‘The Moon Back Home is Brighter’?: Return Migration and the Cultural Politics of Belonging

Abstract

Focusing on return migration, this paper draws out the tensions between integration and transnationalism, flexibility and rootedness, and citizenship and nationalism. I argue that the recognition of transnationalism necessitates a conceptual re-examination of return migration. Substantively, the paper is based upon my research on the flow of skilled migration between Canada and the People's Republic of China (PRC). Since 1998, China has been the top source country of skilled immigrants to Canada. In recent years, however, a counter-current has emerged with the return movement of PRC immigrants back to China. I examine how the cultural politics of identity play out amongst PRC immigrants in Canada in light of this reverse migration. Drawing on focus groups and interviews, I suggest that not only the act of return, but its very discourse, has influenced the ways in which the politics of identity and belonging are evolving amongst PRC immigrants in Canada. Ultimately, hybridised forms of cultural identification become the norm for migrants whose homes are no longer tied to one place.

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