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Daily Lives, Racial Struggles and Transnational Citizenship of Migrants and Descendants
Volume Editor:
The day after the epidemic broke out in Wuhan, Chinese people in France are already busy sending masks across borders and sharing media information; at the same time, a significant number of Chinese people are victims of racist attacks, insults and discrimination in France. Based on both quantitative and qualitative empirical data, this book reveals the new dynamics and interactions generated by the Covid-19 pandemic not only between different sub-groups of Chinese in France, but also between ethnic Chinese and their both countries: China and France. Mutual aid, local or transnational solidarity, inclusion initiatives, like any act of exclusion and hostility, invite you to question the essence of humanity in transnational settings, beyond the racialization of the Covid-19 virus.
Daily Lives, Racial Struggles and Transnational Citizenship of Migrants and Descendants
Volume Editor:
The day after the epidemic broke out in Wuhan, Chinese people in France are already busy sending masks across borders and sharing media information; at the same time, a significant number of Chinese people are victims of racist attacks, insults and discrimination in France. Based on both quantitative and qualitative empirical data, this book reveals the new dynamics and interactions generated by the Covid-19 pandemic not only between different sub-groups of Chinese in France, but also between ethnic Chinese and their both countries: China and France. Mutual aid, local or transnational solidarity, inclusion initiatives, like any act of exclusion and hostility, invite you to question the essence of humanity in transnational settings, beyond the racialization of the Covid-19 virus.
Abstract
This chapter studies the anti-Asian racism experienced by people of Chinese origin in France during the Covid-19 pandemic. In this chapter, using quantitative and qualitative data, authors first analyze the various types of justifications and expressions of anti-Asian racism—in other words, the experience with and reporting of attacks, discrimination, and stigmatization by different groups in the Chinese population in France. These heterogeneous reports reveal different degrees of awareness of racism and different understandings of “race.” They are organized into diversified narratives, ranging from the description of personal experiences to the inscription of these personal experiences in the evolution of French society and to the use of social science concepts and political rhetoric. Second, authors examine the forms of reaction, at the individual and group levels, by people of Chinese origin in France. The reactions range from distancing and avoidance to immediate personal responses to political engagement. Authors argue that the pandemic plays a role in the awareness raising and the fight against racism among the Chinese population in France. Through a case study, using the natural language processing (NLP) technique, authors examine the discursive evolution by the Association of Young Chinese in France (Association des Jeunes Chinois de France, AJCF), whose membership mainly consists of descendants of Chinese and Southeast Asian migrants. By analyzing the content of Facebook posts by the AJCF over an eleven-year period (2010–2021), authors show how the AJCF’s messaging about anti-Asian racism was designed and spread as well as the changes in how Chinese people in France think and speak about anti-Asian racism.
Abstract
This chapter studies the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on a range of food practices (home cooking and eating out) among Chinese people in France since 2020. The food behaviors of the Chinese population were reconfigured based on two different but overlapping rationales: avoiding infection with the virus and staying healthy in general. The desire to avoid infection led to changes in the food practices of Chinese people, such as bulk purchases and shopping for food online. Using food as a part of staying healthy is consistent with the principles of Chinese medicine, so among interviewees who were already users of Chinese medicine, this behavior thus represented some continuity. A clear difference emerged between first-generation Chinese migrants and descendants born in France with respect to home cooking and eating out. In general, Chinese migrants were more vigilant about their potential risk of infection at different stages of food preparation and were more capable of following dietary advice from China to support their health. During the pandemic, their ordinary food practices demonstrate the close links between the perception of risk, the representations of health and illness, and media consumption behaviors. This chapter shows that food norms are constantly appropriated and reappropriated by individuals with different social backgrounds. The respondents found various ways to adapt their diet during the pandemic, between continuity and change with their original eating habits. In this sense, this chapter illustrates how two interlaced rationales (preventing infection and staying healthy) are shaped and operate at the individual level. Moreover, the changes in their routines are strongly driven by digital tools, which play an increasing role in the democratization of new knowledge about food during the pandemic and easily connect customers and food providers. From the perspective of the providers, the pandemic led to a profound change in food markets, other than catering and restaurants. This trend was marked by accelerated digitization. Even before the pandemic, takeout meals were already popular in Asia, and some Chinese entrepreneurs in France had started to create online food ordering platforms. In this sense, in France, Chinese
Abstract
In the introduction, it is firstly recalled the social and historical context of the Covid-19 pandemic and explicated why authors chose to examine the pandemic through the perspective of the diaspora studies and in particular from the perspective of the Chinese diaspora in France. After a presentation of the specificities of the Chinese diaspora in France, the introduction draws up the key study question of the whole book: studying the differentiated experiences of the pandemic among the Chinese population in France, according to their migratory status (nonnaturalized migrants, French naturalized migrants and descendants of migrants) and other social relationships; placing these experiences in the context of what is happening in France, China and the rest of the world. As background, it is crucial to understand the different social construction of the Covid-19 pandemic in China and in France. Afterwards, the MigraChiCovid project’s genesis, mixed methodology and qualitative and quantitative data are introduced. The introduction is concluded with the presentation of the three sections and the brief summaries of the twelve book chapters.
