Transnational Chinese: Fujianese Migrants in Europe

by Frank N. Pieke, Pál Nyíri, Mette Thunø, Antonella Ceccagno

Overview

In the 1990s, societies across the world were confronted with a sudden mass inflow of Chinese migrants. Transnational Chinese investigates the global nature of this migration by focusing on one of the fastest growing groups of new Chinese international migrants: those from Fujian province in southern China. It specifically focuses on Fujianese migration to Europe, where a broad range of immigration regimes has provided various incentives and disincentives that have influenced their migratory patterns across the continent. Applying intensive, multisited fieldwork research in the United Kingdom, Hungary, and Italy, as well as sending areas in Fujian, Transnational Chinese investigates the origins and mechanics of Fujianese migration, the work and life of Fujianese migrants in Europe, and the many transnational spaces that connect Fujianese across Europe, the United States, and China.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780804749947
Publisher:	Stanford University Press
Publication date:	02/03/2004
Edition description:	1
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Frank N. Pieke is UniversityLecturer in the Modern Politics and Society of China and a Fellow of St. Cross College, University of Oxford. Pál Nyíri is Senior Fellow in the Humanities Center at Central European University, Budapest. Mette Thunø is Associate Professor at the Department of Asian Studies, University of Copenhagen. Antonella Ceccagno is Researcher of Chinese Language and Culture at the University of Bologna, Italy. She is also Operational Director of the Center for Immigration Research and Services in Prato, Tuscany.

Table of Contents

	List of Illustrations and Tables	vii
	Preface	ix
	Note on Currency Exchange Rates	xi
1.	Introduction: Conceptualizing Chinese Migration in a Global Age	1
Case 1.	The Luo Family: Workers in Italy, Market Traders in Hungary	29
2.	Old and New Transnational Villages in Fujian	37
Case 2.	A Yong: A Restaurant Worker in Kent, England	66
3.	Getting Out, Getting In, and Moving On: An Ethnographic View	69
Case 3.	The Wu Siblings: Workshop Owners in Italy	102
4.	Work and Life in Europe	107
Case 4.	He: A Businessman in London	153
5.	Fujianese Transnational Practices and Politics	162
6.	Conclusion: Rethinking Chinese Migration and Globalization	193

Editorial Reviews

"Overall, this is a refreshing book . . . It provides an interesting argument about Chinese globalization by examining Fujianese migration to Europe."—Canadian Journal of Sociology Online

"This book has a lot to offer to scholars on contemporary China who are following the discussion on Chinese globalization, and to specialists on the Chinese diaspora who are seeing the subject transform before their eyes. These researchers have offered a very fine model of scholarly collaboration."—China Review International

"This book makes important theoretical and methodological contributions to the study of immigration in comparative perspective. Theoretically, the book's argument gives us fresh ideas for understanding globalization and Chinese immigration . . . The book's new arguments are thoughtful and well articulated . . . [T]he books sets and example of a new type of scholarship in that it makes crucial research materials (case files, interview notes, and field notes) publicly available, a practice that ought to be followed by other researchers."—American Journal of Sociology

"This outstanding collaborative ethnographic study of Chinese transnationalism will be an essential resource for any future research and teaching on the subject."—Journal of Anthropological Research

From the Publisher

"This book makes important theoretical and methodological contributions to the study of immigration in comparative perspective. Theoretically, the book's argument gives us fresh ideas for understanding globalization and Chinese immigration . . . The book's new arguments are thoughtful and well articulated . . . [T]he books sets and example of a new type of scholarship in that it makes crucial research materials (case files, interview notes, and field notes) publicly available, a practice that ought to be followed by other researchers."

American Journal of Sociology

"Overall, this is a refreshing book . . . It provides an interesting argument about Chinese globalization by examining Fujianese migration to Europe."

Canadian Journal of Sociology Online

"This outstanding collaborative ethnographic study of Chinese transnationalism will be an essential resource for any future research and teaching on the subject."

Journal of Anthropological Research

"This book has a lot to offer to scholars on contemporary China who are following the discussion on Chinese globalization, and to specialists on the Chinese diaspora who are seeing the subject transform before their eyes. These researchers have offered a very fine model of scholarly collaboration."

China Review International