The Last Half Century of Chinese Overseas

Book excerpt: The papers collected in this anthology look at Chinese overseas, residing in five continents in the half century after the Second World War, from many new perspectives. Some papers raise questions about the Chinese diaspora in broad conceptual terms, and inquire into the meaning of being Chinese outside China. Other papers examine life in local communities, analysing how historical and contemporary circumstances affect their lives and the ways they negotiate their identity in the host country. In-depth case studies further bring out the complexity of the subject by identifying the range of variables, including the social, economic, political and cultural characteristics of the places of origin and destinations, as well as emigration and immigration policies, which affect the patterns of migration and the nature of settlement in any place at any time. This is especially highlighted in chapters using a comparative approach. With scholars from different disciplines, using different types of data, methodologies and theoretical tools, the richness of the subject matter becomes apparent. This volume will no doubt go a long way both to broaden and deepen our understanding of the Chinese overseas, and, by showing the many possibilities for further investigation, to strengthen Chinese overseas as a field of study.