Chinese Singaporean Migrants: Transnational capital conversions

1. Chinese Singaporean Migrants: Transnational capital conversions Caroline Plüss Division of Sociology Nanyang Technological University

2. Aims of presentation • Introduce theoretical framework constructed to analyze why and how Chinese Singaporean transnational migrants, who lived in different places, constructed a transnational cultural habitus (TCH) • Give one example of how a migrant constructs a TCH within which she attempts to convert cultural into social capital in her transnational context

3. Transnational cultural habitus (TCH) construction • To attain cultural, social, or economic aims through migration, migrants need to take into account new cultural, social and economic characteristics in their new place of abode, and combine them with the characteristics they bring with them from their previous place(s) of residence • Processes of combining elements from different cultures located in different regions can be conceptualized as TCH construction • A TCH is a way of seeing and expressing things that incorporates cultural characteristics rooted in different geographical regions (Bourdieu, 1984; Kelly and Luis, 2006) • A TCH is constructed in the process of acquiring cultural capital (CC) in a transnational context • CC serves to signal cultural characteristics required to be recognized as a member of a social network • A TCH needs to include different forms of CC because transnational migrants need to enter/maintain different social networks with different cultural characteristics (given that the networks are located in different geographical regions)

4. Example of language: A migrant may constructs a TCH by learning a new language (CC) when seeking to enter new social networks in a new place of abode, and wishes to maintain social networks in previous place(s) of residence through maintaining the relevant language(s) (CC) • Signaling membership in social networks (through displaying CC) is done to access the social resources of the network (i.e. information). Such social capital may be converted into economic capital (i.e. gaining a salary) • Cultural, social and economic capital can be converted into one another (Bourdieu, 1986), and attempts of such conversions in transnational contexts are closely related to TCH construction

5. TCH construction through including positive and/or negative cultural capital (CC) • A TCH is constructed to be able to display positive and/or negative CC in relation to the different cultural characteristics of different social networks (in different regions): • Positive CC: Adopting elements from the culture of a social networks to increase social and/or economic resources • Negative CC: Differentiating oneself from the culture of a social network to further social and/or economic aims by drawing on resources enshrined in a different social networks with different cultural characteristics

6. Data • Qualitative in-depth interviews with: (a) Chinese Singaporeans who now live in Singapore after having resided (once, or several times) aboard (on-going), (b) Chinese Singaporeans who live abroad (Hong Kong, London, New York) • One example of how a Chinese Singaporean who grew up in Singapore, studied abroad (UK) and eventually settled in London constructed a TCH within which she attempted to convert cultural into social capital in her transnational context

7. A TCH with strong positive new CC (Ivy) • Ivy had a positive impression of the UK (arrived in prosperous area) and was keen to experience a different way of life • Marriage with English person, motherhood and a ‘half-English’ son made Ivy increase her commitment to British culture in her TCH construction. This led to conflict in relation to her commitment to Chinese Singaporean culture because she felt she now had to judge which one is the better way of life: • [After having family in Britain] I came back to [visit] Singapore, I form stronger opinions, like which one is a better way of life. In the past, I never had that opinion, I just observed. BeforeI

8. would just say ‘oh there we could do things this way, and here we could do things that way’, and I have no other opinion except to state the facts. • Increasing commitment to elements from British culture through constructing positive CC (saying ‘thank you’) became negative CC in relation to maintaining/increasing social capital in her Chinese Singaporean family: • People [in Singapore] don’t say ‘thank you’, which they should … [but my grand-mother] said: ‘in our culture, we shouldn’t say ”thank you” all the time, because ”thank you” is actually meant for people who’s relationships are not close enough…so they don’t assume that things will be done for them’. …

9. [Saying ‘thank you’ to a close relative] on [the] one hand, it’s polite, but on the other hand, you take something away from the relationship. This concept I thought about very long and hard… [When] I went to the British society, I start saying all these ‘thank you’ and [there] I think it’s quite a good idea everybody says ‘thank you’, and I think people [in Singapore] should start saying ‘thank you’, and I start to introduce that [to my family in Singapore], and [then] my grand-mother comes up with a surprise explanation that ‘in fact there was a reason why we don’t say “thank you”, which was why you were never taught it in the first place, it’s not like we forgot about it’.

10. Ivy resolves the conflict stemming from wishing to maintain positive CC in relation to family in the UK, and in Singapore, through alternating between different cultural elements in her TCH according to the cultural characteristics of the different social network in which she wishes to establish/maintain her insider position: • So now I come to a position where I know when to say ‘thank you’, where to say ‘thank you’, and where not to say ‘thank you’, rather than assuming that not saying ‘thank you’ is good, or not saying ‘thank you’ is bad

11. Conclusions • Ivy resolved the tensions stemming from holding two forms of cultural capital whose elements contradict one another by moving away from judging the validity of any one culture. She devises rationalizations stressing the respective merits of the different cultures • Settling in a new place and establishing strong membership in new social networks (forming a family) favored constructing new positive CC in TCH construction • Superior economic characteristics in a new place of residence may increase positive CC construction