This article seeks to fill in the gap in the existing literature on global migration,overseas Chinese,and Sino-Gulf relations by focussing on the experiences of second-generation Chinese expatriates in the UAE.Based o...This article seeks to fill in the gap in the existing literature on global migration,overseas Chinese,and Sino-Gulf relations by focussing on the experiences of second-generation Chinese expatriates in the UAE.Based on in-depth interviews with a group of teenagers and young adults who have spent their formative years in the UAE and their parents,this paper examines the educational aspirations and identity dilemmas among second-generation Chinese expatriates in a cosmopolitan setting with an Arab Muslim cultural root.It seeks to unravel the complex feelings of being simultaneously privileged and marginalised among these young adults.It shows that the broad political-economic forces powerfully shape the positionality of the centre and periphery.The discourse of‘becoming global’helps to anchor these young adults in a rapidly evolving world and cope with alienation and marginalisation.展开更多
文摘This article seeks to fill in the gap in the existing literature on global migration,overseas Chinese,and Sino-Gulf relations by focussing on the experiences of second-generation Chinese expatriates in the UAE.Based on in-depth interviews with a group of teenagers and young adults who have spent their formative years in the UAE and their parents,this paper examines the educational aspirations and identity dilemmas among second-generation Chinese expatriates in a cosmopolitan setting with an Arab Muslim cultural root.It seeks to unravel the complex feelings of being simultaneously privileged and marginalised among these young adults.It shows that the broad political-economic forces powerfully shape the positionality of the centre and periphery.The discourse of‘becoming global’helps to anchor these young adults in a rapidly evolving world and cope with alienation and marginalisation.
