Online mediations in transnational spaces: cosmopolitan (re)formations of belonging and identity in the Turkish diaspora

Abstract

The lives of transnational groups and individuals are marked by a spatial and imaginary split: a phenomenon wherein identity, belonging and representation have become increasingly elusive concepts, and the realm of the ‘cultural’ vastly important. And, the theoretical compasses of cosmopolitanism and transnationalism are particularly relevant and illuminating in considering social space, mediated communication and belonging in relation to urban diasporic communities and gendered subjectivities. The aim of this paper is to address expressions of identity and belonging at the intersection of online communicative practice and offline spatial formations, with a focus on the specificities of gendered constructions of sociality and subjectivity in the diaspora.     

Migrant warriors and transnational lives: constructing a Gurkha diaspora

The Nepalese Gurkhas have often been regarded as brave warriors in the scheme of British military recruitment since the 1800s. Today, their descendants have settled in various parts of South East and South Asia. How can one conceive of a Gurkha diaspora, and what are the Gurkhas and their families’ experiences of belonging in relation to varied migratory routes? This paper locates Gurkhas as migrants by deliberating upon the connection between military service and migration paths. I employ the lens of methodological transnationalism to elucidate how the Gurkha diaspora is both constructed and experienced. Diasporic consciousness and formation undergo modification alongside subsequent cycles of migration for different members of a diaspora. The article thus evaluates the transnational lives of migrants, and how these are connected to re-territorialized dimensions of identity and belonging.     

Racialized national identity construction in the ancestral homeland: Japanese American migrants in Japan

This article examines Japanese Americans in Japan to illuminate how ‘Japanese American’ – an ethnic minority identity in the US – is reconstructed in Japan as a racialized national identity. Based on fifty interviews with American citizens of Japanese ancestry conducted between 2004 and 2007, I demonstrate how interactions with Japanese in Japan shape Japanese Americans’ racial and national understandings of themselves. After laying out a theoretical framework for understanding the shifting intersection of race, ethnicity, and nationality, I explore the interactive process of racial categorization and ethnic identity assertion for Japanese American transnationals in Japan. This process leads to what I call racialized national identities – the intersection of racial and national identities in an international context – and suggests that US racial minority identities are constructed not only within the US, but abroad as well.     

Migrants’ connections within and beyond borders: insights from the comparison of three categories of migrants in France

ABSTRACT

Since the mid-1990s, the concept of transnationalism has been increasingly used and discussed. Some authors have contested its novelty, arguing that all types of migrants, including internal ones, tend to remain connected to their home place. In this paper, we provide new quantitative evidence to show that migration, be it internal or international, entails a similar sort of connectedness between places. Using a nationally representative survey carried out in France (TeO, N?=?21,761), we systematically compare the transterritorial connections of international migrants, French migrants born abroad and French migrants born in overseas territories. Our findings show that all migrants maintain transborder ties, with particular intensity among French overseas migrants. Owing to border effects, oversenas migrants exhibit higher levels of sociopolitical and “re-migration” connections and are less engaged in economic relations. The results also show that transterritorial connections are affected by similar determinants across the three categories of migrants.     

“Sending so much more than money”: exploring social remittances and transnational mobility

Based on 324 in-depth interviews with Indian, Moroccan, Ukrainian, Bosnian and Filipino migrants based in four EU countries (Austria, Italy, Spain and the UK), our paper explores the relationship between social remittances and transnational mobility. We develop a new typology of social remittances as based on the principle of mobility. We argue that the degree to which transnational mobility is present in social remittances depends on the agency of the sender and on the nature of the receiving community. We further elaborate on such mobility-related concepts as “transnational re-scaling” (in reference to directionality of social remittances) and “translocal celebrity” (in reference to sender’s role in cultural production). Based on a large qualitative dataset, this study also contributes to a better understanding of the relationship between the local and the global.     

A family affair: how and why second-generation Filipino-Americans engage in transnational social and economic connections

In this article, I argue that second-generation migrants can engage in cross-border ties as a result of first-generation migrants mediating relationships between their children and those abroad. This paper draws on interviews with second-generation Filipino-Americans to demonstrate how and why respondents engage in mediated social and economic cross-border ties collectively with first-generation migrant parents. Second-generation Filipino-Americans feel an obligation, not necessarily to those in the Philippines, but to parents who request that their children engage in transnational social and economic ties. Just as parents serve as the means and reasoning for why these transnational connections persist among their children, parents play a role in why ties fail to manifest. By looking into why some engage in social and economic cross-border ties while others do not, I provide insight into how the children of migrants participate in the transnational social field.     

