Description
Book SynopsisDrawing on an extensive study with young individuals who migrated to Singapore and Tokyo in the 2010s, this book sheds light on the friendships, emotions, hopes and fears involved in establishing life as Europeans in Asia. It demonstrates how migration to Asian business centres has become a way of distinction and an alternative route of middle-class reproduction for young Europeans during that period. The perceived insecurities of life in the crisis-ridden EU result in these migrants’ onward migration or prolonged stays in Asia. Capturing the changing roles of Singapore and Japan as migration destinations, this pioneering work makes the case for EU citizens’ aspired lifestyles and professional employment that is no longer only attainable in Europe or the West.
Table of ContentsIntroduction PART I: Spatial Mobility to Asia: Moving Ahead by Moving Out 1. The EU Generation and Their Migration Motivations 2. Destination Singapore: The Dream of a Cosmopolis 3. Global City Tokyo: Japan’s Diversification from Within PART II: Organisational and Career Mobility: Seizing Security, Success and Self-Realisation 4. Singapore: Professionalising the Self 5. Tokyo: (Dis)Embedding in the Japanese Labour Market 6. Career Trajectories through an Intersectional Lens PART III: (Im)Mobility through Differentiated Embedding: The Ties That Bind 7. Immobility and Emplacement: Making the City Home 8. Belonging through Romantic Relationships Conclusion
