国际化氛围还培养了中餐精致饮食文化的先驱;城内的华人洗衣业也成为美国中西部城镇洗衣业的典范。这些特征都表明了芝加哥城内的华埠社区是美国中西部地区跨国移民与商贸中心的一个重要枢纽。华人企业家们不仅仅为他们个人商业的成功做出了贡献,同时也为美国中西部地区华人社区及家乡父老的集体生存、发展与成功做出了重要的贡献。     

Global Agendas,Local Norms: Mobilizing around Unpaid Care and Domestic Work in Asia

This article explores the articulation and framing of unpaid care work and the mobilization around it at two spatial scales, the global and national. For the latter it focuses on three of the largest and most diverse countries in Asia — India, China and Indonesia. While the concept of unpaid care work has received considerable attention in international development discourse, it is rarely found in feminist mobilization and advocacy across these countries. The article asks why this issue remains largely excluded from women's political agendas. It also explores how it is framed when it is included. While most organizations recognize women's double burden and the importance of domestic labour, they do not consider ‘unpaid care work’ as a legitimate political issue around which to mobilize. Rather, it is framed, if at all, as part of other political agendas, such as the rights of the elderly (in China), the rights to social protection, especially childcare and maternity entitlements (in India), or the right to equal opportunities within marriage (in Indonesia). The study analyses the differences in framing, the conceptualization of gender equality embedded therein, and the implications for policy.