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- Convenors:
-
Taeko Uesugi
(Meiji Gakuin University)
Hiroki Okada (Kobe University)
- Stream:
- Relational movements: Migration, Refugees and Borders/Mouvements relationnels: Migration, régugiés et frontières
- Location:
- TBT 327
- Start time:
- 2 May, 2017 at
Time zone: America/New_York
- Session slots:
- 2
Short Abstract:
Contemporary migrants can easily maintain transnational ties and form a transnational civil society due to ICT and other factors. This redraws the imaginary boundaries and trajectory of non-Western civil societies. We explore the transnational dynamics of non-Western civil societies.
Long Abstract:
This panel clarifies the transnational dynamics of non-Western civil societies caused by migration. Originally, "civil society" meant the institutions of modern associational life, which emerged as a new sphere between private life and public authority during the eighteenth century in Western societies (J. Goody). In the context of non-Western cultures, civil society has functioned as a normative concept for modernizing or democratizing them, or as an analytical category for describing the vernacular institutions or cultural practices considered equivalent to Western ones. Currently, the development of information and communications technology, the decline in airfare, and the growing tolerance of dual citizenship/nationality have made it easier for migrants to form and maintain various transnational ties, as well as a transnational civil society. More and more, migrants work as mediators who facilitate cultural and financial in/outflow or transmit sociopolitical interventions across national boundaries. Cultural in/outflow caused by migration has redefined the ideal civil society in origin/resident countries. Migrants' transnational civil society provides a common platform for them to discuss politics in their origin/resident countries and subsequently plan actions there. Migrants' investments and donations underpin the economic development and institutions of civil society in their origin/resident countries. On the other hand, the externality and ambiguity of migrants' positionality provoke arguments on the definition of citizenship in their origin/resident countries and expose an exclusive aspect of civil society. Whether civil society is a normative concept or an analytical category, contemporary migration redraws the imaginary boundaries and trajectory of civil society's vicissitudes in non-Western societies.
Accepted papers:
Session 1Paper short abstract:
This study examines the relationship between emigrant transnational civil society and the government of the origin country, focusing on the Non-resident Nepalis Association and the Nepalese government. A unilateral, corporatist-like relationship is observed, one that crosses national boundaries.
Paper long abstract:
This presentation examines the relationship between emigrants' transnational civil societies and the governments of the emigrants' home countries. Using a case study, the author analyzes the Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA), a transnational civil society institution, and its relationship with the Nepalese Government.
Since the 1990s, the liberalization of travel abroad and political turbulence has precipitated the mass migration of Nepalis to various destinations beyond South Asia. In 2003, emigrants established the NRNA, which consists of Nepalese emigrants living in 75 countries. This organization provides them with a broad platform for holding discussions, conducting collective activities, forming opinions, and conducting negotiations with the Nepalese Government. Motivated by long-distance nationalism, a sense of responsibility for Nepal's development, and business interests and opportunities in Nepal, the NRNA cooperates with the government on implementing development policies, voluntarily shoulders some of the government's duties, and even accepts governmental inspection of its management. On the other hand, to promote emigrant investments in Nepal, the government granted emigrants special citizenship status with economic rights in 2015.
Though domestic civil society institutions can hold the government accountable, despite the county's political liberalization, because the NRNA lacks voting rights and its members live in foreign countries, the NRNA cannot adopt syndicalist strategies. However, a corporatist-like relationship has developed in the close dealings that occur between the NRNA and the Nepalese Government, and the NRNA is being co-opted into the state apparatus, as interest groups are being co-opted in other neo-corporatist states [Wiarda 1997].
Paper short abstract:
Staying in resident countries is not easy for immigrant talents. This study explores the staying motivations and cognition adaption of immigrant talents from China working in Singapore, Australia, America and Canada through analyzing their personal narratives on line.
Paper long abstract:
Globalization provides opportunity for people to access information, make business and flow across borders freely and live a life they desire. Leaving or staying has been a crucial issue for themselves and their next generations. Staying in resident countries usually is not easy for potential immigrants with knowledge and skills whose origin country is regarded as rising power. Origin country may mean familiarity, chance and possibility but resident country may mean uncertainty, relocation and loneliness. However, this study focuses on bilingual targets from China who work in modern countries, Singapore, Australia, America and Canada for years and devote to becoming citizens in the resident countries. What leads them to make this hard decision and how to persuade themselves to adapt? This study hopes to answer these questions and provide implications to understand mental needs of new immigrants, construct belongingness and promote integration. It selects four typical targets followed by thousands of netizens on Chinese Quora "Zhihu" under the questions and answers about "migration" with discourse analysis. Through analyzing their elaborated personal narratives on early life in China, experience in relocated places and attitudes and views to society and news, it generalizes their staying motivations and the process of self-cognition adjustment. The study argues people who value self-dignity more than substantial conditions embrace basic principle and goodness in minds cherish their new life and make efforts to integrate.
