‘More like a daughter than an employee’: the kinning process between migrant care workers,elderly care receivers and their extended families

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the intersections of formal and informal care in the relationships that develop between elderly care receivers and their families and migrant domestic care workers and their families. The domestic migrant care literature has tended to focus on two main ‘hidden costs’ of this ‘care-chain’: the ‘care exploitation’ of paid carers by their employers and the ‘care drain’ impact on the family members left behind by the migrant. In this paper, we employ a care circulation framework to examine the process of becoming kin-like – or ‘kinning’, which remains relatively under-explored and warrants further research. An analysis of this process of kinning helps to highlight how the domestic space of care receiver homes are transformed – through the negotiation of relationships with migrant care workers – into transnational social fields that bring the diaspora worlds of the migrants into the everyday worlds of the locals.     

No city for migrant women: construction workers’ experiences of exclusion from urban governance and discrimination in labour markets in Ahmedabad

ABSTRACT

Ahmedabad, Gujarat, is one of the fastest growing cities in the world, and a reflection of India’s story of exclusionary economic growth. This article focuses on research carried out with women construction workers with the help of a migrant construction workers’ union in Ahmedabad. It describes the method used by women members of the union to make visible their experiences as migrants in the city – with men, local authorities, and employers – to highlight the additional burdens that they bear due to a negligent state and industry, advocate for better working and living conditions, and raise consciousness of gender inequalities that need to be integrated into the demands of the workers’ union.     

Bodies of work: skilling at the bottom of the global nursing care chain

ABSTRACT

In the midst of a growing global market for migrant care work, there is a need to investigate not only how such labour is consumed but how ‘ideal’ care workers are also produced. This paper investigates how schools within migrant-sending countries produce nurse labour through body work or the testing and honing of hospital procedures on patients’ bodies. Focusing on the case of the Philippines, this paper shows how the education of nurses for export creates a paradoxical impact on care work within local healthcare institutions. Aspiring nurse migrants provide much-needed manpower to understaffed public hospitals yet, treat poor patients as docile bodies to enhance their skills for future foreign employers. This practice creates an inherent inequality in the actual skilling of aspiring nurse migrants, where the poorest bodies allow nurse migrants to provide better care to more privileged bodies in wealthier nations.     

Chinese migrant wives in Taiwan: claiming entitlements,resisting inequality,and rejecting citizenship

A considerable number of Chinese women have migrated to Taiwan through marriage over the last two decades. Although the demographics of these marriage migrants have transformed over the years, a misunderstanding still exists as migrant wives are seen as commodities and gaining citizen status is seen as their ultimate goal. Using in-depth interviews, this research takes a bottom-up approach by allowing Chinese migrant women in Taiwan to define and interpret their own citizenship. It explains how they negotiate the politics of citizenship as they confront harsher immigration restrictions than immigrants of other origins because of their Chinese identity. This paper suggests that immigrants’ intersectional identities shape their conceptualization of Taiwanese citizenship, although their agency is limited. My findings illustrate that some Chinese migrant wives embrace citizenship entitlements while others’ experiences with citizenship differ depending on their positionality in both the private and the public. My findings also show that some migrant wives actively reject Taiwanese citizenship, challenging the myth that all Chinese immigrants desire Taiwanese citizenship. This study contributes to citizenship and migration studies using a feminist, intersectional approach and raises implications for the degree to which migrant wives have agency in constructing their citizenship.     

Coping with trauma in domestic migrant worker narratives: Linguistic,emotional and psychological perspectives

Trauma can be defined as an event that goes beyond ordinary modes of experience and linguistic representation. It represents a break not just with a particular form of representation but with the possibility of representation at all. Drawing on a large corpus of domestic migrant worker narratives, the article analyses trauma narratives in which migrant women share their experiences while working for abusive employers. The stories deal with unspeakable suffering and humiliation, and the article attempts to outline the narrative structures that characterise trauma storytelling: broken narratives with voids in the narrative flow. It also analyses the emotional component of trauma narratives focusing on crying, which is seen as an authentication of feeling and meaning. Finally, the article considers how the women make sense of their traumatic experiences, and how peer support becomes essential in the narrators' attempts to rewrite their life stories from victimhood to survival and beyond.     

