The papers of this special issue come from a series of workshops on ‘Migration, Logistics and Unequal Citizens in Contemporary Global Context’, convened as part of a CHCI-Mellon Global Humanities Institute (GHI) in Taiwan, Malaysia, and Vietnam across 2021-2022. The GHI are multi-year projects devoted to a research theme, method, practice, or problem in the humanities that would benefit directly from a sustained international and collaborative approach with multiple disciplinary perspectives.
The rapid rise of international migrants in the twenty-first century has changed the meanings of identity and belonging for many people today. According to the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), the total number of international migrants amounted to 272 million in 2019, up from 173 million in 2000. Compared to 70 million international migrants in 1960, the figure has increased by 200 million. These international migrants live and work in different cities, as second or third-generation immigrants or as temporary contracted laborers, forced laborers, trafficked persons, voting banks, or asylum seekers. Whether assimilated, integrated, or as temporary guest workers, they face daily social exclusion and questions of ambiguous identitiy and integration: Do they belong to the place? Are they acknowledged as legitimate members of the communities? Are they being utilized for political purposes or as pure labour? Have they obtained equal citizenship, or is their citizenship status suspected or denied only because of a host regime's whim?
The contributors to this special issue deal with the question of identities erased, forged, invalidated, or regained in various politico-economic conditions. Md Reza Habib analyzes how the introduction of Rohingya refugees into Bangladesh creates conflict and unequal access to social resources both for the locals and the refugees. Ho Thanh Tam & Dinh Phuong Linh explain how the five waves of Kinh migration to the Central Highlands in the twentieth century have altered the region's population and landscape. Le Thi Mai presents the precarious condition of the migrant workers in Ho Chi Minh City's industrial parks during the COVID-19 pandemic. Andrea Del Bono shows us how Chinese migration to Proto (Italy) has transformed and constructed the ‘Creative District’ in the city. Stella Jang explains how migrant wives in South Korea suffer limited opportunities to influence or respond to the expectations of the Korean state and in-law families. Chris Campanioni offers cases showing how migrants and displaced persons use self-forgery and dissimilation in the service of mobility. Cecelia Cmielewski highlights how artists create a space of belonging through negotiation, conviviality, and interculturality.
Contents
Md Reza Habib The Rohingya in Bangladesh: refugee–host community conflicts in Cox’s Bazar
Ho Thanh Tam & Dinh Phuong Linh The migration waves of Kinh people to the Central Highlands in the twentieth century
Le Thi Mai Migrant Workers in the Ho Chi Minh City's Industrial Parks and Processing Export Zones under the impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic
Andrea Del Bono Analysing Chinese Migration to Prato (Italy) and the Construction of the ‘Creative District’ in the City
Stella Jang Multiculturalism in South Korea: putting migrant wives in their place
Chris Campanioni Documenting Disappearance: Self-Forgery and Dissimulation as a Means of Mobility
Cecelia Cmielewski Conviviality, creative expression and inter-culturality
Correction Statement
Please see Correction http://doi.org/10.1080/13504630.2023.2210921