China as a 'new frontier': Neo-liberal aspirations, imaginaries and (dis-) enchantments of Swiss migrant professionals in mainland China. Issue 1 (1st March 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Camenisch, Aldina
• Is Part Of: Transitions. Volume 3:Issue 1(2019)
• Page Start: 31
• Page End: 44
• Publication Date: 2019-03-01
• Subjects: Migrant labor -- Periodicals; Migrant labor -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; Foreign workers -- Social conditions -- Periodicals; Immigrant students -- Periodicals; 331.544
• DOI: 10.1386/tjtm.3.1.31_1
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2397-7140

Abstract

Mainland China has emerged as a migration destination for foreign professionals in the post-Mao era. This ethnographic article investigates the aspirations of one group among them – self-initiated Swiss migrant professionals – and the imaginative geographies of China that they develop and renegotiate throughout their journeys. The analysis reveals their aspirations and imaginaries signifying a quest to push limits for the sake of neo-liberal self-development. Swiss professionals encounter a China in transformation as a 'country of extremes' and approach it as a 'new frontier'. Rich in challenges and opportunities, it both enables and limits interviewees' projects for self-realization, further fuelling the strong sense of transience that permeates their migration trajectories.