Migration, marginalization and metropolitaneity: negotiation of masculinities of Nepali drug users in Hong Kong

Abstract

Many studies on men and masculinity have discussed how Asian male migrants who experience a ‘masculinity crisis’ negotiate their masculinity vis-à-vis dominant black and white masculinities in Western societies. Yet, few have discussed how they negotiate their masculinity in the Asian contexts. In this study, Nepalis have a tradition of transnational migration. Their transnational networks have facilitated the development of overseas Nepali communities. This research therefore aims to study the negotiation of masculinities of Nepali male heroin users, a marginalized group in Hong Kong. By using a qualitative mixed-methods approach, it is argued that their negotiation of masculinities is nuanced and relational; intersecting with race/ethnicity, social space, and generation. In the process, discursive resources in the cultural repertoire are utilized to construct alternative forms of masculinities in school, the workplace, and rehabilitation treatment. These masculinities are pluralistic and contingent, in relation to the transnational space and post-colonial situation of Hong Kong.