The Symbolic Realm of Italian Migrants’ POST-WWII HOUSES in Australia

Abstract

The Post-WWII period witnessed a large immigration flow of Italians towards Australia. This was facilitated by the assisted passage scheme funded by the Italian and Australian governments. Italian migrants, as well as diverse migrant groups, brought with them cultural practices and a way of life, which are nowadays part of the multicultural Australian society. Namely, it is argued that first-generation Italian migrants’ houses are embedded by cultural meanings. Therefore, this research study investigates the symbolic realm of Post-WWII domestic dwellings built by Italian migrants in Brisbane, that is, the various meanings they associated with their homes. The data was collected from focus group discussion and in-depth interviews held at the Italian Club in Newmarket and at the residences of forty Veneto first generation migrants, who migrated to Australia in the Post-WWII period. The collected data has been subjected to thematic and to hermeneutic analysis. This procedure generated a list of various meanings embedded onto migrants’ houses in Brisbane. The revealed findings contribute (1) to explore a historically significant process of Australian domestic architectural development and (2) to expose the symbolic realm preserved into the built environment, which represent the national cultural heritage of Australia.     

What does it mean to be a girl with qizhi?:Refinement,gender and language ideologies in contemporary Taiwan1

This study investigates the relationship between ideologies of language and gender as manifested through sociolinguistic interviews conducted on college campuses in Taiwan. The interviews consistently and systematically revealed the use of a term, qizhi– roughly equivalent to ‘refined disposition.’ This paper examines the implications of this preoccupation. Through an examination of the contextual use of qizhi, this study shows that, first, qizhi is commonly associated with a range of social practices, among which linguistic practices play a significant role. Second, qizhi is often used to describe, evaluate, and further regulate women's ways of speaking, although its use is not gender exclusive. Third, common linguistic varieties in Taiwan, such as Mandarin, Taiwanese, and Taiwanese‐accented Mandarin, are associated with qizhi to varying degrees. This study demonstrates how talk centered on qizhi serves as a meeting ground of social evaluation, linguistic and discursive practices, gender ideologies, and language ideologies.     

Editorial

Abstract

Two language textbooks written in 17th century New England are examined, John Eliot's The Indian Grammar Begun and Roger Williams' A Key into the Language of America. Previously unnoticed links between these texts and traditional English forms of language teaching are demonstrated, and the argument is made that both men made conscious choices about how to adapt their experience of European linguistic models to the very different grammatical structures of Native American languages. These linguistic choices demonstrate the ways in which English and New English culture of the time used language to construct and display religious, social and national identities, using the contrast between Eliot's and Williams' lives and audiences at the time of writing in order to gain insight into the connections between language and identity in the period.     

In the Shadow of Working Men: Gendered Labor and Migrant Rights in South Korea

Based on ethnographic research in South Korea, this article investigates the gendered production of migrant rights under the global regime of temporary migration by examining two groups of Filipina women: factory workers and hostesses at American military camptown clubs. Emphasizing gendered labor processes and symbolic politics, this article offers an analytical framework to interrogate the mechanisms through which a discrepancy of rights is generated at the intersection of workplace organization and civil society mobilization. I identify two distinct labor regimes for migrant women that were shaped in the shadow of working men. Migrant women in the factories labored in the company of working men on the shop floor, which enabled them to form a co-ethnic migrant community and utilize the male-centered bonding between workers and employers. In contrast, migrant hostesses were isolated and experienced gendered stigma under the paternalistic rule of employers. Divergent forms of civil society mobilization in South Korea sustained these regimes: Migrant factory workers received recognition as workers without attention to gender-specific concerns while hostesses were construed as women victims in need of protection. Thus, Filipina factory workers were able to exercise greater labor rights by sharing the dignity of workers as a basis for their rights claims from which hostesses were excluded.     

