Migration Experience Research Articles

The Cultivation of Transnational Cultural Capital in Childhood: Experiences of Chinese Global Multiple Migrants

ABSTRACTThis study shows how class advantage is transferred to the next generation through parental strategies that cultivate their children's transnational cultural capital from an early age. It combines the concepts of cultural capital and concerted cultivation and adopts a novel methodology, examining parental aspirations (PAs) and strategies from the perspective of the children. The data are derived from the life stories of Chinese global multiple migrants. The article shows that the cultivation of transnational cultural capital amongst elite and middle‐class families in China is linked to traditional, neoliberal and non‐materialistic PAs. It reveals how parental capital is related to their aspirations and shapes their use of six cultivation strategies. It also discusses the contradictions, dilemmas and disagreements relating to concerted cultivation; examines children's agency and places the findings within global and national contexts. The results provide insights into culturally specific class mechanisms of intergenerational reproduction of privilege in an era of globalization.

Refusing to Mourn: John Murillo's Poetics of Race and Space

Abstract: In this essay, I read Murillo's poetry as embodying a different and challenging form of Afro-latinidad, one centered on imagining the myriad possibilities for articulating Black Mexicanness as a political subjectivity. To do so, I foreground the importance of place to Murillo's poetics, which articulates Black Mexicanness as a political subjectivity not by translating the migrant experience but instead by inhabiting the historical construction of Blackness and Mexicanness specific to the local spaces of Los Angeles and Brooklyn that Murillo has called home. I then offer an extended reading of Murillo's heroic crown of sonnets "A Refusal to Mourn the Deaths, by Gunfire, of Three Men in Brooklyn," the centerpiece of Kontemporary Amerikan Poetry . This sonnet sequence, like "Contemporary American Poetry," protests the vulnerability of Black bodies to police violence and laments the impotence of poetry as a response to that violence. Foregrounding the act of mourning—and its refusal—the poem challenges readers to consider what makes a life "grievable," to use Judith Butler's term. To read "A Refusal to Mourn" as enunciated from the position of Afro-latinidad requires Latinx readers in particular to grapple with that challenge on a more profound and, one hopes, transformative level.

Access to and provision of sexual and reproductive health services in Ekurhuleni, South Africa: Experiences and coping strategies of migrant women and healthcare workers.

The importance of universal access to health services including sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) services by migrant populations and the fundamental role of healthcare workers in providing SRHR services, requires a balanced understanding of the experiences of both migrants and healthcare workers. This study explored the experiences of migrant women in accessing and utilising SRHR services and the experiences of healthcare workers in providing SRHR and HIV services in Ekurhuleni, South Africa. In-depth interviews were conducted with five internal migrants, eight international migrant women aged 18-49 years, and four healthcare workers. Migrant women were selected using snowball sampling while healthcare workers were purposively sampled. Migrant women face multifaceted challenges including but not limited to language barriers, discrimination based on migration status, cultural and religious hurdles when accessing and utilising SRHR and HIV services. Similarly, healthcare workers encounter challenges in providing SRHR and HIV services to migrant women which include language barriers and having migrants who seek services without referral documentation and legal migration documents. Training healthcare workers on cultural sensitivity and integration of migrant friendly services in the health policy may improve migrant women's experiences in accessing and utilising as well as healthcare workers' experiences in providing SRHR services.

Lived Experiences of Migrant Fathers in the Perinatal Period: A Systematic Review and Analysis.

The worldwide population of migrant families is on the rise, and there is growing acknowledgement of the significance of supporting parental mental health within these families. However, understanding of the experiences of migrant fathers during the perinatal period remains incomplete. The objective of this review is to provide an overview of existing research on perinatal migrant fathers' experiences in different cultures. Multiple searches were conducted in April 2023 for quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods studies across six electronic databases: Medline, CINAHL, Embase, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and Scopus. Fourteen eligible articles were identified, including nine qualitative studies, five quantitative studies, and no mixed-methods studies. The Mixed-methods Appraisal Tool was used to assess the quality of these studies. The quantitative findings were transformed into narrative summaries to be analysed thematically along with the qualitative data. Three themes were identified: (1) Cultural competence (dealing with cultural differences, needs related to original country); (2) Parenthood in a new country (challenges and adaptation to fatherhood, challenging traditional gender norms, lack of extended family and building new support networks, being the main supporter for the family); (3) Needs of the fathers and their personal difficulties. The findings of this review suggest a direction for future research in perinatal psychology. The review also provides insights into the need for social and community support for migrant fathers and how healthcare services can support this group during the perinatal period.

