PhD thesis final - Royal Holloway, University of London

Chapter7- ConclusionThis empirical study of Taiwanese expatriates also offers valuable insight to theliterature of middling transnationalism. This case study not only presented a distinctmigrant group‘s (skilled workers) experiences surrounding transnational practices, but italso argued that their everyday lives and transnationalism are often restrained andstructured by the power relations between the powerful transnational corporations andthe relatively powerless expatiate workers. Besides, I incorporated Taiwaneseexpatriates‘ reproductive and productive activities as well as their social lives into thediscussion of the everyday aspects of migrants‘ practices of belonging. In particular, myanalysis has revealed that workplace (in terms of the physical environment, materialityand employees‘ practices shaped by organisational and IT work cultures) is an importantspace for skilled expatriates to develop a sense of belonging. Being a group of migrantswith better mobility, Taiwanese expatriates often have a greater inclination toward thecosmopolitan lifestyle. Their experiences of public belonging are often thereforeconstituted through their experiences of accessing amenities provided in the global cityand practices of multiple identities. More importantly, by examining both male andfemale expatriates‘ practices of belonging, this research supplements themale-dominated migration experiences in the discourse of skilled migration byhighlighting female expatriates‘ economic and social roles that are just as important astheir roles in home-making practices (see, also Iredale 2001; Yeoh and Khoo 1998;Yeoh and Huang 1998; Yeoh and Willis 2005c).This empirical case of Taiwanese transnational migrants‘ everyday practices ofbelonging further adds to studies on the social and cultural aspects of overseas Chinesepeople‘s practices, to supplement the excessive emphasis the Chinese transnationalismliterature gives to their economic performance. My research drawing on Taiwanesemigrants in a country where they share similar cultural roots and ethnicity has provided255