From "Us" to "Them": Diasporic Linkages and Identity Politics

Global diasporas-a type of social formation mediating economic, political, and cultural affairs across borders-have been a focus of globalization researchers for some time. However, up to now, little knowledge exists on how social identification affects business participation in diaspora communities and how such participation modifies social identification. This article, based on empirical research on diasporic linkages between Taiwanese transnationals and ethnic Chinese overseas, serves to illustrate a) how globalization has enhanced the practical and economic roles of diasporas, and b) how economic practices and ethnic identification interact within diasporic communities. The author argues that ethnic membership still remains contested, despite diasporas serving as flexible forms of social organization in the mediation of capital flow.     

Pick-Your-Own Labor: Migrant Workers and Flexibility in Canadian Agriculture1

This paper explores the structures and practices of temporary migrant worker programs (TMWP) as they operate in Canadian agriculture. Acting within highly competitive, globalized markets, agri-food employers rely on the availability of migrant workers to achieve greater flexibility in their labor arrangements, drawing on employment practices beyond those possible with a domestic workforce. Most recently, changes to Canada’s two TMWP schemes have provided employers with greater scope to shape the social composition of their workforce. The paper analyzes these changes while exploring their implications for workplace regimes in agriculture.     

Symbolic control: Issues of empirical description of agencies and agents

This paper arose out of the empirical requirements to describe and position agents and agencies of symbolic control concerned with the regulation of social relationships, consciousness, disposition and desire. These requirements led to a differentiation of agents in terms of their function and discourse and their segmentation through their specialized fields of activity and their stratification according to hierarchical position in a given field. This model generated a sensitive differentiation and segmentation which provides the social basis for expected differences in interests, motivations and identifications of functionally similar agents operating in different fields of activity. The model raises general issues of social class allocation and the relation between theory and methods.     

Geographic distance and intergenerational relationships in Chinese migrant families

ABSTRACT

This study examines the effect of adult Chinese migrants’ geographic distance from home on their intergenerational relationships with parents who remain behind. We compared monetary and family care support as well as emotional relationships among four parent-child groups: older adults and international migrant children, older adults and internal migrant children (who migrated to other cities in China), older adults and coresiding children, and older adults and local children (living in the same city as their parents). Data were derived from 332 older adults in Beijing, China, with at least one child who migrated to another country or city. Results from chi-square tests, anaylsis of variance (ANOVA) tests, and regression analyses indicate that international and internal migrant children maintain similar intergenerational relationships with their parents, and that both of those groups are less likely than coresiding and local children to have family care exchanges and emotionally close relationships with their parents. The results may help professionals develop supportive services and policies for older adults in migrant families.     

Working for a Better Life: Longitudinal Evidence on the Predictors of Employment Among Recently Arrived Refugee Migrant Men Living in Australia

Although a number of studies have investigated the predictors of employment among refugee migrants, there is a dearth of evidence from longitudinal data. This study investigated the cross‐sectional and longitudinal predictors of employment among 233 adult refugee men living in South‐East Queensland, Australia. Participants were interviewed four times at six‐month intervals between 2008 and 2010. Using a conceptual model developed from the literature, Generalized Estimating Equations were used to model the predictors of employment. Over time, the employment rate increased from 44 per cent to 56 per cent. Region of birth, length of time in Australia, seeking employment through job service providers and informal networks, and owning a car were significant predictors of employment. Contrary to previous research, English language proficiency was not a significant predictor when other variables were controlled for. Recognition of overseas skills and qualifications decreased the chances of finding employment. The policy and programme implications are discussed.

Policy Implications

• Recognition of refugee migrants' overseas‐gained skills and qualifications does not guarantee them securing employment.
• Recognition of overseas skills and qualifications should be accompanied by educating employers, especially those outside the traditional migrant employment ‘niches’, about the resources and capabilities of refugee migrants, and the value of their qualifications.
• Fostering programmes that target the needs of job seekers from refugee backgrounds could enhance their employment outcomes.
• Supporting refugee migrants getting their drivers' licence and establishing favourable loan programmes that enable refugee migrants to buy a car can have a positive impact on their workforce participation.

