Multiple precarity and intimate family life among African-Chinese families in Guangzhou

Abstract

Formal ties between China and several African states have intensified in recent years. Alongside growing economic and trade cooperation, the international mobility of people between China and African states is increasing. Recent studies have shown that African migrants face institutional barriers to integration in Chinese society, however, and the personal and social consequences of these barriers remain under-researched, especially the dynamics of intimate family life. Drawing upon concepts of precarity and 'low-end globalisation', this study examines how African-Chinese families navigate everyday life, including work, family and children's education. It is based on ethnographic fieldwork comprising observations and indepth interviews with African-Chinese families and one community leader (n = 19). These reveal how families confront the pervasiveness of legal, economic and social precarization in multiple overlapping domains. These social forces have intergenerational repercussions, with adverse impacts on family life, interpersonal relationships and sense of belonging to the local community. Yet precarity offers conditions for practices of empowerment. We conclude with implications for migration studies.

African Migrants Plight in China: Afrophobia Impedes China’s Race for Africa’s Resources and Markets

“…As for petty traders, both Africans and Chinese mostly belonged to the lower class. They faced precarity, often due to their illegal status and reliance on dubious and informal networks, a situation that became even more pronounced amid the COVID-19 pandemic (Asiedu, 2020;Jordan et al, 2021).…”

“…However, the structuring forces of precarity, provoked by factors of global poverty and established by counter-acting national and local policies and institutions, generated also challenges and opportunities for mixed African-Chinese families of overlapping mobilities (Jordan et al, 2021). One example was the remarkable solidarity within African migrant networks in China concerning health care.…”

Le sort des migrants africains en Chine : L' afrophobie entrave la course de la Chine pour les ressources et les marchés de l'Afrique

“…Quant aux petits commerçants, les Africains et les Chinois appartenaient pour la plupart à la classe inférieure. Ils étaient confrontés à la précarité, souvent en raison de leur statut illégal et de leur dépendance à des réseaux douteux et informels, une situation qui s'est encore accentuée au milieu de la pandémie de COVID-19 (Asiedu, 2020;Jordan et al, 2021).…”

“…Cependant, les forces structurantes de la précarité, provoquées par des facteurs de pauvreté mondiale et établies par des politiques et institutions nationales et locales opposées, ont également généré des défis et des opportunités pour les familles mixtes afro-chinoises de mobilités superposées (Jordan et al, 2021). Un exemple est la solidarité remarquable au sein des réseaux de migrants africains en Chine concernant les soins de santé.…”

New theoretical dialogues on migration in China: introduction to the special issue

“…Even the landscapes of internal migration have been quickly and profoundly diversified. This special issue accounts for this increasing diversity by combining domestic and transnational migration and by partaking in issues as diverse as labour migrants (Qian and Florence 2020 this issue; Gao 2020, this issue), African traders (Carling and Haugen 2020, this issue;Jordan et al 2020, this issue), intellectual and highly-skilled migration (Li et al 2020, this issue), elite expatriates (Cai and Su 2020, this issue), forced migration due to development projects (Feng, Zhu, and Wang 2020, this issue) and lifestyle migration (Chen and Bao 2020, this issue).…”