Multiplicities and fluidity in the networked relationships of migrant academics in Britain

AbstractIncreasing internationalization and marketization of higher education, global research collaboration, and staff mobility place academics' networking practices at the centre of higher education systems. Migrant academics are conceptualized with different network types including personal, local and transnational family and friendship networks. However, this research aims to understand the boundaries between different types of participants' networked relationships. The data of this paper comes from a larger research project on transnational family relationships of migrant academics conducted between 2018 and 2022. Life story interviews with 45 migrant academics from 27 different national backgrounds working at British universities were conducted. Additionally, sociogram maps are used as embedded in qualitative interviews. Migration background (as European or non‐European countries); gender; age; the length of the stay in the UK; academic position/contract type; annual income level and marital/relationship status were considered while forming the sample. The findings reveal that network forms and structures do not determine the resources and benefits of relationships; rather, individuals' actions over a time period and the meanings they attribute shape the positions of an alter (other actors that the focal person have connection with) within the personal network structure. As such, actions and meanings regarding those actions can bring one forward or backward in the personal network hierarchy. The boundaries regarding the content of these networks are usually blurred in relation to time, relationality and human agency attributing specific sets of meanings to certain relationships. The findings of this research translate into specific contributions to the discussions in migration and social network research. That is, research findings emphasized that different types of networks shaping participants' lives and migratory experiences are far from being stable and fixed, rather, they are characterized by being transmissive and dynamic. It is revealed that none of the network categories are homogenous, stable and fixed in terms of the content of the relationships. This adds to Emirbayer and Goodwin's (1994) discussions around the ‘form’ and the ‘content’ of networks. This paper underscores the significance of the historical settings, dynamism and the content of each relationship in understanding individual networks.

The Rural-Urban Intermarriage and Female Identity Formation in Contemporary China

This article analyzes the marital experiences of rural-urban female migrants in contemporary China through qualitative semi-structured interviews. It argues that these women have gained more autonomy and higher status within their families through intermarriage. Despite these improvements, they continue to face significant prejudices and pressures from family members and society. The empirical research reveals that female migrants often struggle with managing relationships with their elders. Additionally, differences in economic income and the division of domestic labor lead to conflicts over household finances between female migrants and their partners. The study found that female migrants are under multiple pressures from their partners and parents-in-law, often choosing to compromise in domestic conflicts. Overall, the autonomy that female migrants exhibit in intermarriages highlights a significant transformation in their self-determination and self-identification.

He leads a lonely life: single men’s narratives of dating and relationships in the context of transnational migration

ABSTRACT This paper presents findings from a qualitative research project examining the dating narratives of single migrant men residing in Sweden and Italy. The study, analyzing 48 interviews with individuals from Syrian, Polish, Bangladeshi and Romanian backgrounds, along with ethnographic observations, employs a theoretical framework rooted in sexual capital theory and critical studies on men and masculinities. The analysis sheds light on the challenges faced by heterosexual single migrant men in their pursuit of intimate partners, attributing these difficulties to lower levels of social, economic and cultural capital, as well as the influence of their specific masculinities, which may be perceived as less attractive within the host societies. The paper argues that the migrant experience can be viewed as a distinctive sexual field wherein individuals encounter unique dynamics and obstacles in the realm of intimate relationships. The implications of these findings extend beyond the personal experiences of migrant men, offering insights into the broader socio-cultural landscape of host societies and the complex interplay between migration, masculinity and intimate relationships.

Exploring the Health Impact of Intersectional Minority Identity Stressors on Arab Sexual Minority Women Migrants to the United States.

