Invitation: Public Lecture by Prof. Pauline Leonard (18 May): White Migrants’ Navigations of the Chinese State
INVITATION FOR PUBLIC LECTURE
=93Because I am a Foreigner=94: White Migrants=92 Navigations of the Chines= e State Prof. Pauline Leonard (University of Southampton)
Date and Time: 18 May, 6 pm Venue: Zoom Registration Link: https://uva-live.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAqduChpjIiEt= Gkp8nIzgFAp9BCmctLQ1hH
While numbers of international migrants in China have risen dramatically si= nce the 1970s due to changes in immigration policies, the experiences of mi= grants remain a complex mix of welcome, misunderstandings and hostility. Ma= ny migrants, not least those from the West, come to China with little cultu= ral awareness of China=92s distinctive political and social history and soc= iety. The settlement process involves attempts to navigate and understand t= he dynamics of both the state=92s and Chinese citizens=92 attitudes towards= =91foreigners=92 and establish a =91viable=92 subjectivity for both themse= lves and others. Based on research conducted with English language teachers= in Xiamen, this presentation explores the various ways by which white West= ern migrants articulate the Chinese state and their subjective positions in= relation to it and its peoples. It deploys the concept of =91double voicin= g=92: by which speakers bring together their own voices with that of an ima= gined =91other=92, to reveal a heightened awareness of the contested and co= ntradictory discourses of =91foreignness=92 and =91whiteness=92 by which th= ey are governed. While the diversity and instability of all white migrants= =92 relationships to power and security in this context is demonstrated, so= cial structural factors endure to mitigate risks of precarity.
Pauline Leonard is Professor of Sociology, Director of the Web Science Inst= itute and Director of the Work Futures Research Centre at the University of= Southampton. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and of the = Royal Society of Arts. Pauline=92s principle research interests are in div= ersity and the changing nature of work. She has published widely on gender = and organizations, race and professional migration, age, employability, tec= hnology and careers. Some recent examples are: Conway, D., & Leonard, P. (2= 014). Migration, space and transnational identities: The British in South A= frica. (Migration, Diasporas and Citizenship). Palgrave = Macmillan; Leonard, P. (Ed.), & Lehmann, A. (2019). Destination China: Immi= gration to China in the post reform era. Palgrave Macmil= lan. This event is sponsored by the ERC-funded ChinaWhite research project (www.= china-white.org). It is free and open to the public, but re= gistration is required.
