Chinese Singaporean Migrants: Transnational capital conversions

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Chinese Singaporean Migrants Transnational
capital conversions

• Caroline Plüss
• Division of Sociology
• Nanyang Technological University

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Aims of presentation

• Introduce theoretical framework constructed to
  analyze why and how Chinese Singaporean
  transnational migrants, who lived in different
  places, constructed a transnational cultural
  habitus (TCH)
• Give one example of how a migrant constructs a
  TCH within which she attempts to convert cultural
  into social capital in her transnational context

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Transnational cultural habitus (TCH) construction

• To attain cultural, social, or economic aims
  through migration, migrants need to take into
  account new cultural, social and economic
  characteristics in their new place of abode, and
  combine them with the characteristics they bring
  with them from their previous place(s) of
  residence
• Processes of combining elements from different
  cultures located in different regions can be
  conceptualized as TCH construction
• A TCH is a way of seeing and expressing things
  that incorporates cultural characteristics rooted
  in different geographical regions (Bourdieu,
  1984 Kelly and Luis, 2006)
• A TCH is constructed in the process of acquiring
  cultural capital (CC) in a transnational context
• CC serves to signal cultural characteristics
  required to be recognized as a member of a social
  network
• A TCH needs to include different forms of CC
  because transnational migrants need to
  enter/maintain different social networks with
  different cultural characteristics (given that
  the networks are located in different
  geographical regions)

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• Example of language A migrant may constructs a
  TCH by learning a new language (CC) when seeking
  to enter new social networks in a new place of
  abode, and wishes to maintain social networks in
  previous place(s) of residence through
  maintaining the relevant language(s) (CC)
• Signaling membership in social networks (through
  displaying CC) is done to access the social
  resources of the network (i.e. information). Such
  social capital may be converted into economic
  capital (i.e. gaining a salary)
• Cultural, social and economic capital can be
  converted into one another (Bourdieu, 1986), and
  attempts of such conversions in transnational
  contexts are closely related to TCH construction

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TCH construction through including positive
and/or negative cultural capital (CC)

• A TCH is constructed to be able to display
  positive and/or negative CC in relation to the
  different cultural characteristics of different
  social networks (in different regions)
• Positive CC Adopting elements from the culture
  of a social networks to increase social and/or
  economic resources
• Negative CC Differentiating oneself from the
  culture of a social network to further social
  and/or economic aims by drawing on resources
  enshrined in a different social networks with
  different cultural characteristics

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Data

• Qualitative in-depth interviews with
• (a) Chinese Singaporeans who now live in
  Singapore after having resided (once, or several
  times) aboard (on-going),
• (b) Chinese Singaporeans who live abroad (Hong
  Kong, London, New York)
• One example of how a Chinese Singaporean who grew
  up in Singapore, studied abroad (UK) and
  eventually settled in London constructed a TCH
  within which she attempted to convert cultural
  into social capital in her transnational context

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A TCH with strong positive new CC (Ivy)

• Ivy had a positive impression of the UK (arrived
  in prosperous area) and was keen to experience a
  different way of life
• Marriage with English person, motherhood and a
  half-English son made Ivy increase her
  commitment to British culture in her TCH
  construction. This led to conflict in relation
  to her commitment to Chinese Singaporean culture
  because she felt she now had to judge which one
  is the better way of life
• After having family in Britain I came back to
  visit Singapore, I form stronger opinions, like
  which one is a better way of life. In the past, I
  never had that opinion, I just observed. Before I

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• would just say oh there we could do things this
  way, and here we could do things that way, and I
  have no other opinion except to state the facts.
• Increasing commitment to elements from British
  culture through constructing positive CC (saying
  thank you) became negative CC in relation to
  maintaining/increasing social capital in her
  Chinese Singaporean family
• People in Singapore dont say thank you,
  which they should but my grand-mother said
  in our culture, we shouldnt say thank you all
  the time, because thank you is actually meant
  for people whos relationships are not close
  enoughso they dont assume that things will be
  done for them.

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• Saying thank you to a close relative on
  the one hand, its polite, but on the other
  hand, you take something away from the
  relationship. This concept I thought about very
  long and hard When I went to the British
  society, I start saying all these thank you and
  there I think its quite a good idea everybody
  says thank you, and I think people in
  Singapore should start saying thank you, and I
  start to introduce that to my family in
  Singapore, and then my grand-mother comes up
  with a surprise explanation that in fact there
  was a reason why we dont say thank you, which
  was why you were never taught it in the first
  place, its not like we forgot about it.

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• Ivy resolves the conflict stemming from wishing
  to maintain positive CC in relation to family in
  the UK, and in Singapore, through alternating
  between different cultural elements in her TCH
  according to the cultural characteristics of the
  different social network in which she wishes to
  establish/maintain her insider position
• So now I come to a position where I know when to
  say thank you, where to say thank you, and
  where not to say thank you, rather than
  assuming that not saying thank you is good, or
  not saying thank you is bad

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Conclusions

• Ivy resolved the tensions stemming from holding
  two forms of cultural capital whose elements
  contradict one another by moving away from
  judging the validity of any one culture. She
  devises rationalizations stressing the respective
  merits of the different cultures
• Settling in a new place and establishing strong
  membership in new social networks (forming a
  family) favored constructing new positive CC in
  TCH construction
• Superior economic characteristics in a new place
  of residence may increase positive CC
  construction