DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Immigration and Citizenship in Hong Kong

Harvard University, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

In a world full of inequality, rapid transportation and communication, citizenship as a social status is a valuable resource in wealthier places. In the western world problems of citizenship tend to be colored by ethnic and nationality differences. This dissertation research by an anthropology student from Harvard University will study citizenship in Hong Kong, where migrants from the People's Republic of China have the same ethnicity and nationality, yet face serious problems of attaining citizenship. Using methods of ethnographic research, analysis of court cases, archival research with government documents, newspapers, participant observation, and interviews with government functionaries as well as long-time citizen residents, the student will study the lived experiences immigrants. The time-consuming bureaucratic delays and barriers to adaptation and integration, which have been exacerbated by the recent economic crisis in Asia, will be analyed as they have developed since colonial days. This research will contribute to general theory about entitlement and migration, will add to the PIs knowledge of this important region of the world, and will help train a young social scientist.