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Abstract
Based on ethnographic fieldwork in Guangzhou and Lagos, this paper explores transnational trade activities and family strategies among Chinese/Nigerian interracial couples in the context of growing China/Africa trade relations and the recent tightening of China's immigration control. It examines how restrictive immigration policy at the state level and anti-black racism at the personal level impact romantic and marriage relations between undocumented Nigerian men and Chinese migrant women from less developed regions in China. I argue that the transnational business and family strategies envisioned and practiced by these couples reflect both the structural constraints in their incorporation into local Chinese society, and their active quest for economic prosperity and upward mobility in the global economy.
Acknowledgements
Research assistance from Kelechi Nwadike, Ekeji Christopher, Edum Chinedu Thomas, Aisha Kamulegeya, and Melissa Musonda is highly appreciated. Allen Xiao provided critical help for my research trip to Lagos. Rui Zhao helped me find literature on interracial marriages. An early draft of the paper was presented at the conference, “Mobility and Communities: Socio-Spatial Transformation in Chinese Cities,” held in Hong Kong Baptist University, November 29–30, 2013. I thank the conference participants for their critical feedback. Comments from two anonymous reviewers also greatly improved this paper.
Funding
This project is funded by the Hong Kong Research Grant Council [HKBU 245512].
Notes
1.hukou means household registration in English. It is one of the major means for the Chinese state to control the movement of people between urban and rural areas.
2. These Nigerian men are not related to the fifteen Chinese females in any particular ways. I took care not to interview both the husband and wife in order to avoid getting involved in their domestic disputes.
3. To protect their privacy, all personal names in this paper are pseudonyms.
4. In August 2008, the Guangzhou government, in its attempt to control undocumented foreign migrants in the region, announced that foreigners would be included in the “floating population” category and were subjected to the rules and regulations for its management (Ju 2008).
5.http://blog.foolsmountain.com/2009/10/21/lou-jing-racism-gone-wild/, last accessed August 12, 2014.