European, Ethnic and Expatriate: A Longitudinal Comparison of German and British Social Networking and Associational Formations in Modern-day Asia

亚洲虽然近年来出现了很大程度的移民外流，但自17世纪以来一直接收欧洲移民的份额，鉴于该区域过去20年的经济增长，他们的人数继续增加。对于这些被迫进入陌生文化环境的移民来说，种族关联主义和社交网络是他们对新家生活最常见的反应。通过使用这种正式和非正式的社交策略，他们正在建立一个长期存在的传统，这个传统长期以来一直是迁徙链的一部分。然而，尽管历史悠久，但远东移民之间的种族协会和网络的持久性几乎没有受到关注，特别是在涉及到新一代侨民时。因此，这项研究将首次在更广泛的历史背景下，对当今亚洲的外籍人士社交网络和交往形式提供持续的解读。通过超越对亚洲前大英帝国英语文化的传统关注，该项目将比较来自不列颠群岛和德国的移民的当代移民社区生活。这种对比带来了更好地理解这两个群体的前景，有助于审查语言和跨文化差异在外籍人士社交网络中的作用。该项目将集中于不同的种族和文化组织如何引导两个社区的社交网络，包括民族协会，如圣安德鲁协会和德国俱乐部，也包括文化组织，如歌德学院或英国文化协会，以及外交使团，承认他们的准种族协会角色。基于对一些亚洲案例研究地点的活动的分析，即孟买(印度)、曼谷(泰国)、吉隆坡(马来西亚)、新加坡(新加坡共和国)、香港(中国特别行政区)、上海和北京(中国)以及东京(日本)，该项目将收集不同类型的数据，包括协会活动和成员数据，以揭示外籍人士的社交网络过程。在研究地点对外籍人士的采访将成为研究的内在组成部分。拟议中的项目的总体目标是揭示外籍人士的社交网络可以告诉我们关于当今亚洲移民生活和身份的哪些信息，并阐明族裔在移民社区持续重要性背后的原因。一大批学者和非学者将从这项研究中受益，这项研究为外籍人士社区生活、网络和族裔的跨国研究提供了一种塑造知识的新方法。核心专著和文章将对知识作出重大贡献，并使历史学(如社会史和迁移史)和社会科学(如人文地理学、人类学和政治学)的学者感兴趣。项目结束会议将汇集来自本项目覆盖范围更广的地区的演讲者，寻求在拟议项目的生命周期之后促进新的研究网络。知识交流和用户参与是该项目的内在组成部分。一些公共活动将大大扩展到学院以外的地方。在整个项目过程中收集的数据，其中一些将在网上展览中展示，并将伴随着量身定做的社区活动，直接让用户参与研究，使外籍人士社区和接受调查的组织能够访问这些数据。影响战略将确保用户、利益攸关方和政策制定者在研究进展时参与进来。

Asia, while having seen a substantial degree of outmigration in recent years, has consistently received its share of European arrivals since the seventeenth century, and, given the region's economic growth over the last two decades, continues to witness an increase in their number. For these migrants, thrust into an alien cultural environment, ethnic associationalism and social networking are among the most common responses to life in the new home. By utilising such formal and informal strategies of sociability, they are building on an enduring tradition that has long since been part of the migratory chain. Yet despite its long history, the persistence of ethnic associations and networks among migrants in the Far East has received little attention, particularly when it comes to the new generation of expatriates. This research, therefore, will offer the first sustained reading of present-day expatriate social networks and associational forms in Asia within the wider context of their historical antecedents. By moving beyond the traditional focus on Anglophone cultures in the former British Empire in Asia, this project will compare contemporary migrant community life of migrants from the British Isles and Germany. This comparison throws up the prospect of better understanding both groups, facilitating scrutiny of the role of language and intercultural differences in expatriate social networking. The project will concentrate on how social networks in the two communities are channelled by different ethnic and cultural organisations, including ethnic societies, such as St Andrew's societies and German clubs, but also cultural organisations like the Goethe Institute or the British Council, and diplomatic missions, recognising their quasi-ethnic associational roles. Informal sociability, for instance through hashing, will also be explored.Based on an analysis of activities in a select number of Asian case study locations, namely Mumbai (India), Bangkok (Thailand), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Singapore (Republic of Singapore), Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China), Shanghai and Beijing (People's Republic of China), and Tokyo (Japan), the project will collect diverse types of data, including data on association activities and membership, to shed light on expatriate social networking processes. Interviews with expatriates in the sites of study will form an intrinsic part of the research. The proposed project's overall aim is to unravel what expatriate social networks can tell us about present-day migrant life and identity in Asia, and shed light on the reasons behind the continued importance of ethnicity in migrant communities. A wide group of academics and non-academics will benefit from the research, which offers a knowledge-shaping new approach to the transnational study of expatriate community life, networking and ethnicity. The core monograph and articles will make a major contribution to knowledge and be of interest to scholars in history (e.g. social history and migration history) and social sciences (e.g. human geography; anthropology; and political sciences). The end-of-project conference will bring together presenters from a wider geographical range than this project covers, seeking to facilitate new research networks beyond the proposed project's lifetime. Knowledge exchange and user engagement is an intrinsic part of this project. Several public events will extend considerably beyond the academy. The data gathered throughout the project, some of which will be showcased in an exhibition online, will be accompanied by tailored community activities to directly engage users with the research, making it accessible to expatriate communities and the organisations under investigation. Impact strategies will ensure involvement of users, stakeholders and policy makers as the research progresses.