8 Belonging through Romantic Relationships
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Helena Hof
Abstract
Chapter 8 foregrounds how intimacy and romantic relationships, or the lack thereof, and (im)mobility are intertwined, and present another factor shaping migratory ‘work-life pathways’. This chapter reveals how perspectives and rationales change over time and teases out how intimate relationships provide the stability and security to anchor migrants in the long term. It demonstrates that the EU Generation gradually experience emplacement and develop ties to communities in and segments of their migrant receiving societies in the Asian global cities Singapore and Tokyo. That said, mobility has become an underlying thread of the life trajectories of these middle-class migrants. While the migrants might feel at home, they seldom rule out the possibility of leaving again. Mobility and roots, and thus the possibility of having a home abroad without settling down, do not contradict. Further mobility or staying decisions increasingly depend on romantic partners and the possibility of both partners legally residing and working in the host country.
Abstract
Chapter 8 foregrounds how intimacy and romantic relationships, or the lack thereof, and (im)mobility are intertwined, and present another factor shaping migratory ‘work-life pathways’. This chapter reveals how perspectives and rationales change over time and teases out how intimate relationships provide the stability and security to anchor migrants in the long term. It demonstrates that the EU Generation gradually experience emplacement and develop ties to communities in and segments of their migrant receiving societies in the Asian global cities Singapore and Tokyo. That said, mobility has become an underlying thread of the life trajectories of these middle-class migrants. While the migrants might feel at home, they seldom rule out the possibility of leaving again. Mobility and roots, and thus the possibility of having a home abroad without settling down, do not contradict. Further mobility or staying decisions increasingly depend on romantic partners and the possibility of both partners legally residing and working in the host country.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- Series Preface vi
- List of Figures and Tables vii
- List of Abbreviations viii
- Glossary ix
- Notes on the Author xi
- Acknowledgements xii
- Introduction 1
-
Spatial Mobility to Asia: Moving Ahead by Moving Out
- The EU Generation and Their Migration Motivations 23
- Destination Singapore: The Dream of a Cosmopolis 51
- Global City Tokyo: Japan’s Diversification from Within 66
-
Organisational and Career Mobility: Seizing Security, Success and Self-Realisation
- Singapore: Professionalising the Self 85
- Tokyo: (Dis)Embedding in the Japanese Labour Market 103
- Career Trajectories through an Intersectional Lens 121
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(Im)Mobility through Differentiated Embedding: The Ties That Bind
- Immobility and Emplacement: Making the City Home 147
- Belonging through Romantic Relationships 167
- Conclusion 186
- Positionality: Researching Migrants as a Migrant 198
- Demographic Profiles of Interlocutors 203
- References 212
- Index 242
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- Series Preface vi
- List of Figures and Tables vii
- List of Abbreviations viii
- Glossary ix
- Notes on the Author xi
- Acknowledgements xii
- Introduction 1
-
Spatial Mobility to Asia: Moving Ahead by Moving Out
- The EU Generation and Their Migration Motivations 23
- Destination Singapore: The Dream of a Cosmopolis 51
- Global City Tokyo: Japan’s Diversification from Within 66
-
Organisational and Career Mobility: Seizing Security, Success and Self-Realisation
- Singapore: Professionalising the Self 85
- Tokyo: (Dis)Embedding in the Japanese Labour Market 103
- Career Trajectories through an Intersectional Lens 121
-
(Im)Mobility through Differentiated Embedding: The Ties That Bind
- Immobility and Emplacement: Making the City Home 147
- Belonging through Romantic Relationships 167
- Conclusion 186
- Positionality: Researching Migrants as a Migrant 198
- Demographic Profiles of Interlocutors 203
- References 212
- Index 242
