Programme full

Friday 17 April 2015 15:15 - 16:45
PAPER SESSION 8
residential churn and environmental conditions. Understanding the different types of social interactions between
neighbours in superdiverse neighbourhoods may offer important insights into tolerance and cooperation at a local
level.
Missing Voices? Migrant and Refugee Community Organizations and Anti-poverty Action in Glasgow
Piacentini, T.
(University of Glasgow)
This article discusses the largely under-researched anti-poverty work of Migrant and Refugee Community
Organizations (MRCOs) in Glasgow.
The role of MRCOs as a source of social capital and critical coping and survival mechanism in exile has received
notable attention since the introduction of dispersal policy in 1999. The practices outlined in this article contribute to
this growing body of research by presenting examples of collective action developed from within migrant community
organizations. The discussion is contextualized by broader ideological and political debates on entitlement and
deservedness as they relate to migrants generally and asylum seekers specifically. Whilst offering tangible acts of
financial support, MRCO strategies are also driven by social, cultural and political objectives which challenge
structural constraints on self-determination. Varied in terms of risk and formality, their collective action is woven
through with discourses of solidarity, belonging, resistance and empowerment. The informal nature of much of this
work means that it is often missing from the broader picture of anti-poverty action and scholarship. The article
concludes with a number of recommendations that suggest ways forward for bringing this action to the attention of
academic researchers, practitioners and policy makers with an aim for developing better community-focused research.
Race, Ethnicity and Migration 2
W709, HAMISH WOOD BUILDING
DIASPORA, MIGRATION AND TRANSNATIONALISM SUB-STREAM: GENDER AND MIGRATION
Korean and Chinese Mothers in England: Motherhood, Gender and Employment
Lim, H-J.
(Bournemouth University)
This paper explores the lived experiences of first generation South Korean and Chinese mothers living in England. It
aims to shed light on similarities and differences between the two groups in their motherhood ideology, its impact on
their decisions towards childcare and employment, and gender relations within the family in a diasporic context. The
data is drawn from 18 life history interviews (10 Korean and eight Chinese). This is then analysed using seven
intersecting categories: motherhood and gender ideology; educational level; reasons for migration; the length of stay
in England; the general labour market conditions of England for ethnic minorities; economic circumstances of the
family; and the local communities in which they reside. The findings suggest that, while there appear to be stark
differences in their understanding of motherhood and employment between Korean and Chinese mothers, their
accounts concurrently indicate commonalities in terms of persistent gender inequality at home, founded on patriarchal
values. Out of seven interrelated categories, their motherhood and gender ideology obtained in their country of origin
seem to have had dominant influence in shaping these women's experiences, along with their settlement into
respective ethnic communities.
'It's in Their Culture': Colonial Framings of Domestic Abuse Perpetrated by Fijian Servicemen in the British
Armed Forces
Gray, H.
(London School of Economics and Political Science)
The presence of Foreign and Commonwealth personnel from the global South in the British armed forces continues to
be framed through recourse to the supposedly innate militaristic qualities which characterise the men of such 'martial
races'. Focusing on Fijian recruits, who make up the majority of Commonwealth personnel in the British military, this
paper discusses the ways in which such servicemen are commonly understood through the construction of Fijian
culture, and in particular Fijian masculinity, in homogenised and static terms.
This paper draws upon my qualitative research into domestic abuse in the British armed forces to bring to light and to
critique such conceptualisations of Fijian culture. I highlight in particular the problematic assumption that domestic
299 BSA Annual Conference 2015
Glasgow Caledonian University