Meeting on the margins: Cantonese ‘old‐timers’ and Fujianese ‘newcomers’

Abstract

Abstract Britain's Chinese population is typically portrayed as a homogeneous ethnic group, both in the media and by wider society. However, investigations into how Liverpool's well‐established Cantonese community perceives and reacts to more recent Fujianese arrivals demonstrate that the concept of sub‐ethnic difference is an important one. Rather than integrating into the established Cantonese community, the Fujianese tend to live in social isolation and have become part of a wider multi‐ethnic pool of cheap manual labour. The establishment, development and consolidation of a Cantonese‐dominated Chinese community in Liverpool has created extensive Cantonese social networks which the Fujianese find impenetrable. This situation is compounded by the Fujianese migrants' own poorly endowed social networks, the increasing commercialisation of Fujianese irregular migration to Britain and intervention by the Immigration Service, which combine to lead new Fujianese immigrants into exploitation. The geographical mobility of the Fujianese in Britain also inhibits the formation of close ties with settled Cantonese communities. The result is that the two groups have two different geographies: the Cantonese are stable and settled, whilst the Fujianese remain itinerant and marginalised. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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