Asian Diasporas: Cultures, Indentity, Representation

Introduction: The Culture of Asian Diasporas: Integrating/Interrogating (Im)migration, Habitus, Textuality

Introduction The Culture of Asian Diasporas: Integrating/Interrogating (Im)migration, Habitus, Textuality Robbie B. H. Goh The clai m tha t Asia n diaspora s ar e cultura l phenomen a woul d i n al l likelihood meet little or no objection — except, of course, for the problem of wha t precisel y i s mean t b y "culture" ? I n wha t way s ca n a n understanding o f cultura l influences , transformations , an d representations affec t th e stud y o f thos e majo r transnationa l huma n movements tha t ar e th e foc i o f diaspor a studies ? Wha t kind s o f relationships ca n b e posite d betwee n th e "hard " dat a o f migratio n statistics an d histories , housing an d employmen t analyse s o f migran t workers, and the like, on the one hand; and the "soft" dat a of literatur e written b y diaspori c writers , representation s o f rac e i n th e contex t o f immigration, th e psycholog y o r mentalit y o f diasporas , an d relate d material, on the other hand ? The present volume attempts to argue for the importance of a wider range o f cultural document s — "high" literary texts, popular writing s and publi c discourses , fil m an d medi a texts , architectur e an d spatia l design, th e variou s cultura l element s tha t shap e identit y politic s an d consciousnesses — i n th e analysi s o f diaspori c movements . As Chu h and Shimakaw a (2001 : 5 ) observe , "I n orde r t o understan d th e phenomenon o f globalization , i t i s necessary t o 'globalize 7 academi c practices by thinkin g acros s disciplinar y an d area l boundaries." Suc h 2฀Robbie ฀B.฀H.฀Goh฀ cultural documents play a crucial role in acknowledging the complexity of diasporic identities, particularly in the present age of "global citizens" who face, and represent, a multiplicity of competing allegiances, claims, rights, and duties (Holston and Appadurai 1999; Sassen 1999). Until very recently, diaspor a studie s arguabl y di d no t pa y sufficien t attentio n t o issues of global claims and rights, in part because these are often regarde d as th e privilege d domai n an d conditio n o f th e "corporat e an d medi a elites" o f globa l capitalis m (Sasse n 1999 : 100). In turn , i n th e popula r conception, immigratio n i s regarde d a s th e influ x o f lowl y qualifie d members of a workforce who, it is commonly assumed, will take on lowpaying jobs (if they are at all successful i n gaining employment), live in abject conditions, and contribut e to urban problems like crime and th e creation o f ghettoes . Thu s a recen t articl e o n "Wh o Gain s fro m Immigration?" i n The Economist, whic h consider s th e impac t o f immigration on Britain's economy: while acknowledging that immigrants to Britain are "both more and less skilled," the article in the main pursues the argument that immigrants "are generally prepared to work at lower wages" (Economist 2002: 56). Consequently, immigratio n add s suppl y pressures i n thos e les s desirabl e occupation s fo r whic h immigrant s compete an d lower s thos e wages ; the ne t resul t i s tha t "immigratio n makes business an d mos t people a bit better off, an d som e of the poo r poorer" (Economist 2002: 56). While this argument is hardly surprising in an article concerned with the economi c result s o f immigration , i t i s representative o f a typ e o f discourse an d consciousnes s whic h reifie s transnationa l huma n movement i n term s o f labo r an d wages ; social effects, wher e the y ar e considered at all, usually focus on ills such as the loss of "public safety " and "cultura l identity," an increase in crimes, and an overburdening of welfare systems and provisions in the receiving nations (Sung 2001:11). This reifyin g tendenc y...