Using an intersectionality lens and the minority stress theory as our theoretical grounding, this qualitative study is the first to examine the mental health of Arab sexual minority women (SMW) migrants to the United States. The study aimed to (1) explore the perceptions and experiences of intersectional minority identity-related life stressors and (2) discern their impact on the mental health of first-generation Arab SMW migrants. From December 2022 to March 2023, we conducted 20 semi-structured interviews with Arab SMW migrants. Guided by principles of community engagement in research, four community advisors, including three Arab SMW migrants and a mental health service provider, assisted in mock interviews, recruitment, and data analysis. This enriched our thematic analysis providing a nuanced understanding of Arab SMW migrant experiences. Participants reflected diverse nationalities, socioeconomic statuses, and religions and identified as lesbian, bisexual, or queer. Our sample included asylum seekers, documented migrants, and non-binary individuals (assigned female at birth). Findings revealed three major themes: (1) Community- and Interpersonal-Level Stressors, (2) Strategies for Coping with Stressors, and (3) Impact of Intersectional Life Stressors on Mental Health. Community- and interpersonal-level stressors included challenges navigating migration-related stressors, rejection and discrimination from the Arab, queer, and dominant-group (i.e., non-Arab, non-White) communities, and experiences of invalidation of their intersectional identities. Coping mechanisms included avoidance, identity concealment, and seeking social support. Participants reported various mental health impacts, from anxiety, depression to suicidal thoughts, emphasizing the urgency for tailored interventions. Participants called for the development of support groups specifically for Arab SMW migrants.

Experiences of transgender migrants from Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Armenia, and Uzbekistan living in Russia

Abstract Despite Russia being a major migrant-receiving country, it does not receive adequate attention in international literature, especially in relation to migrants belonging to marginalized groups. Based on interviews with seventeen transgender (trans) migrants from Central Asia and the South Caucasus with an experience of living in Russia, the study revealed the complex intersections between transphobia, migrantophobia, racism, and whorephobia. The migrants faced profound workplace discrimination and suffered from police and ultra-right groups. Cisgender migrants caring for the prestige of their nation and trans migrant sex workers striving to annihilate competitors were described as additional threats. Russian trans/LGBT organizations were reported to be difficult to access and their priorities differed from those of migrants. Despite these challenges, the respondents found Russia to be a more tolerant country than their home countries and benefited from migration in terms of possibilities to express their gender identity and earn higher income. The discussion section uses these data to compare transition in the sex/gender and geographical spaces.

Writing a way home

This article discusses my (impossible) attempt to find a way home by writing a play — Home. Home is constructed by weaving together fragments from my grandmother’s memoirs and my own writing (Thorp 1945, 2016). My grandmother, born and brought up in Myanmar, had never visited Britain until her family moved ‘home’ when she was sixteen, while I moved to Singapore in my thirties. As a child, my grandmother could not return home to Myanmar, while the COVID-19 pandemic meant that I was unable to leave Singapore. By comparing our experiences of being at home, and of not being able to go home, I aim tell a wider story about identity and belonging in migrant experiences that reach beyond our own intimate recollections. In Home, the page becomes a playground where I explore notions of home, identity, belonging, non-belonging, and the trickster nature of memory. This autoethnographic investigation combines my experience of writing Home with theoretical and methodological reflections on it. Through this process, the concept of home reveals itself as embodied, liminal, shifting, and troubles notions of identity and belonging for both my grandmother and me. Extending Sara Ahmed’s notion of home as skin (1999), I suggest that not only can home permeate the skin, but that there is a connection between home and sickness. In attempting to understand my grandmother’s experience of home in her cultural and ethnographic context, I expose my own post-colonial discomfort about her claim that Myanmar was her home. These feelings affect how I select and reuse text from her memoirs, so that I reveal myself to be an unreliable narrator, biographer, and even an unreliable playwright. Ultimately, playwriting becomes a method that allows identity and belonging for my grandmother and I to exist in a third space (Bhabha 1994), both on the page and embodied in a character that is both of us and neither of us.

Exploring lifestyles, work environment and health care experience of Nepalese returnee labour migrants diagnosed with kidney-related problems.

