Descrizione del progetto
Il privilegio di essere un immigrato bianco in Cina
La rapida espansione dell’economia cinese ha attratto un numero considerevole di immigrati bianchi. Gli immigrati bianchi vivono in un ambiente condizionato dalle leggi, dall’economia e dalle regole sociali cinesi. Il progetto CHINAWHITE, finanziato dall’UE, condurrà ricerche sui migranti bianchi in relazione alla politica statale, all’insegnamento della lingua inglese (ESL), al settore dell’intrattenimento, al commercio transnazionale e alle relazioni sentimentali interetniche. Studierà anche se il fatto di essere bianchi garantisca un trattamento privilegiato rispetto ai migranti neri o di altro tipo e determinerà l’impatto di tale condizione nella vita di tutti i giorni.
Obiettivo
This research examines the multiple and contradictory constructions of whiteness in China as a result of the rapid diversification of white migrants in the country and the shifting power balances between China and the West. Existing literature on white westerners in Asia mainly focuses on transnational elites. The rising number of middle- and lower-stratum of white migrants in China deserves special attention due to substantial tensions and discrepancies in their experiences of racial privilege, economic insecurity, and legal vulnerability. Multi-sited and multi-scalar ethnographic research will be conducted on daily life encounters between various groups of white migrants and Chinese in five domains: (1) state policy regarding international migrants in China; (2) the ESL industry (teaching English as a second language); (3) the media, fashion, and entertainment industries; (4) transnational business and entrepreneurship; and (5) interracial romance. Three major research questions frame this project. 1. What are the symbolic and material advantages and disadvantages of being white in China’s thriving market economy and consumer culture? 2. How is whiteness racialized in relation to blackness and other immigrant minority identities in multiple social domains and at different geographical scales? 3. How are multiple versions of whiteness produced, interpreted, negotiated, and performed through daily life interactions between white migrants and Chinese in various social and personal settings? This project contributes to a new line of research on white racial formation in East Asia by creatively integrating theories in whiteness studies and migration studies. It also expands the geographical scope of research on white expatriates from global cities in coastal areas to second-tier cities in inland China.
Campo scientifico
Programma(i)
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
ERC-COG - Consolidator GrantIstituzione ospitante
1012WX Amsterdam
Paesi Bassi