Paper short abstract:

Showing simultaneous engagement, Chinese (im)migrant women in Canada live 'in-between' their host and home societies in terms of identity, space and time. Time is a key driver in (re)shaping their transnational imagined and actual lives, more specifically their family and intimate relations.

Paper long abstract:

Chinese (im)migrant women live 'in-between' at least their host and home societies in terms of identity, space and time. Their cross-cultural connections unveil both virtual and actual relations. These new forms of migration including simultaneous embeddedness and temporal mobilities reveal a specific relationship to time. My paper draws on results from a larger research based on field studies conducted in China and in Canada, exploring the intersection of transnationalism, family and intimate relations, and sexual health-related issues. On one hand, negotiations at work within China in family and intimate relations are re-enacted through Chinese (im)migrant women's experiences in the host country. On the other hand, gender norms and roles, intimate and sexual experience, family relations and meanings are impacted by both their home and host societies, as well as their past and present experience in China. Their transnational lives shape new spaces for change in which the temporal movement is a key driver. Reciprocal relations between time and family can be highlighted through this overall process. Reinforcing ontological and social uncertainties, lines between past, present and future are blurred and migration trajectories become more uncertain.