In recent years, international media and the scientific community have expressed concerns regarding rising kidney health-related risks among Nepalese labour migrants in Gulf countries and Malaysia. Previous studies have highlighted poor lifestyles and work conditions among Nepalese migrants, which could potentially impact their kidney health. This qualitative study aims to explore the lifestyles and work environment of returnee Nepalese migrants who were diagnosed with kidney health problems. In-depth interviews were carried out with twelve returnee migrants, all males, with half having worked abroad for at least a decade. Our analysis yielded seven themes: (a) living and lifestyles; (b) work environment; (c) exposure to pollutants; (d) Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) experience; (e) use of painkillers and healthcare; (f) medical expenses for CKD patients; and (g) pre-departure training. This study indicates that Nepalese migrants face numerous challenges, including limited access to clean water and sanitation facilities, poor diets, exposure to occupational hazards, and overuse of pain medication, all of which may contribute to an increased risk of kidney disease. An enhanced pre-departure and on-arrival orientation programme focusing on kidney health-related topics, including the necessary advocacy at the country of destination to provide access to basic services, may encourage migrants to adopt healthy lifestyles and safe working environments, as well as help sensitise migrants to their kidney health risks.

The writing on the wall: Identity, placemaking and territoriality in Karachi's graffiti culture

This article explores the spatiality of political graffiti and urban murals and the role they play in placemaking, territoriality and identity building amongst Karachi's migrant communities. From Independence in 1947 to the present day, the city has been the site of several waves of in-migration, both domestic and international, resulting in a migrant megacity. Through shared migration experiences and cultural heritage, political patronage and spatial clustering, communities have consolidated and reimagined ethnic identities into political ones. These ethno-political entities demarcate territories of dominance and spaces of tension using political graffiti. This tool for placemaking and territory marking is an urban declaration of power on the walls of the city. More recently, political graffiti has been deliberately replaced by civil society actors in the form of murals changing the provocative ethno-political sloganeering to a nationalistic counter narrative. With multiple actors – political and apolitical - sentiments and stories now vying for space through their occupation of the city's walls, these surfaces become spaces of declaration, dialogue and at times, erasure. Through a process of diachronic documentation, this article shows that the walls of the city are a palimpsest of political opinion and identity; each subsequent layer in dialogue with the layer that precedes it. The authors of each layer through a process of placemaking, construct, deconstruct and reconstruct narratives of identity, ownership and belonging.

“To live your life not in vain”. Ukrainian academics’ experience of forced migration in Poland

The authors consider the forced migration of Ukrainian academics to Poland caused by the Russian-Ukrainian War, particularly the expansion of communication between the Ukrainian and Polish academic communities and the experience gained in this process. The study is based on the analysis of a body of interviews with Ukrainian academics in forced migration and their Polish colleagues who were directly involved in aiding Ukrainians. The interviews were collected as part of the oral history project “‘Moving West’: Ukrainian Academics in Conditions of Forced Migration (2014-2023).” The authors focus on several main themes: Ukrainian migrants’ decision to leave the country and Polish respondents’ decision to get involved in helping Ukrainian refugees (the moment of‘challenge’), making sense of the new reality (the moment of the ‘meeting of two cultures’), adaptation to the new conditions, and reflection on the experience gained (the moment of ‘construction of specific strategies of behavior’).

Ethical and Epistemological Implications of Conducting Ethnographic Fieldwork as a Researcher-cum-Clinician in Brussels, Belgium

ABSTRACT We draw on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Brussels (Belgium) on the health care experiences of undocumented migrants. We explore the implications of the double position of the ethnographer, who is both a researcher and a practicing doctor. We describe how the intimate knowledge the ethnographer-cum-clinician holds about the health care system influenced and shaped the data collection, analysis and subsequent policy recommendations. We examine the ethical dilemmas in conducting research from an engaged position about care practices toward vulnerable populations in one’s own professional field. We conclude with recommendations on how to challenge and interrupt complexities faced by multi-positioned ethnographers.

Migration background and loneliness among middle-aged and older adults in Germany

Currently, there is limited knowledge about the association between amigration background and loneliness among middle-aged and older individuals in Germany. The aim was therefore to examine the association between migration background and loneliness in this group. Data were taken from the German Ageing Survey (Wave7, November 2020 to March 2021), arepresentative sample of middle-aged and older individuals. The sample comprised 4145 individuals, and the mean age was 63.8 years. Of the respondents, 93.2% had no migration background, approximately 5.9% had amigration background with personal migration experience, and 0.9% had amigration background but no personal migration experience. The De Jong Gierveld tool was used to quantify loneliness. Multiple linear regressions showed that individuals with amigration background and their own migration experience have significantly higher levels of loneliness (β = 0.15, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.004 to 0.30, p < 0.05) compared to individuals without amigration background, whereas individuals with amigration background without their own migration experience have significantly lower levels of loneliness (β = -0.27, 95% CI: -0.52 to -0.02 p < 0.05). Individuals with amigration background and their own migration experience appear to represent arisk group for high loneliness among middle-aged and older adults in Germany. In this respect, this group should be given special consideration in corresponding measures. Against the background of current (and potential future) migration movements, the results are of great importance as these groups in particular could be affected by loneliness.

