Pragmatic Transnationalism: Sri Lankan-British Retired Migrants’ Negotiations of Transnational Citizenship and (Un)Belonging

Abstract

Scholarly work on transnational migration has attended to migrants’ notions of (un)belonging to their settled country, where experiences of discrimination motivate migrants to foster stronger connections with the natal country as a form of reactive and protective transnationalism. Less attention, however, is given to the ways in which migrants negotiate simultaneous exclusions and inclusions in relation to their natal and settled countries. I examine this crucial intersection through the case of retired British citizens who are first-generation, highly skilled Sri Lankan ethnic minority migrants. The article reveals how the migrants’ racial identity in the predominantly White United Kingdom and their ethnic minority status within Sri Lanka undergird their transnational citizenship negotiations. The findings convey that the migrants adopt pragmatic forms of transnational practices and mobilities to maneuver the benefits and risks attached to their dual affiliations and align with their subjective notions of (un)belonging.

跨国移民的学术研究, 已经关注到移民对定居国的（不）归属感。移民被歧视的经历, 促使移民以反应性的、保护性的跨国主义形式, 与出生国建立更牢固的联系。然而, 移民如何权衡对出生国和定居国的排斥和包容, 我们却很少关注。通过第一代高技能斯里兰卡裔少数民族移民的退休英国公民的案例, 我们研究了即排斥又包容这种重要的交叉。本文揭示, 在以白人为主的英国, 移民的种族身份及其在斯里兰卡的少数民族地位, 如何支撑了移民的跨国公民身份权衡。调查结果表明, 移民采取了务实的跨国方法和流动性, 以掌控双重隶属关系带来的利益和风险, 并与移民自身的（不）归属感保持一致。

El trabajo académico relacionado con la migración transnacional se ha ocupado de las nociones de (des)pertenencia de los migrantes con el país de asentamiento, donde las experiencias de discriminación motivan a los migrantes a promover conexiones más fuertes con su país natal, como la forma de un transnacionalismo reactivo y protector. Pero se le concede menor atención a las maneras como los migrantes abocan exclusiones e inclusiones simultáneas relacionadas con sus países tanto de origen como de asentamiento. Examino esta crucial intersección a través del caso de los ciudadanos británicos retirados que son parte de una primera generación de la altamente calificada minoría étnica de Sri Lanka. El artículo pone de manifiesto el modo como la identidad racial de los migrantes del Reino Unido, predominantemente blanco, y su estatus de minoría étnica en Sri Lanka, respaldan sus negociaciones de ciudadanía transnacional. Los hallazgos logrados indican que los migrantes adoptan formas pragmáticas de prácticas y movilidades para lidiar con los beneficios y riesgos asociados con sus afiliaciones dobles, para alinearse con sus nociones subjetivas de (des)pertenencia.

Key Words:

• belonging
• citizenship
• ethnicity
• later-life
• race

关键词：:

• 归属
• 公民身份
• 族群
• 晚年
• 种族。

Palabras clave::

• ciudadanía
• etnicidad
• pertenencia
• raza
• la siguiente vida

Acknowledgments

I am very grateful to the research participants for frankly sharing their experiences and concerns with me. I thank the anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and suggestions. Special appreciation is extended to the Focus Section Guest Editor, Guo Chen, and journal editor Heejun Chang for their understanding and patience throughout the review process.

Notes

1 Because this article focuses on first-generation immigrants and their dual citizenship negotiations, I use the terms natal and settled countries instead of home and host countries.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Menusha De Silva

MENUSHA DE SILVA is a Lecturer in the Department of Geography at National University of Singapore, 1 Arts Link, #03-01 Block AS2, Singapore 117570. E-mail: [email protected]. Her research interests include transnational migration, aging, transnational citizenship, care, feminist methodologies, and feminist pedagogy.