Suchergebnisse

Abstract This article argues that 'would-be migrants' – people who prepare for migrating overseas to the extent that their present lives are significantly changed – should become a central figure in migration studies. There are many more would-be migrants than actual migrants, and they also have deeper impacts on migration processes and local societies. Instead of treating the would-be migrant as a derivative of the category of 'migrant', this article establishes it as the primary figure, and argues that migration is a contingent outcome of being a 'would-be'. In order to do so this article delves into the living conditions of would-be migrants in northeast China, with a focus on two aspects that concern them the most: the exorbitant intermediary fees and the high risks involved. The would-be migrants' experiences suggest that the prevalent pattern of unskilled outmigration since the 1990s should be understood as a result of developments inside of China, particularly a condition that I call the 'displacement of the present'. The figure of would-be migrant is not only methodologically revealing for migration studies, but also urges us to rethink how we may engage with rapid social changes.

The pandemic has ushered in drastic new restrictions on the right to move, as governments have imposed lockdowns in more or less organized ways. In pursuit of its zero-COVID policy, China has gone farther than most in the extent and rigor of its mobility restrictions. Responsibility for enforcement has been redistributed to lower-level officials, landlords, and migrant labor agencies, while food delivery companies and others in the mobility business have thrived. These redistributions of mobility are likely to remain in place beyond the pandemic, changing relations between government and citizens.

"Suspension" is the translation of the Chinese term xuanfu, which has been widely used in public discussions in China since the mid-2010s. Suspension indicates a state of being in which people move frequently, conduct intensive labour, and pause routine life—in order to benefit fast and then quickly escape. People keep moving, with no end in sight, instead of changing their current conditions, of which they disapprove. As a result, frantic entrepreneurial energy coexists with political resignation. Suspension is a life strategy, a multitude of experiences, a feeling—and now, a keyword: a crystallized consciousness with which the public problematize their experiences. This special issue develops this term into an analytical approach based on ethnographic research involving labour migrants in and from China. This approach turns migration into a basis for critical analyses on issues far beyond it; enables co-research between researchers, migrants, and the broader public; and seeks to cultivate agency for change among actors. This introductory essay, based on the author's long-term field research and public engagement, outlines why we need such an approach, and how we might develop it. (Pac Aff / GIGA)

Abstract

Us and Them? The Dangerous Politics of Immigration Control, Bridget Anderson, 2013, 224 pages, Oxford University Press, 978-0-19-969159-3.

Us and Them? The Dangerous Politics of Immigration Control, Bridget Anderson, 2013, 224 pages, Oxford University Press, 978-0-19-969159-3.