"Chinese Women inside and outside of the Chinese Diaspora’s Networks: New Forms of Economic Re-appropriation and Foundations of New Social Global Networks"

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Ingrid Kummels (Freie Universität Berlin)

This project focuses on the participation of Chinese migrant women in the economic circuits of the Chinese Diaspora settled in Mexico City. Through the analysis of points of contact within this Diaspora, ­ understood as a structured corps that links different networks (social, economic, political, but also global, transnational and local...), ­ we seek to understand the transformation of local and global dynamics through migration processes. Part of our analytical framework is based on the idea of “the construction of a transnational city”, defined as a series of urban spaces articulated through migration and the forms of communication and economic linkages that are created between different spaces.

Although the presence of the Diaspora is fundamental for our research, our intention is to find the migrant actors who seek to go beyond its system and expand their networks by building -in between the interstices of the pre-established networks- connections with the locals. Both in this sense, and by taking gender studies into account, our hypothesis is that Chinese feminine migrations today are greatly contributing to the new dynamics of global networks and their anchors in local spaces.

Migrant women have taken new directions beyond the traditional circuits of the Diaspora. By seeking innovative and empowering forms of social reproduction within local dynamics, they have created new ways of bonding between host societies and diasporic networks. We will hence try to understand these changes, depicting transformations in power and gender structures, social and economic opportunities and in the dynamics of the Diaspora, and the impacts that these changes have had on local spaces and on local economic dynamics.