     

Translation as an Alternative Space for Political Action

This article examines the genesis, dynamics and positioning of activist groups of translators and interpreters who engage in various forms of collective action. The activism of these groups is distinctive in that they use their linguistic skills to extend narrative space and empower voices made invisible by the global power of English and the politics of language. They further recognise that language and translation themselves constitute a space of resistance, a means of reversing the symbolic order. Their use of hybrid language, their deliberate downgrading of English, the constant shuffling of the order and space allocated to different languages on their websites—all this is as much part of their political agenda as their linguistic mediation of texts and utterances produced by others, in their capacity as translators and interpreters. The article examines the positioning of these groups vis-à-vis what Tarrow (2006, p. 16) terms ‘the new generation of global justice activists’ on the one hand, and professional translators and interpreters on the other, and argues that they occupy a ‘liminal’ space between the world of activism and the service economy.     

Playing in the academic field: Non-native English-speaking academics in UK business schools

This paper draws on Bourdieu's concepts of field, habitus and capital to explore the ways in which working in English as a non-native language influences foreign academics' performance of academic habitus and the level of their symbolic capital necessary for the achievement of success within UK higher education. Empirically, it is based on interviews with 54 non-native English-speaking academics employed in UK business schools. Our findings point to advantages and disadvantages associated with being a non-native English-speaking academic, to strategies deployed by individuals to enhance their linguistic capital, and to the importance of language not merely as a tool of communication but as a key factor enabling individuals to perform academic habitus in the UK academic field. We reflect on whether, and if so, how, the UK academic field is changing as a result of the increased presence within it of non-UK-born academics and, in particular, the fact of their professional functioning in English as a non-native language.     

The U‐turn phenomenon among South American‐Japanese descendants: From emigrants to migrants

About a decade has passed since the problem of foreign migrant workers became serious in Japan. The Japanese government has been reluctant to formalize the introduction of migrant workers in the unskilled job sectors, yet, with the revision of the Immigration Control Law in 1990, has decided to formalize the status of residence of South American‐Japanese descendants, or Nikkeijin. This article focuses on the issue of the Nikkeijin in Japan. The article details the current position of the Nikkeijin and reviews their impact on Japanese society as well as on their home countries. The article further discusses the possibility of Nikkeijin settlement in Japan in the context of the government's attempts to preserve the notion of lineage as the basis for Japanese nationality.     

Found in Transliteration: Translanguaging and the Polyvocality of Xiqu Centre

This article illustrates how the linguistic‐anthropological notion of axes of differentiation can illuminate translanguaging practices. Through an analysis of media texts, it explores the ways in which multilingual Hongkongers draw on their semiotic repertoires to make sense of Xiqu Centre as the English name of the recently inaugurated center for traditional Chinese theater in their city. Against the backdrop of different axes of differentiation, supporters and detractors contrast the Putonghua word xìqǔ “traditional Chinese theater” with its equivalents in English and Cantonese respectively, thereby arriving at diametrically opposed interpretations of the name. While many detractors engage in interpretive practices that challenge the discreteness of linguistic systems, others who use their multilingual knowledge to criticize the name appeal to ideologies of linguistic purism. To fully understand multilinguals’ production and interpretation of signs, we need to examine not only communicative practices that disrupt language boundaries but also those practices that do not.     

Think really different: Continuity and specialization in the English dual form adverbs

This paper analyses variation between ‐ly and ‐ø in English dual form adverbs by examining conversational data from York, U.K. Using multivariate analysis and the comparative method we assess the constraint ranking, significance and relative importance of external factors (age, sex, education level) and internal factors (lexical identity, function and meaning). The results show that ‐ly is dominant and has increased dramatically in apparent time. However, cross‐tabulations with individual lexical items reveal that this correlation with speaker age is restricted to a single item–really. In conjunction with evidence from the history of English, we suggest that this does not reflect ongoing developments in English adverb formation, but is the result of continuous renewal in the encoding of ‘intensity’. In contrast, separate analysis of the other adverbs shows that variation between ‐ly and zero is retained in part as a socio‐symbolic resource, in particular for marking less educated male speech. Underlying this social meaning however, is a linguistic constraint which operates across all speakers. The zero adverb encodes concrete, objective meaning–a tendency which can be traced back 650 years or more. This provides yet another example of the interface between social and historical developments in language variation and change.