Paper short abstract:
It has become easier for contemporary migrants to maintain transnational knots in the era of globalization due to ICT and related factors. There is huge number of students choosing to pursue their studies and carrier as a migrant other than their native country. We explore the various factors which affects the contemporary migrants from different angles.
Paper long abstract:
Over the last decade rapid technological advances and globalization proposed various economic and growth opportunities, which now depend heavily on the construction of transnational civil societies and production of ideas rather than concrete merchandise. It has become relatively easier for contemporary migrants to create and continue various transnational knots and societies due to the recent advancements in information and communication technology, the decline in fare of air travel, and the increasing acceptance of dual nationality. World is witnessing a constantly increasing trend of youth migration for getting higher and technical education. Empowering youth is a matter of prime importance among world. A productive and positive migration experience may empower young migrants and opens a new vista for them; it enables them to acquire more knowledge and skills through education and/or employment experiences. Migration affects both the contemporary migrants and the people concerned with them. These contemporary migrants are needed to be seen as valuable resources that can be cooperative for the transnational civil societies as well. Because of their life experiences and high mobility, contemporary migrants have the potential to successfully connect various cultures. The ideal civil societies in both the native and destination countries are being constantly redefined due to thus socio-cultural interflow caused by migration. Moreover, all youths as students have a right to education and discussions on it should place priority on supporting students and giving them the opportunities they need to attain better livelihoods. The responsibility is mostly on the young people in national and international leadership. Without proper implementation of relevant education, the risk of students falling victim to misleading guidance and disreputable suppliers will increase. This paper explores the various factors which affect the contemporary migrants from different angles as well as the remarkable potential of contemporary migrants to maintain transnational knots so that they can become effective and responsible citizens of the transnational civil societies.
Paper short abstract:
In this presentation, I discuss the dynamics of Tanzanian Unions formed in Hong Kong and China by focusing on the continuity between the strategies of their informal business and the logic of "gambling on open reciprocity” in their union to discuss the non-Western civil society.
Paper long abstract:
From the beginning of this century, the grassroots of transnational informal trades between China and African countries are rapidly taking place. African traders who flocked to China, while conflicting with intellectual property rights, immigration and commercial laws, etc., purchasing a variety of products, including copied, knockoffs and counterfeits, and transport them to their home country. The Tanzanian traders in China and Hong Kong formed their own unions intended to 1) rise the fund for meeting contingencies such as illness, death, forced repatriation and so on; 2) obtain the various information of the home country; 3) facilitate transnational commercial transaction by providing assurances for cash and commodities transfer; 4) solute various conflicts with the host societies. However, these unions include a multitude of the "commercial travelers" those who coming and going between China/Hong Kong and Tanzania while the core member of the union is the relatively long-stay broker/middlemen. The business of China has high speculative nature so that some of traders never come back again to China/Hong Kong. Therefore, the membership of the union has a high fluidity. They can't invite the members' contribution to the union on the basis of expectation on reciprocity. In this presentation, I discuss the continuity of the logic of highly uncertain informal business and the logic of "gambling on open reciprocity" in their unions formed in China/Hong Kong to discuss the non-Western civil society.
Paper short abstract:
With the rapid increase of Nepalese immigrants in Japan, they form various organizations (ranging from self-help groups at grassroots to ethnicity-based national networks) in Japan. This paper analyzes their roles for the members as well as their relations with Japanese civil societies.
Paper long abstract:
In June 2016, Nepalese immigrants' population in Japan reached 60,689, the sixth largest and fastest growing migrant community in Japan. With this background, various Nepalese migrants' organizations are being formed to respond to their diverse needs. They can be categorized into five. The first is the branches of existing organizations of Nepal such as the chapters of political parties. The second is attribute-based associations, such as Nepalese students. The third is origin-based organizations formed by people migrated from the same localities of Nepal. The fourth is caste or ethnicity-based organizations. The last is self-help organizations formed by migrants residing in the same areas of Japan.
This paper analyzes these organizations in the following four aspects: 1) how they support Nepalese migrants, 2) how they promote integration of Nepalese migrants with Japanese host communities, 3) how they contribute to their places of origin of Nepal (not only in terms of money such as donation for the earthquake survivors, but also "social remittance" to their own societies, and 4) who are leading the organizations? Then, the paper further analyses how these organizations bridge, or not bridge, the gaps between their places of origin of Nepal and the host communities of Japan.