Abstract
In this chapter, authors show that the Chinese diaspora in France was proactive in responding to the pandemic: their demonstrations of transnational solidarity by sending and donating PPE were accompanied by the spread of ideas and expert knowledge; and these actions helped the Chinese population in France, institutions and relatives in China, and the living country to fight against Covid-19 and to mitigate its effects. The demonstrations at the beginning of the pandemic observed in the fieldwork recall the classical definition of transnationalism in migration, which is much more oriented toward the home country. But in the second phase analyzed in this chapter, the solidarity was shown with the living society and was mostly carried out by diasporic elites and leaders. Finally, during the normalization of the pandemic in French society, the demonstrations of transnational solidarity by the Chinese diaspora exceeded ethnic boundaries. Hence the meaning of transnationalism gradual widened to include solidarity and transnational circulation not only between Chinese in China and Chinese in France but also between Chinese in France and non-Chinese in France. In this way, this study illustrates that demonstrations of solidarity contribute to the renewal of diaspora organizations and strengthening the sense of belonging and the capacity for action by the diaspora. From a theoretical perspective, transnational solidarity seems to have been renewed during the Covid-19 pandemic. Because of this unprecedented global health crisis, the collaboration and community across national borders, ethnicities, and professions accelerated and evolved. These transnational practices performed by the Chinese diaspora in France should not be analyzed exclusively from the perspective of the homeland-oriented approach (nationalism/patriotism) or solely through the lens of the living country–oriented approach (the integration of Chinese people into French society). Rather, it should be studied from the perspective of the responsibility of global citizenship at a time of a worldwide crisis, which goes beyond health nationalism. Finally, the many actors in Chinese networks
Abstract
This chapter explores business transitions among Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs in France (in five different commercial sectors: imports and exports, retail, catering, hotels, and tobacco) during the Covid-19 pandemic. After giving a historical overview of the development of ethnic Chinese businesses over the past century, the chapter examines the challenges that these entrepreneurs have faced during the pandemic, the strategies that they adopted in response to these challenges, and what enabled them to shift business patterns and commercial practices under these unprecedented circumstances. Before the pandemic, some Chinese entrepreneurs had already made the transition, in full or in part, to “integrating online and offline businesses,” “hiring beyond Chinese ethnic networks,” and “paying attention to the local policy directions,” which helped them greatly limit the negative impacts of the pandemic. The major findings in this chapter show that the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the transition in Chinese immigrant entrepreneurship in France, from offline operations to digital business. However, the pandemic might not be the direct cause of this business transition; rather, it created unique conditions that facilitated the transition. During the pandemic, two unprecedented business opportunities opened up that some Chinese entrepreneurs have proactively pursued since April–May 2020: “fostering local production” and “seeking low-risk sectors.” These might be new trends for Chinese entrepreneurs in France in the future. This chapter suggests that, from a theoretical perspective, business transitions among Chinese entrepreneurs in France need to be examined beyond the framework of pure economic rationality, taking into consideration the intersection of new dynamics in Chinese migration to living country and the cross-cultural, cross-institutional and cross-border social engagement of the entrepreneurs before, during, and after the pandemic.
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Abstract
This chapter reflects on supporting the health of migrants in the French context, in order to move from an approach focused on “cure” to one prioritizing “care.” In studying the professional practices of Chinese health workers in France during Covid-19, author distinguishes two types of treatment available. The first is what is observed in the French health-care system. Thanks to the medical professionals of Chinese origin who work as hospital practitioners, office-based physicians and therapists, more medical care has been adapted to the needs of the population of Chinese origin. The responses by these medical professionals during an unprecedented health-care crisis revealed the limits of the French health-care system, which does not sufficiently take into account the specific needs of foreign patients, particularly those who are vulnerable based on their language, culture, and socioeconomic status. Second, author examines the Chinese ethnic care networks, which developed on the margins of the French health-care system. For example, e-health monitoring (in Western medicine or Chinese medicine) in Chinese on WeChat was created by the Chinese health professionals living in France and Chinese-language webinars were held with the goal of spreading knowledge about Covid-19 among Chinese overseas. The two kinds of treatment were complementary for keeping migrants healthy during Covid-19. At this unprecedented moment in a health crisis, the response to Covid-19 opened up the possibilities for co-constructing intersectoral systems of action (particularly between medical professionals and social welfare actors) and of collaborating between the clinical Western medicine approach and the complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) approach, with regard to creating more equal access to health care, while questioning the long-term feasibility of these changes.
Abstract
By focusing on Chinese migrants and their descendants living in the Village Residence, located in a multiethnic neighborhood north of Paris, this chapter examines collective actions (distribution of masks and Chinese medicines, food delivery for people who are infected) by the Chinese residents to respond to the pandemic, marked by many kinds of inequality in terms of access to health care. Previous tensions between Chinese and non-Chinese residents that predated the pandemic (related to the danger of racist attacks on Chinese people and previous struggles against urban violence) were resurrected and exacerbated by the health crisis. During the pandemic, new security borders were erected around the Chinese population and against non-Chinese populations. The border of protection became ethnically defined and protected the Chinese among themselves. At this housing development, Covid-19 was widely perceived as a disease of the “others.” Chinese residents are both subject to this racialization of the disease and participants in the dynamic by redefining distances and borders with neighbors of non-Chinese origin, in the name of safety and protection from Covid-19. Through this example, authors show the two consequences of community safekeeping: on the one hand, in a health emergency, especially early in the pandemic, before medical solutions to the coronavirus were developed, by practicing testing, tracing, and isolation, the community provided its members with vital medical and paramedical resources and support networks; on the other hand, the community spirit led to the exclusion of those who were perceived as foreign and potentially threatening to that community.