A Study of Transnational Communication Among Iranian Migrant Women in Australia

Through the analysis of 25 interviews with Iranian migrant women in Australia, this study shows how living in different communicative environments can affect transnational communication practices. The case of these Iranian transnational families indicates that the digital divide, in terms of information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure and communication capacity, may affect the technological quality of ICT-mediated communication. However, the digital divide does not significantly affect the frequency of communication among these families. The findings illustrate that the Iranian migrants in Australia and their family members overseas developed innovative communication practices and went to great lengths to maintain “ordinary” family interactions across national borders.     

Transnationalism,neo-liberalism,and the rise of the shadow state

This paper examines the processes through which a neo-liberal agenda is broadened and entrenched through time. The case study focuses on a federal immigration policy in Canada in the 1980s, which encouraged the rapid entry of wealthy entrepreneurs and investors from Hong Kong. One of the many impacts of the arrival of this Chinese business élite in British Columbia was the rapid growth of a key volunteer organization in Vancouver dedicated to social service provisioning for immigrants. With the donations and volunteerism of the new Chinese arrivals, this organization grew from a small, narrowly focused social service institution, to one of the largest and most extensive providers in the lower Mainland, supplying numerous goods and services formerly controlled primarily by the province and the federal government. As a result of the actions of this voluntary organization, a type of interstitial organization that some scholars have termed under the rubric, 'the shadow state', conservative politicians in the 1980s were able to roll back many welfare state programmes in British Columbia without a corresponding loss of legitimacy occurring from the immediate truncation of services. The Business Immigration Programme thus aided in the entrenchment of a neo-liberal agenda both through the increased circulation of capital and articulation with Asian networks, and also through the devolution of direct welfare-state governance. I argue that this immigration programme thus represents one good example of the multiple ways that seemingly simple policy shifts can have much broader effects, and can entrench neo-liberal policy socially,culturally and institutionally as well as economically.     

When parties go abroad: Explaining patterns of extraterritorial voting

As more countries grant political rights to their emigrants and more politicians look beyond national boundaries for support, scholars are beginning to explore the drivers and implications of voting from abroad. We use an original dataset of overseas campaigning by political parties in 108 elections in 24 countries to provide the first cross-national test of how party mobilization shapes turnout beyond national borders. Using fractional regression and inverse probability weighting with regression adjustment (IPWRA), we find that party mobilization increases extraterritorial voter turnout. Our results remain robust when controlling for emigrant profiles, institutional barriers to participation, and political context and correcting for self-selection bias.     

The Nomad at Home

SUMMARY

This essay addresses issues related to leaving and recreating a home from the perspective of different kinds of movements, transformations, and diasporic ways of living. Global restructurings in the wake of neoliberal economic developments provide the main background for a discussion of contemporary global upheavals and displacements, and the concomitant mix of old and new understandings of bordercrossing, multiple or hybrid identities, and neo/colonialism. The figure of the nomad is at the center of these discussions. The nomad is described as someone who carries home as an essential psychological belonging, and who can re-create home in diverse places, anywhere.     

Terrorists going transnational: rethinking the role of states in the case of AQIM and Boko Haram

This study moves beyond theories emphasising “state failure” as the cause for terrorist “spill-over”. The aim is to offer new theoretical and empirical considerations concerning the determinants of terrorist groups’ geographical strategies. The main argument this article presents is that transnationality for nationalistic terrorist organisations can be costly. This is the case due to the mobility, social and strategic costs of operating beyond controlled territories. Hence, the article proposes an interpretation of these decisions as being mainly generated by states’ counterterrorism strategies. Using data gathered from the GTD Dataset and secondary sources such as specialised reports and strategic documents, the article explores the argument by presenting observations and empirical findings on two groups, AQIM and Boko Haram.     

跨国主义视阈下北美一代半华人新移民发展探究

本文从跨国主义的理论框架出发,对北美一代半新移民的特点进行分析,指出其跨国发展中的优势与劣势,认为这一群体是跨国主义的典型践行者,本文提出应密切关注北美一代半新移民在移入国的活动,并为其回归祖国发展提供更加优质的环境。     

海外华商研究:人口、经济与跨国主义

以往学术界对于海外华商的研究多集中于东南亚华商,而较少关注20世纪70年代末从大陆出国,在海外从事义乌小商品等中国商品贸易的华商。从事义乌小商品等中国商品贸易的海外华商大多是20世纪80年代后出国的第一代新移民,受教育程度以初、高中居多,来源地较为广泛。他们因在跨国贸易链中所处的位置不同,经济实力差距非常大,内部出现了明显的分化趋向:他们既不乏实力雄厚的大批发商,也有很多从事零售生意。这些华商深深扎根于移居国及其他国家,但又维持着与中国的多重联系,持续的、经常性的跨界交往成为他们生存和发展的重要策略。