Finally, as a conclusion, the paper argues that these organizations, so far, has had little contribution to the integration of the Nepalese migrants into Japanese societies because their scopes are mostly limited within Nepalese communities but not linked with civil societies or local authorities of Japan.
Paper short abstract:
This research clarified the process through which the image Japanese people have about Vietnamese migrants (VMs) changed from "refugee" to "minority". As a place where the "minority" image about the VMs is generated, we did research at a "chemical (synthetic) shoes " factory where many VMs work.
Paper long abstract:
This research clarified the process through which the image Japanese people have regarding Vietnamese migrants changed from "refugee" to "minority".
As a source of where the "minority" image about the Vietnamese migrants is generated, we shed light on the Vietnamese migrants' workplaces, which have not been investigated thoroughly in the past, and conducted research at a "chemical shoes (synthetic shoes)" factory where many Vietnamese migrants work. Mutual relationship and mutual actions between Vietnamese migrants and "other persons" there are presented.
In the chemical shoes factory, the ethnicity of the Vietnamese migrants as "refugee" once became meaningless, and a new image about the Vietnamese migrants was generated on the basis of their ethnicity. On the other hand, the Vietnamese migrants internalized the ethnicity newly generated by being related with behaviors of workers in the chemical shoes factory. Moreover, narratives about work experiences and everyday lives were reorganized and reformulated by internalization of the new ethnicity by Vietnamese migrants. As a result, Vietnamese migrants became regarded as "minorities" living in surroundings, on the basis of the cultural difference.
We then pointed out that the "work experiences" by Vietnamese migrants to secure their livelihood were viewed as economic activities pertaining to minorities in the context of Japanese society. It was also pointed out that the image of Vietnamese migrants as minorities, which was presupposed so far in discussion on foreign residents in Japan and "multi-cultural symbiosis" was established by mutual relationship between Vietnamese migrants and surrounding persons.
Paper short abstract:
This paper explores how nationality, religion, and generation intersect in the emergence of associational ties of young Japanese Muslims who try to forge new forms of identity and belonging in Japan and in transnational spaces.
Paper long abstract:
This paper explores the emergence of associational ties being created among young Japanese Muslims born to Japanese mothers and Pakistani fathers. This type of bi-national marriage increased during the 1990s, following the influx of Pakistani labor migrants to Japan in the late 1980s. The children of these bi-national unions have been raised in Japan, Pakistan, and other countries such as the UAE and the UK. Many have experienced transnational upbringings, frequently crossing borders while growing up. Presently, they are reaching early adulthood. Preliminary findings from interviews conducted in Japan and abroad suggest that self-perceptions vary greatly depending upon the environments in which they were raised. On the other hand, my research within Japan indicates that many of these young Japanese Muslims desire to share their similar experiences and sense of alienation as mixed children and/or minority Muslims in Japan. The paper highlights a case of a young male Muslim who is trying to create a social group for the young generation of Japanese Muslims to empower themselves and seek new identities and belonging that are distinct from their parents' generation. This type of associational tie emerging in Japan illuminates complex ways in which nationality, religion, and generation intersect and shows how these young Japanese Muslims navigate their early adulthood in response to challenges they confront within Japan and in transnational spaces.
Paper short abstract:
A purpose of this paper is to discuss the relation between “localized “multiculturalism and Nationalism in the East Asia society (Japan and Korea) where is facing a problem of the rapid increase of the recent migrant labor.
Paper long abstract:
In this paper, I would like to compare the citizenship in Japan with Korea and take a consideration on a problem of "localized" multiculturalism and the nationalism in both society and after discuss the relation citizenship and nationalism in East Asia society.The phenomenon of an emigrant, the emigrating labor with the globalization have been aroused to an argument about the multiculturalism in the non-West society. Until 1990's, in the East Asia (Japan and Korea) have accepted the theories about emigrant society such as Australia, Canada and United States of America, and theories on the multiculturalism in Europe. However, it is hard to say that these society did not recognize immigrant and immigrant labor's problem that they were confronting, because Japan and Korea had a national concept of "one people, one-country and one-nation" and comprised of overwhelming majority and very few minority. This situation was shown in an emigrant policy having been absent until the 1990's. After 1990' these society have no choice alternative but to accept (sometimes reluctantly) emigrating labor from China, Southeast Asia and the Southern Asia. There was the problem of aging population with a declining birthrate and the strange situation called "the coexistence" of multiculturalism and the nationalism.I would like to take notice a contradiction; a supporter of "multi-cultural symbiosis (localized multiculturalism in Japan") are tend to be conservative nationalist at the same time in Japan and Korea.