Migration among East and Southeast Asian Economies

Conventional studies focus on why migration occurs between a particular pair of places. Our study asks a different question: what characteristics of the origin and destination places can explain migration flows between any two places in a region. Our study explores how economic, political, and geographic factors influence bilateral migration flows within a region in which various countries are increasingly being integrated into the regional as well as into the global economy. Drawing from diverse data sources, we explore migration flows among various economies in East and Southeast Asia between 2000 and 2005 and 2005 and 2010. Our analyses yielded two major findings. First, the relationship between economic factors and the volume of migration flows depends on the overall economy in the region. Second, the findings reveal a consistently robust and significant relationship between geographic proximity and migration flow. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Perceived racial discrimination, depression, and coping: a study of Southeast Asian refugees in Canada.

Using data obtained from personal interviews with 647 Southeast Asian refugees in Canada, this study tests hypotheses regarding both the association between perceived racial discrimination and depression, and the roles of coping and ethnic identity in conditioning the nature of the discrimination-depression relation. Refugees who reported that they had experienced racial discrimination had higher depression levels than their counterparts who reported no such experiences. Responding to discrimination through confrontation was not significantly associated with depression. Study findings support the effectiveness of forbearance in diminishing the strength of the association between discrimination and depression. The moderating effect of forbearance was conditioned by the level of ethnic identity: The beneficial effect of forbearance was significantly greater among those holding stronger ethnic identification. Cultural and situational interpretations of the findings are presented.     

Between Enforcement and Precarity: Externalization and Migrant Deaths at Sea

Much scholarship on border enforcement and loss of life asserts the relationship between enforcement and precarity. Little research attempts to correlate the two: enforcement operations and loss of life. In this article, we statistically analyse the relationship between increased border enforcement operations at sea and migrant losses of life around the EU between 2006 and 2015, and find them to be significantly and positively correlated. We also find evidence that increased enforcement leads to rerouting of migrant journeys to ‘weak spots’ in relation to borders. These findings bring empirical support to the commonly‐asserted claim by social scientists that externalization creates greater loss of life. We argue that, although discourse about interception and externalization has shifted to humanitarian rescue narratives, offshore enforcement by any other name continues to be highly correlated with migrant deaths. We then construct two datasets documenting migrant boats lost at sea and state interdiction operations since 1980. These data serve as the basis of our statistical analysis.     

Financial Responsibility for the Family: The Case of Southeast Asian Refugees in Canada

Although respondents (n = 647) came from collectivist societies (Vietnam and Laos) where they were expected to provide for the family, they have been living in a setting (Canada) where individualism is emphasized and public sources of assistance are available. The effect of this transition on their beliefs and behaviors regarding financial responsibility for family was assessed. With the exception of new situations (government assistance for the elderly or poor, and money sent to relatives in the home country), respondents endorsed traditional beliefs. Lower English ability and favorable views toward multiculturalism were associated with traditional views. They relied on non-family as well as family for financial assistance. Ethnic differences, reflective of their resettlement experiences, were evident.     

Producing Precarity: The Temporary Staffing Agency in the Labor Market

On the basis of fieldwork in a temporary staffing agency (TSA), I argue that while temp agencies may provide transitional mobility for jobseekers, in the long run the TSA systematically exploits and reproduces structural vulnerability in the labor market. The agency creates a core of permanent temporary workers separate from the periphery of surplus workers, such that the former is given priority in job allocation. The staffing agency can use alliances with institutions such as private correctional facilities to control its peripheral workers. At the same time, highly valued core workers also face precarious conditions when they are barred from job mobility and their wages are capped. The agency further reinforces precariousness during the moment of work by extending the agency’s surveillance to client sites.     

Precarity,gender and care in the neoliberal academy

This article examines the rise in precarious academic employment in Ireland as an outcome of the higher education restructuring following OECD (Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development), government initiatives and post‐crisis austerity. Presenting the narratives of academic women at different career stages, we claim that a focus on care sheds new light on the debate on precarity. A more complete understanding of precarity should take account not only of the contractual security but also affective relational security in the lives of employees. The intersectionality of paid work and care work lives was a dominant theme in our interviews among academic women. In a globalized academic market, premised on the care‐free masculinized ideals of competitive performance, 24/7 work and geographical mobility, women who opt out of these norms, suffer labour‐led contractual precarity and are over‐represented in part‐time and fixed‐term positions. Women who comply with these organizational commands need to peripheralize their relational lives and experience care‐led affective precarity.     

Labor force participation,household composition and sponsorship among Southeast Asian refugees

This article investigates more fully the complexity of refugees' participation in the US labor market and possible sources of variations in their experience. The article focuses specifically on the labor market experiences of Southeast Asian refugees. The data used in this analysis are derived from 2 national surveys of more than 7000 Southeast Asian refugees conducted in 1982 and 1983 by the US Office of Refugee Resettlement. Although there are encouraging signs of progress, especially rapid in the earliest years, Southeast Asian refugees are persistently 10-15% less likely to be in the labor force than the US population. Once in the labor force, like other ethnic minorities, they also experience considerably higher levels of unemployment. Household structure, both in terms of the presence of children and in kinship relations, has a strong and varied impact on participation. Residence in California also constrains both men's and women's behavior independently of the refugees' background skills or household structures. Even English language proficiency is sensitive to its social evaluation by employers and the community. The most novel outcome of this analysis involves the influence that type of sponsorship has on refugees' economic behavior. According to these results, sponsorship reflects the impact of the formation of an ethnic community that is primarily working class, concentrated in low wage jobs, and participating at a relatively high rate in public assistance programs. The networks it has to offer are considerably less well placed economically than in other forms of incorporation.     

