Description
Book SynopsisThis insightful volume explores the experiences of ethnic migrants returning to Hong Kong, Singapore, and Israel. Return migrants who were exposed to the western culture and society undergo personal transformations that significantly impact their views on values such as gender, individualism, democracy, tradition, and individual autonomy. To evaluate how well these individuals are able to reintegrate back into their native countries, the authors conducted a thorough comparative study between returnees in the three research sites through in-depth interviews, ethnographic fieldwork, and analyses of government policies.
Among the topics discussed:
- Family as a strategic middle ground between the individual and society
- The social psychology of coping and adaptation
- Public, outer historical, and macro forces that shape returnees’ experiences
- Comparisons and contrasts between two primarily Chinese societies, along with one racially and culturally different Western society
- Cost-and-benefit analyses of decision-making in migration
Return Migrants in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Israel is a compelling new perspective on the migrant experience drawn from in-depth research on returnees across three countries and a variety of circumstances.
Table of Contents Chapter 1
Introduction – Cost-and-Benefit Analysis: Decision-Making in Migration
1.1 Globalization, Public Policy and Assimilation of Return Migration
1.2 Public Policy Implications of International Migration for Global Governance
1.3 Migrant Transnationalism and Family-based Migration
1.4 Globalized Economic Space, Transnationalism and Translocality
1.5 Some Theoretical and Methodological Considerations
1.6 On a National Level and Public Policy
1.7 Migrant’s Coping Strategies as Responses to Policies
1.8 Ritual Process, Community Development and De-alienation in Chinese Diasporic Communities
1.9 Chinese Ritual Performance as De-alienation
1.10 Ethnic Chinese Community Development as De-alienation
1.11 Return Migration, Social Action and Public Policy
1.12 Analytic Procedure and Aims of Study
Chapter 2
The Hong Kong Study
2.1 Research Methods and Demographic Characteristics of Returnee Respondents in Hong Kong
2.2 Vignettes of Four Returnees
2.3 Factors Associated with Return Migration
2.4 Plight and Blight of the Mobile Migrants: Hidden Injuries of Global Mobility
2.5 Adjustment to Local Environment
2.6 Migrant Coping Strategies as Responses to Immigration Policies: Migrant’s Cost-and-Benefit Analysis
2.7 Suggestions to Other Returnees: Looking Beyond the Horizons of Costs and Benefits
2.8 What Will the Future Hold?
2.9 Some Reflections
2.10 Policy Recommendations to the Hong Kong Government
Chapter 3
The Singapore Study
3.1 Research Methods and Demographic Characteristics of Returnee Respondents in Singapore
3.2 Evolution of Government Policies and Programs: Cost-and-Benefit Calculation in Historical Perspective
3.3 Government Programs and Initiatives Targeted at Overseas Singaporeans: The Long Arm of Global Capital Accumulation
3.4 The Balance Sheet of Migrating
3.5 Reasons for Return —- Weighing the Costs and Benefits of Recouping a Socio-economic-financial Stake
3.6 Preparation for Return
3.7 Returnees’ Problems and Dilemmas
3.8 Returnees’ Personal and Collective Strategies for Coping as Responses to Government Policies
3.9 Will They Stay or Leave? Migration Decision-making within a Cost-and-Benefit Framework
3.10 Some reflections
3.11 Policy Recommendations to the Singaporean Government
Chapter 4
The Israel Study
4.1 Human Capital and Economic Growth in Israel: Successes and Dilemmas
4.2 Brain Drain and Cost-accounting of Human Capital Accumulation
4.3 What Causes the Israeli Brain Drain and Loss of Human Capital?
4.4 Factors Influencing Israelis’ Decision to Return
4.5 Brain Drain from Non-academic Sector: Two Stories
4.6 Development of Migration Policies—Costs and Benefits of Human Capital Growth
4.7 Dilemmas and Challenges of Current Migration Policies: Costs and Benefits of Global Innovative Knowledge Transfer
4.8 Evaluation of Migration Policies: Legitimatizing the “Unholy” Alliance of Brain Strain, Brain Gain and Brain Drain in the Migration Drama
4.9 Some Reflections
Chapter 5
Conclusion
5.1 Comparing Public Policies on Return Migration
5.2 Toward a Universal Policy on Return Migrants and their Re-integration
5.3 In Reflection: Thinking Back and Forth, Back and Forth