Bangladeshi migrant associations in Italy: transnational engagement,community formation and regional unity

Referring to the case studies of two cities in Northern Italy, this article seeks to understand how Bangladeshi migrants use associations to seek transnational “ways of belonging” and “ways of being”. It analyses how this transnational attachment to their home country has played an important role in building their own “community”. The findings reveal that Bangladeshi migrant organizations work to maintain “transnational ways of belonging” by enabling migrants to retain their cultural roots; this is reflected in their observation of festivals, national days, and other practices and rituals. Although, as a relatively new migrant community, they do not share as many economic links through these associations as many other “diasporic” organizations, migrants widely express a sense that these economic connections are with their country of origin. However, there is competition within the community based on regional origin, as well as have many ambivalences and contradictions.     

To separate is to sustain: Sacrifice and national belonging among East Timorese in West Timor

This paper examines the way the notion of sacrifice is used to reclaim national belonging and entitlements. I particularly focus my discussion on pro‐Indonesian East Timorese who left East Timor and decided to stay in West Timor after their historic referendum. The East Timorese experience of violent colonisation, military occupation, family breakdown and separation might help explain the existence of their sacrificial narratives. But I argue that such narratives evoke life histories and shared memories, which, in turn, entail the intention of displaced East Timorese to maintain an intimate relationship with their homeland and ensure a better future for their society.     

Bringing class back in: class consciousness and solidarity among Chinese migrant workers in Italy and the UK

The growing literature on international migration has a tendency to emphasize homogenous elements such as shared ethnic background, social network and cultural similarities in shaping immigrants' identity. We argue that this underestimates the differences (and sometimes conflicts) of interests between ethnic employers and migrant workers and that class needs to be brought back into the studies of ethnic relationship. Based upon findings from a series of fieldwork in Veneto, Italy and East Midlands, UK, this article contends that class consciousness has co-existed, sometimes uneasily, alongside co-ethnic and cultural relationships among Chinese migrant workers and has played an important part in the making of new Chinese communities. By analysing the perspectives of Chinese migrant workers and their relationship with co-ethnic entrepreneurs, this article illustrates complex factors behind the formation, diffusion and development of class consciousness among Chinese migrant workers.     

Not black,but Habasha: Ethiopian and Eritrean immigrants in American society

In this article, I examine the identity choices of Ethiopian and Eritrean immigrants of Amhara, Tigrayan and Tigrinya ethnicity within the context of the larger debate on how non-white immigrants are being incorporated into American society. I argue that these immigrants resist racialization even while their actions and attitudes potentially reinforce America's racial divide. They implicitly challenge American racial categories by thinking of themselves as Habasha, which they view as a separate non-black ethno-racial category that emphasizes their Semitic origins. Meanwhile, they often distance themselves from American blacks through pursuing transnational connections, producing Habasha spaces, displaying the attributes of a ‘model minority’ and preserving Habasha beauty through endogamy. By remaining relatively isolated within their ethnic communities in Washington, DC, which is the focus of this study, they may succeed in differentiating themselves from American blacks, but they are not likely to join the American mainstream on a par with whites.     

Immigration,remittances, and transnational social capital formation: a Cuban case study

Social capital takes on distinctive meaning in the context of large-scale immigration from poor to rich countries. In this article, characteristics of social capital embedded in transnational networks and norms, conditions conducive to the formation of such networks, and effects such networks have are extrapolated from an analysis of how and why cross-border relations among Cuban-Americans and Cubans in their homeland have changed since the 1959 Castro-led revolution. The transnational social capital generating benefit on which the study focuses is remittances. Remittances are of growing global importance to less developed countries, and in some countries they generate more revenue than foreign aid and foreign investment. The analysis addresses a range of unintended as well as intended consequences remittances may have.     

Safety, identity and consent: a limited defense of reproductive human cloning

Some opponents of reproductive human cloning have argued that, because of its experimental nature, any attempt to create a child by way of cloning would risk serious birth defects or genetic abnormalities and would therefore be immoral. Some versions of this argument appeal to the consent of the person to be conceived in this way. In particular, they assume that if an experimental reproductive technology has not yet been shown to be safe, then, before we use it, we are morally obligated to get either the actual consent or the presumed consent of the person to be conceived. In this article, I attempt to explain the appeal of such consent-based arguments as deriving from a mistaken view of personal identity. I then argue that since this view is false, such arguments are unsound. Finally, I argue that even if reproductive cloning is unsafe, it may still be morally permissible in some circumstances.     

