Volume 11, 2002

Issue N. 2

Nicola Piper and Anders Uhlin

"Transnational Advocacy Networks, Female Labor Migration and Trafficking in East and Southeast Asia: A Gendered Analysis of Opportunities and Obstacles," Vol. 11 (2), p. 171-196, 2002
 

The aim of this article is to advance political economy and politics into migration studies by analyzing the role of transnational advocacy networks working on issues of trafficking and labor migration in East and Southeast Asia. Drawing on some empirical research, but mainly offering conceptual ideas, we demonstrate the importance of gender not only in trafficking and labor migration but also in transnational advocacy. First, we contextualize trafficking and labor migration within a gendered international political economy, focusing on existing power relations between genders, between classes and between states. Second, we examine the role of transnational advocacy networks in this context. In particular, we argue that a broader understanding of political opportunities and obstacles is needed. Emphasizing the transnational context and the importance of gender, we outline different types of opportunities and obstacles to advocacy in this particular area.

Dudley L. Poston, Jr.

"Human Capital, Cultural Capital and Economic Attainment Patterns of Asian-born Immigrants to the United States:  Multi-level Analyses," Vol. 11 (2), p. 197-220, 2002
 

This article analysed the economic attainment patterns of Asian-born male and female immigrants to the United States using hierarchical linear models (HLM). Specifically, it examined to what extent selected measures of human capital and cultural capital characteristics affect the levels of earnings of male and female Asian-born immigrants. The principal data source for this article came from the five percent file of individual census questionnaires from the Public Use Microdata Samples of the 1990 US Census of Population. In general, the results of the study conform to previous research, i.e., educational attainment at both the micro and macro levels was an important predictor of earnings achievement. As to cultural capital or country level variables, the analysis did not show evidence of statistically significant effects on earnings. The final section discusses the advantages of using the HLM approach as well as issues for further research.
 

Ernest Chui
"Housing and Welfare Services in Hong Kong for New Arrivals from China: Inclusion or Exclusion?," Vol. 11 (2), p. 221-246, 2002

Hong Kong presents a peculiar case of the strains involved in assimilating immigrants from Mainland China due to (1) its reunification with China in 1997 after 150 years of British colonial rule, and (2) the uneasy relationship between Chinese immigrants and the local host community, despite sharing the same ethnic background. A host of historical, socio-economic and political factors contribute to the exclusion of Mainlanders by the Chinese locals. There appears to be a convergence between local citizens and the state in labeling, stigmatizing and scapegoating the Mainland immigrants. Exclusionary social policies in housing, social security, employment and personal welfare have rendered Chinese immigrants to live in poverty and with little access to opportunity structures.

Rafiqul Islam Chowdhurry and Indu Menon

"Foreign Domestic Workers in Kuwait: Who Employs How Many? Nasra M. Shah, Makhdoom A. Shah," Vol. 11 (2), p. 247-270, 2002
 

The percentage of Kuwaiti households with at least one foreign domestic worker increased from 13 percent in 1977/79 to 87 percent in 1999. This paper describes the workers' characteristics, their workload and attributes of the households they live in. Predictors of the number of domestic workers employed by households are examined by using multinomial logistic regression. Households that employ at least one domestic worker have a larger number of children than those who employ none. Households that employ two (or three) domestic workers have more children and older people and are significantly richer (i.e., have higher income, larger homes etc.) than those who do not employ any.
 

BOOK REVIEW

Brenda S.A. Yeoh
 "Migration and Transnational Social Spaces By Ludger Pries," Vol. 11 (2), p. 271-273, 2002