Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
by Thomas Friedman (2005). This strong view of globalization sees the
growing homogeneity of global culture and the rising substitutability of loca-
tions in the undifferentiated sameness of global economic space. The global
has become a surface of sameness, while it is the local that contains some
residual differentiation (Appadurai 1996; Abu-Lughod 1999: 417-8).
In contrast to this line of thinking, my interpretation will emphasize the
continuing importance of geography in transnational migration in several
important respects. First, the social field stretching from East Asia to
Canada is not a uniform surface of sameness but acutely differentiated.
Indeed geographical variation becomes a significant problem for immi-
grants to address.
Contra
Lefebvre's space 'of growing homogeneity', dis-
tinctive political regimes, varying economic regulation and diverse cultural
traditions among national jurisdictions create challenging spatial differen-
tiation. Moreover the separate Canadian and East Asian staging posts in the
social field offer variable attractions at distinct stages in the life cycle encour-
aging the circulation of households at well-defined status passages, includ-
ing the phase of career development, the period of children's education, and
the time of approaching retirement. The characteristics of the two shores of
the social field also impact family members in separate ways, for while men
tend to follow a gravitational pull back to Asia, women prefer the opportu-
nities available in Canada, and young adults may differentiate the field
according to the gradient of fast and slow, often preferring the buzz of Hong
Kong to the 'laid back' character of Vancouver. While the social field is uni-
fied by movement and purpose, it is a unity of dissimilar parts, expressed in
a slogan circulating among the Chinese-Canadian population of Vancouver
in the 1990s, 'Hong Kong for making money, Canada for quality of life'.
Second, time-space compression has not exhausted the role of distance
even for the typically well-heeled migrants we shall be meeting. If distance
measured in time or cost is less of a barrier than it once was, there are new
metrics where separation exerts significant costs. The transnational family is
often the fragmented family, with members dispersed on opposite sides of
the Pacific Ocean. In its purest form, the astronaut family
8
includes a hus-
band and father working in East Asia while his wife and children are living
in Vancouver, Toronto, San Francisco or Sydney. Visits occur, two to four
times a year for a few weeks on each visit, but the abiding relationship is
long-distance. The emotional distance of separation becomes a major bone
of contention, and often triggers a crisis point in family life. Women are left
as single parents in an unfamiliar environment, children are freed from
patriarchal direction, and men face the loneliness and temptations of isola-
tion in East Asia. The meaning of distance moves to a new register, and one
that is vital for family well-being.
Third, place matters as migrants embody the cultural traits of their
regions of origin in moving across the social field. Regional or national
