Translocality and Agency: Exploring the Experiences of Internationally Mobile Change-makers

• In Event: International Mobility and Societal Transformation: Insights from a Global Study

Proposal

Higher education and research institutions play a crucial role in international professional training and exchange programmes. Through the lens of ‘translocality’, this paper reports the findings from interviews with 20 young change-makers from six countries, exploring how their mobility to the United States influenced their agency to contribute to societal change. Translocality is conceptualised here not merely as migrants bringing their experiences to new places but as a network of interconnected processes that transcend geographical boundaries, shaping and influencing communities across locales. This encompasses the mobility of ideas, cultures, languages, money, policy, and other material and immaterial elements across localities (Brickell and Datta, 2011; McFarlane, 2009). This paper uses translocality to explain the interconnectedness of social relations, that formed in the host institutions and extended beyond through professional mobility to address the following research question: How do university/research-institution-based international exchange programmes impact the agency of Southeast Asian young leaders to make societal changes?
Emerging from participants’ narratives, host institutions were identified as the key nodes where translocal networked relations converged: local companies and NGOs, governments, and young leaders from other Southeast Asian countries. Their enhanced agency to effect change, as evidenced by their reflections on discerning ultimate concerns, fostering deliberation, and commitment to social change (Archer, 2006), came from everyday interactions in diverse translocal relations. These included attending skill-oriented lectures and workshops at the host institutions, and visiting local organisations. Additionally, the participants underscored the importance of communicating with other Southeast Asian young leaders, fostering idea exchanges and self-reflection by comparing and contrasting their diverse experiences of working for societal change. This finding challenges the notion that Western education primarily involves Western experiences. Instead, it reveals a rich tapestry of translocal relations.
Moreover, the paper examines the role of translocal relations formed during the exchange programme in fostering societal changes post-programme. These translocal connections, ranging from fellow young leaders to various institutions were identified as decisive in allowing participants to leverage their newly acquired insights and skills for effecting change in their local communities and beyond. Particularly, the translocal relations were instrumental for participants in navigating the challenges associated with promoting social changes in local contexts characterised by patriarchal norms, limited justice and restricted freedoms. In this sense, the young leaders themselves became the site where translocal relations converged, thereby further promoting social changes.
In conclusion, this paper underscores that translocality is integral to understanding the transformation of agency in internationally mobile change-makers. It goes beyond mere physical mobility, encompassing open-ended processes of exchange and interrelation. These processes shape, and are shaped by, individuals in their pursuit of societal change. By analysing how participants utilise their translocal relations to navigate and overcome contextual challenges, this study reveals the profound impact of these translocal dynamics on enhancing agency, offering new insights into the role of international exchanges in empowering individuals to effect societal change in their communities and beyond.

Authors

• Zhe Wang, University of Oxford

• Maia Chankseliani, University of Oxford