Perceptions of women of Turkish origin living abroad on being a migrant: Existence as a woman

AbstractThis study aimed to examine the migration decisions and experiences of Turkish‐origin women living abroad from a feminist perspective. In this qualitative study grounded in phenomenology and utilizing a purposive sampling approach, data were collected online from 82 women living abroad through a structured interview form, and thematic analysis was employed for evaluation. The participants' migration decisions revealed six sub‐themes and two main themes. Perceptions of the participants regarding their immigrant woman identities resulted in also five sub‐themes and five sub‐themes. Based on our findings, understanding the migration decisions and experiences of Turkish‐origin women living abroad can contribute to a better comprehension of migration policies and society from a gender perspective. These findings can guide policymakers and social service professionals in developing practical solutions to address the specific needs and challenges of women in the context of migration.

Navigating Home in Migration: Yi Migrant Workers and Their Homemaking Experiences in Shenzhen Factories

This article investigates the experiences of Yi migrant workers in Shenzhen factories through a conceptual framework that focuses on three dimensions of home in migration. Examining industrial dormitories, the foreman system, and governmental attention, it uncovers the intricate ways migrants negotiate their sense of belonging. The spatial dimension is evident in dormitories offering a semblance of home while reflecting broader societal and economic influences. The relational aspect emerges through the evolution of the foreman system, highlighting the interplay between traditional social bonds and modern labour demands. The sensorial dimension becomes apparent in the limited recognition migrants receive despite their contributions. This study underscores the multifaceted nature of migrant experiences as well as the need for comprehensive understandings of home that encompass spatial, relational, and sensorial elements within the dynamic context of migration.

Children in the Archive: Migration and School Life in Turn-of-the-Century Egypt

What happens when we approach children and youth as the producers of their own history? This article foregrounds the concrete traces left by children and young students in the historian’s archive in order to offer an exploratory investigation of how they participated in the multifaceted history of transnational and internal migration in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Egypt. I focus on children and young individuals who, on the one hand, belonged to migrant communities in Egypt and, on the other hand, produced narratives which spoke to the experience of transnational and internal migration. By examining school exams, letters, and petitions produced by pupils between the 1880s and the 1920s, I reconstruct how younger members of society engaged with various forms of parental, communal, and state authority and support as they moved across different social, legal, and spatial geographies.

Tradition and Disruption in Latinx and Latin American Political Thought

Abstract This article presents Latinx political thought as a distinctive tradition in political theory that reworks central concepts in response to historical experiences of conquest, colonialism, migration, and transnational politics. In reconstructing this tradition, we argue that its problem space converges with US-based Latin American political thought. The article first traces a genealogy of Latinx political theory and then explores three realms of theorizing around which Latinx and Latin American political thought cluster: sovereignty and state violence, peoplehood, and transnationalism. We explain how the surveyed works disrupt and enrich political theory accounts of these problems. In arguing for the recognition of this field as a tradition, the article also aims to make it intelligible as an area of concentration for PhD students in political science.

Adaptation and pilot testing of an HIV Behavioral Intervention- Chicos Net (CN) for Gay Latino Men (GLM)

Chicos Net (CN) is a globally oriented research program aimed at preventing HIV transmission, initially developed for Latino MSM (men who have sex with other men) in Toronto, Canada. Later, it was modified to fit the cultural preferences of gay men living in Cali, Colombia. The study aimed to reduce the incidence of HIV infection in these communities. The intervention consisted of four sessions, 12 hours, following a prearranged manual. CN covers a range of subjects, such as deepening knowledge about HIV, investigating the impacts of homophobia, studying migration experiences on international (Canada) and local (Cali, Colombia) rural-to-urban scales, exploring dating, analyzing the repercussions of social isolation, and navigating LGBT environments. The intervention consisted of administering a questionnaire before and after and doing a pre-post t-test. The results demonstrate positive effects in terms of social support and efficacy in negotiating condom use.