TY - JOUR
T1 - Temporalities, materialities and connecting locales : migration and mobility in Asia-Pacific cities
AU - Robertson, Shanthi
AU - Ho, Elaine Lynn-Ee
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - In this introduction, we argue that paying attention to the heterogeneous and multi-directional characteristics of mobilities in the Asia-Pacific can generate new conceptual and empirical insights for research on migration and mobility, transnationalism, and intercultural encounters. We note that temporality and materiality are productive lenses for connecting research across diverse urban locales, and to understand the changes these locales experience as a result of emerging forms of mobility. We also draw out three key themes that emerge from the analyses presented by papers in this special issue, and which link the papers as a collection. First, the collection challenges conventional ways in which migrant and non-migrant subjects are classified and researched, by working within the conceptual space opened up by arguments against ‘migrant exceptionalism’, on the one hand, claims for the centrality of the ‘figure of the migrant’ on the other. Second, the papers implicitly or explicitly unpack the temporal, spatial and material consequences of migration and mobility in terms of how aspirations manifest materially and through affective encounters. Third, the collection as a whole signals the analytic power of connecting seemingly distinct sites and scales in and through which migration and mobility take place.
AB - In this introduction, we argue that paying attention to the heterogeneous and multi-directional characteristics of mobilities in the Asia-Pacific can generate new conceptual and empirical insights for research on migration and mobility, transnationalism, and intercultural encounters. We note that temporality and materiality are productive lenses for connecting research across diverse urban locales, and to understand the changes these locales experience as a result of emerging forms of mobility. We also draw out three key themes that emerge from the analyses presented by papers in this special issue, and which link the papers as a collection. First, the collection challenges conventional ways in which migrant and non-migrant subjects are classified and researched, by working within the conceptual space opened up by arguments against ‘migrant exceptionalism’, on the one hand, claims for the centrality of the ‘figure of the migrant’ on the other. Second, the papers implicitly or explicitly unpack the temporal, spatial and material consequences of migration and mobility in terms of how aspirations manifest materially and through affective encounters. Third, the collection as a whole signals the analytic power of connecting seemingly distinct sites and scales in and through which migration and mobility take place.
KW - Asia-Pacific
KW - cities
KW - migration, internal
UR - http://handle.westernsydney.edu.au:8081/1959.7/uws:40463
U2 - 10.1080/1369183X.2016.1205804
DO - 10.1080/1369183X.2016.1205804
M3 - Article
SN - 1369-183X
VL - 42
SP - 2263
EP - 2271
JO - Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies
JF - Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies
IS - 14
ER -