Mapping Migration Scapes: The Infrastructure of Migration to and from China

Session Submission Type: Organized Panel Proposal Application

Abstract

Global migratory flows depend on a complex kaleidoscope of intertwined institutions, formal and informal, that are often insufficiently understood or studied. Concentrating on mapping this landscape as it relates to specific forms of migration to and from China, this panel will explore comparative insights by initiating a conversation between researchers on two Europe-China collaborative projects that look at migration in both directions in terms of the formal and informal “infrastructures” of migration. Presenters from the two projects—‘Immigrants in China’ and ‘Bright Futures’: A Comparative Study of Internally and Internationally Mobile Chinese Higher Education Students’—will comment on the papers presented by the other side, while also leaving plenty of time for discussion on the common and divergent features of these migration scapes. The panel investigates how the strategies of migrants are shaped by forces and agents that together constitute the infrastructure of migration, including professional agents, smuggling networks, translators, educational institutions, employers, religious organizations, lawyers, and the laws, regulations and bordering technologies of the state. Drawing on long-term and in-depth empirical research in various field settings in Europe and Asia, the panel will bring together scholars from anthropology, sociology, education, business studies, international politics and law.

Area of Study

• Interarea-Border Crossing-Diaspora

Session Organizers

• Ka Kin Cheuk, Leiden University

• Frank Pieke, Leiden University

Chair

• Magnus Marsden, University of Sussex

Individual Presentations

• Agents of Allah: Chinese Muslim Interpreters in Global Trade - Biao Xiang, University of Oxford

• Marriage Migration Infrastructure on the Sino-Vietnamese and Sino-Russian Borders - Elena Barabantseva, University of Manchester; Caroline Grillot, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology

• Comparative and International Perspectives on Recent Chinese Legislation on International Migration and Nationality - Björn Ahl, University of Cologne; Jasper Habicht, University of Cologne

• International Tracks have Different Gauges: Varying Approaches to Attracting and Integrating Chinese Students in the UK and Germany - Basak Bilecen, Bielefeld University

• Infrastructural Revolts: Novice Indian Traders in a Chinese Textile Market - Ka Kin Cheuk, Leiden University