Transnationalism unstuck: Precarious work and the transnational geographies of failed migration of Bangladeshi migrant workers in Singapore. (3rd September 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Yea, Sallie
• Is Part Of: Global networks. Volume 22:Number 2(2022)
• Page Start: 259
• Page End: 273
• Publication Date: 2021-09-03
• Subjects: Bangladesh -- failed migration -- masculinity -- Singapore -- transnational social fields; Internationalism -- Periodicals; Globalization -- Periodicals; 303.482
• DOI: 10.1111/glob.12343
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1470-2266

Abstract

Abstract: This paper explores the ways exploitative labour migration arrangements leading to 'failed migration' can extend discussions of transnationalism. Specifically, failed migration produces different sorts of engagements in transnational social fields to those commonly discussed in the literature and in relation to migrants who are considered successful. These departures allow for reflection on key assumptions about the practices of connection and engagement across borders between migrants and non‐migrants that typify the operation of transnational social fields, including the ways constructions of gender shape these practices. The paper draws on a case study of Bangladeshi low‐waged, transient migrant workers in Singapore. I examine three registers of diluted connection, namely: protecting the family from anxiety; distress for migrants through imposition of censure and suspicion; and the shame associated with exploitation. Moral–cultural frames that inscribe particular economic and social expectations on migrants and, in this case, values associated with 'being a man' transferred from home provide a lens through which to understand the reconfiguration of transnational social fields in the context of failed migration.