From International Migration to Transnational Diaspora: Theorizing “Double Diaspora” from the Experience of Chinese Canadians in Beijing

Abstract

This study theorizes double diaspora based on the experiences of Chinese Canadians in Beijing who had previously immigrated to Canada from China and later returned. The study reveals that Chinese Canadians are increasingly internationally mobile as a result of globalization, modern communications and transportation. Their transnational migration experiences can be classified as “double diaspora”—a hybrid experience that transcends boundaries of ethnicity and nationalism. The double diaspora is characterized by a number of dualities as both Chinese and Canadian, living in Chinese and Canadian diaspora, simultaneously diasporas and returnees, playing a double role as cultural and economic brokers between Canada and China. The double diaspora views the diaspora sojourn as neither unidirectional nor final, but rather as multiple and circular. It rejects the primordial notion of diaspora and theorizes diaspora as heterogeneous and conflictual forms of sociality. This study provides an alternative framework in understanding transnational migration and representing multiple ways of affiliations and belonging.