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Migrants’ Descendants and New Mobilities between China and Spain
Author(s) -
Masdeu Torruella Irene
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
international migration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.681
H-Index - 64
eISSN - 1468-2435
pISSN - 0020-7985
DOI - 10.1111/imig.12619
Subject(s) - mobilities , china , social mobility , space (punctuation) , order (exchange) , economic geography , sociology , political science , demographic economics , gender studies , geography , social science , law , economics , linguistics , philosophy , finance
The economic rise of China and the financial crises in Spain have transformed transnational practices between the two countries and have boosted new strategies of mobility among Spanish of Chinese descent. This article examines the relationship that migrants’ descendants establish with their parents’ country of origin from their childhood, and analyses emerging new mobilities towards China undertaken by migrants’ descendants who have attained high degrees of formal education and are looking for a better professional future. The article argues that migrants’ descendants are reshaping the transnational space between the two countries and re‐evaluating their transnational training in order to apply their Spanish and Chinese socio‐cultural skills in their professional careers. The research reveals how migrants’ descendants undertake a migration journey to secure upward social mobility, just as their parents did when migrating to Europe. Hence, social and geographical mobility intersect in opposite directions over time and across generations.