From a Stigmatized Category to Legitimate Cultural Experience: Proto-Metrics and Chinese Birth Tourism in the US

• In Event: 2451 - Section on Organizations, Occupations, and Work Refereed Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 16. Organizational Categories and Markets

Abstract

In this paper, we analyze the responses of organizations to stigmatization of the category of Chinese birth tourism in the United States which is based on cultural practices associated with childbirth. The category consists of travel, accommodation and medical services, largely to mainland Chinese mothers (and their families), in order to facilitate their travel to the U.S. to give birth. Based on data from interviews, participant observation and archival evidence that we collected, we identified three forms of category stigma. We also found that producers creatively responded to these stigma in two ways. First, they produced proto-metrics consisting of a report on the industry which directly addressed the forms of stigma that characterized the field as lacking agreed-upon rules, procedures and meanings. Second, producers diffused proto-metrics by serializing social media posts which addressed the forms of stigma associated with birth tourism. These insights make contributions to the sociological study of categories and organizational stigma.

Authors

• Arafaat A. Valiani, University of Oregon

• Brandon Folse