Achievement and social mobility: Relationships among IQ score,education, and occupation in two generations

This research tests the hypothesis that change over time in women’s status leads to improvements in their children’s health. Specifically, we examine whether change in resources and empowerment in mother’s roles as biological mothers, caregivers, and providers and social contexts that promote the rights and representation of and investment in women are associated with better nutritional status and survival of young children. Analysis is based on a broad sample of countries (n = 28), with data at two or more points in time to enable examination of change. Key indicators of child health show improvement in the last 13 years in developing nations. Much of this improvement—90 percent of the increase in nutritional status and 47 percent of the reduction in mortality—is associated with improving status of women. Increased maternal education, control over reproduction, freedom from violence, access to health care, legislation and enforcement of women’s rights, greater political representation, equality in the education system, and lower maternal mortality are improving children’s health. These results imply that further advancement of women’s position in society would be beneficial.     

Achievement and social mobility: Relationships among IQ score,education, and occupation in two generations

Abstract

A study of males and their fathers representative of the nonfarm white population of Minnesota supports the hypothesis that social mobility is correlated with the discrepancies between the general intelligence of sons, as measured by IQ test scores, and the social class into which they were born. A multiple regression analysis performed on these data illustrates the independent contribution of intelligence to the variance in two achieved statuses, educational attainment and occupational level. The substantial correlation between father‐son difference in IQ score and father‐son difference in social position, and the relationship between the magnitude and direction of IQ score difference and the distance and direction of social mobility, both support the view that differences in ability provide a “springboard” that enables individuals to be socially mobile and that to some degree prevents social classes in an open society from congealing into castes.     

Negotiating precarious labour relations: dynamics of vulnerability and reciprocity between Chinese employers and their migrant workers in Santiago,Chile

Precarious labour research has highlighted the multidimensional factors shaping migrants’ vulnerability to labour exploitation. This article takes a different approach by attending to the possible reciprocity in labour relations– despite unequal power dynamics– particularly when workplaces are small and involve daily interactions between migrant workers and migrant employers. Methodology is based on observations in Chinese-run retail shops and restaurants in Santiago, and interviews with Chinese employers and their Latin American migrant employees of diverse backgrounds. Proposing the concept of “precarious labour relations”, we examine the independent and shared uncertainties between migrant employers and workers who are differently marginalized through race/migrant status axes in Chile. Analyzing dynamics of hierarchy, (mis)trust, and reciprocity in how these actors negotiate precarity and security as workers and/or migrants, we complicate dichotomies of exploitation and resistance in migrant labour research, by foregrounding the multidimensional relationship between employers and workers when both are racialized migrants and minorities.     

Estimating the probability of identity among genotypes in natural populations: cautions and guidelines

Individual identification using DNA fingerprinting methods is emerging as a critical tool in conservation genetics and molecular ecology. Statistical methods that estimate the probability of sampling identical genotypes using theoretical equations generally assume random associations between alleles within and among loci. These calculations are probably inaccurate for many animal and plant populations due to population substructure. We evaluated the accuracy of a probability of identity (P(ID)) estimation by comparing the observed and expected P(ID), using large nuclear DNA microsatellite data sets from three endangered species: the grey wolf (Canis lupus), the brown bear (Ursus arctos), and the Australian northern hairy-nosed wombat (Lasiorinyus krefftii). The theoretical estimates of P(ID) were consistently lower than the observed P(ID), and can differ by as much as three orders of magnitude. To help researchers and managers avoid potential problems associated with this bias, we introduce an equation for P(ID) between sibs. This equation provides an estimator that can be used as a conservative upper bound for the probability of observing identical multilocus genotypes between two individuals sampled from a population. We suggest computing the actual observed P(ID) when possible and give general guidelines for the number of codominant and dominant marker loci required to achieve a reasonably low P(ID) (e.g. 0.01-0.0001).     

Between global racial and bounded identity: choice of destigmatization strategies among Ethiopian Jews in Israel

Abstract

Our research explores how Ethiopian Jews in Israel apply local and global cultural resources when forming their reactive strategies to stigmatization. Drawing on 40 in-depth interviews with adult men and women, we examine class variations in the destigmatization strategies of working-class and middle-class Ethiopian Jews. Working-class Ethiopian Jews rely on their local bounded identity, that of Jews, rather than identity politics, which stresses phenotype in formulating destigmatization strategies. The former provide is Ethiopians of all classes with the network of meaning necessary for active participation in the broader society, whereas the latter is primarily the province of a small number of highly educated middle-class individuals, those who had access to social networks of highly educated liberals and could mobilize valued global black cultural resources (e.g. music, art) to their advantage in the local context.