Identities beyond ethnic-based subordination or conflict in the Southeast Asian borderlands: a case study of Lao villagers in northeast Cambodia

This paper explores everyday expressions of identity by Lao villagers living in northeast Cambodia near the border with Laos, and uses this to reflect on trends in studies of identity in the remote borderlands of Southeast Asia. I argue that while ethnicity is certainly crucial, discipline-specific emphases – ethnic-based subordination or conflict for social studies and political studies, respectively – result in less attention to other important dynamics shaping identity. Furthermore, I suggest that low-profile case studies not strongly linked to ethnic-based subordination or conflict – such as the Lao in Cambodia – require study for a more comprehensive view of identity in the borderlands. The case study from northeast Cambodia identifies four key dynamics shaping identity: inter-state relations, ethno-national identities, cross-border livelihoods and social status. I show how minimal inter-state tensions and varied personal connections to Laos were important in facilitating villagers’ involvement in lucrative illegal cross-border logging in Laos, but the latter were never used to justify this practice. Instead in this everyday setting, villagers emphasised their sense of marginalisation within Cambodia and thus demonstrate their regular prioritisation of status.     

Resources for coping with economic distress: The situation of unemployed Southeast Asian refugees

This paper focuses on identifying resources and demographic variables that might influence the amount of economic distress experienced by unemployed Southeast Asian refugees. Voydanoff conceptualized economic distress as containing objective (employment instability and economic deprivation) and subjective (employment uncertainty and economic strain) dimensions. As measured in this study, unemployed refugees are not experiencing extensive economic distress except in the area of employment uncertainty. Older subjects evidence higher economic distress except on the dimension of economic strain. Economic distress is relatively low among refugees who have access to financial sources and who have family to provide social support, but human capital variables (English fluency, educational level, and Canadian job training) are not significantly related to the level of economic distress. These findings emphasize the importance of family reunification programs.Data for this study were collected for the longitudinal research project, Settlement of Indochinese Refugees in Canada: Psychological, Social, Employment and Consumer Aspects, supported by grants from Canada Health and Welfare NHRDP, Secretary of State's Multiculturalism Directorate, United Way and Woodward Foundation of Vancouver. Principal investigators for the project are Morton Beiser, M.D., Psychiatry; Phyllis J. Johnson, Ph.D., Family and Nutritional Sciences; and Richard Nann, Ph.D., Social Work; all at the University of British Columbia.We thank our research assistants Pauline Au, Susan Johnston, Esther Kwong, and Bich Pham for their contributions to the research. Klaus Schroeder provided statistical assistance.Phyllis J. Johnson received her Ph.D. from The Ohio State University. Her research interests include women and work, financial practices of different ethnic groups, and employment/unemployment. She may be contacted at the University of British Columbia, School of Family and Nutritional Sciences, 2205 East Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T1W5.     

Motherhood and “Moral Career”: Discourses of Good Motherhood Among Southeast Asian Immigrant Women in Australia

In this paper, I examine the lived experience of motherhood among Cambodian, Lao and Vietnamese immigrant women in Australia. The women in this study felt a profound change through the process of becoming a mother; they experience the “transformation of self.” The results reveal several discourses of good motherhood. Becoming a mother was experienced as a moral transformation of self and women were urged to perform their moral career. The representation of mothers as the “keepers of morality” is prominent. Women's moral career is influenced by an ethic of care and responsibility for others, particularly their children. The paradoxical discourse of motherhood is profound in the women's narratives of their lived experiences of motherhood. It is clear that motherhood is not an easy task. When this is combined with difficulties resulting from migration, motherhood becomes double burdens. Lack of sufficient English, financial difficulties and support network in a homeland make the task of good motherhood difficult to achieve. Social and health care services need to take women's experiences into account if sensitive care for immigrant women is to be achieved.     

Precarity and structural racism in Black youth encounters with police

Youth experience increased surveillance by and involuntary contact with police officers compared with other age groups. Studies that explore the experiences of youth during these encounters are scant and focus on youth with criminal histories. This research aims to explore the experiences of college-attending youth between 18 and 24 years old in two southern states. The study was designed and conducted according to the tenets of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Twelve Black youth were recruited and interviewed between April 2015 and April 2016. Three superordinate themes (and subthemes) were identified: (1) negative feelings towards the police; (2) precarity of police encounters (subthemes: police as a threat to welfare; it could be me; steps to follow during police encounters; behavior is irrelevant) and; (3) police response is part of structural racism (subthemes: racism is everywhere; media contributes to racism). The importance of these findings for social work practice and research will be discussed.     

‘This is American get punished’: unpacking narratives of Southeast Asian refugees in the US

This paper explores acculturative experiences and perceptions of Southeast Asian refugees residing in the Midwestern US through analysis of oral history narratives of Southeast Asian refugees representing the countries and/or cultures of Burma, Laos, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam. Through this paper, I seek to add to the sparse research base on Southeast Asians residing in the US, to shed light on the experiences of young refugees' attempts to negotiate identities in the host society, and to inform educators and others who work with refugee populations.     

Traditional Chinese herbal medicine as cultural power along the Southeast Asian belt and road corridor

In 2013, President Xi Jinping launched the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as a global strategy to catapult China onto the global stage through port and infrastructure development, financial, technological, trade and cultural connectivity. The BRI embraces six corridors, one of which is the Southeast Asian corridor. Among the BRI portfolio, the Chinese government has identified traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) as an important health commodity for the global and Chinese Diaspora market. It is also promoted as part of the cultural and intangible Chinese heritage. This paper explores TCM as an important cultural power - a variant of soft power - that connects Mainland Chinese and global Chinese communities and enables the formation of regional social and economic networks that assist in the development of trade, leading to the formation of collaborative cultural basins between TCM institutions in China and Southeast Asian nations.