published_or_final_version / SPACE / Master / Master of Arts

published_or_final_version / Journalism and Media Studies Centre / Master / Master of Journalism

許多學者討論了現代社會之非正規移民；然而，我們對這些移民的主體性知之甚少。世界體系的發展令國家邊界及公民身份政治有所改變，當今世界有超過五千萬非正規移民，理解其生活的志向和追索其現實有一定意義。香港大約有七千名非華裔非正規移民，其中估計75%來自南亞，此研究通過分析香港法外移民的案例，探索非正規移民之理想的建構與達成。儘管香港自從1841年成為英國殖民地後，與這個次大陸關係密切，此現象僅僅追溯到十年前，部分原因來自於後9-11歐美西方的嚴格移民政策之變化。 / 在香港這個單一民族的社會，貧困的非華裔移民鶴立雞群，收到社會和政治的不公正待遇，為什麼這些移民還要過來？這裡的故事並非人們對非正規移民所想像的人口販賣、恐怖手段和暴力，而是關於移民文化所導致的需要研究出口移民的必要性，以及尋找全球和都市身份的媒體影響，和失足移民假扮成功人士，以掩蓋他們未能實現離家時許下的諾言的羞恥。儘管他們知道被罪化人生的風險和危險，也許還有更重要的未來等待他們的失敗，為什麼南亞人選擇在社會邊緣以非法公民的身份生存，而且繼續複製在海外出人頭地的神話？此研究基於一年的深入訪問和超過三個月的參與觀察，觀察香港非法南亞人的人生軌跡，分析他們如何建構非法的夢想，實現了什麼志願，以及如何延續由始至終以渴望成功打造的幻覺。 / Many scholars have discussed irregular migration in contemporary societies; however, we know little of the subjectivities of these migrants. With considerable developments in the world system marking changes in the policing of national borders and politics of citizenship, it is of some significance to understand the processes that drive the motivations and trace the realities of over fifty million irregular migrants living in the world today. This research sheds light on the construction and realization of aspirations for irregular migration by examining cases of extralegal migrants in Hong Kong, where estimates suggest that 75 percent of the approximately 7,000 strong irregular non-Chinese migrant population comes from the South Asia. Despite Hong Kong’s close connections to the subcontinent since the city’s establishment as a British colony in 1841, this particular phenomenon dates back only ten years, stemming partially from strict changes in migration in the post-9/11 Euro-American West. / In a society that is as ethnically homogenous as Hong Kong where the poorer non-Chinese immigrants clearly stand out and are open to social and political injustice, why do these migrants still come? The stories heard here are not of trafficking, terror and violence as one might expect from cases of irregular migrants, but instead, of cultures of migration creating obligations to engage in out-migration, media influence encouraging the search for global and cosmopolitan identities, and false aspirations created by fallen migrants feigning successes to hide the shame of not meeting promises they had once left home to pursue. Despite knowing the risks and dangers involved in living criminalized lives, and perhaps more importantly, of the failures that await them, why do South Asians choose not only to live their own lives at the margins of society as extralegal citizens, but also continue to reproduce the perpetual myth of success in the promised foreign land? Based on a year of in-depth interviews and over three months of participant research, then, this research looks at the life courses of extralegal South Asians in Hong Kong to examine how their dreams of illegality are constructed, what realities are met, and how the mirage of success is perpetuated by maintaining the thirst that first induced it. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Murgai, Gaurav. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2013. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 124-132). / Abstracts also in Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / 摘要 (Abstract in Chinese) --- p.ii / Acknowledgements --- p.iii / Important Definitions and Glossary --- p.iv / Contents --- p.v / List of Figures --- p.vii / Chapter 1. --- Introduction --- p.1 / On Extralegality --- p.3 / Contribution of Study --- p.4 / Literature Review --- p.5 / Methodology --- p.13 / Sampling and Participant Observation --- p.14 / Collecting Data: Methods and Concerns --- p.16 / Ethical Concerns --- p.17 / Personal Statement --- p.18 / Thesis Organization --- p.20 / Chapter 2. --- Where Dreams are Made --- p.22 / Rites of Passage: Mobility and Responsibility --- p.24 / The Question of Money --- p.30 / Tradition, Development, and Instability --- p.35 / Conclusion --- p.41 / Chapter 3. --- The Places of Dreams --- p.43 / South Asian Migration --- p.44 / Cultures of Migration --- p.46 / Laws and Location --- p.48 / Global Awareness and New Media --- p.53 / Feigned Successes and Tempting Lies --- p.57 / Agents of Opportunities and Lies --- p.62 / Conclusion --- p.63 / Chapter 4. --- Below the Mark --- p.65 / The Meaning of “Making It“ --- p.66 / Remittances --- p.66 / Symbolic Prestige --- p.69 / Personal Goals --- p.70 / Success and Systems of Connection --- p.72 / Cultures of Migration --- p.72 / Meeting Points --- p.74 / Performing Friendships and Masculinities --- p.80 / Man, the Provider --- p.81 / Man, the Worker --- p.82 / Man, the Lover --- p.83 / Objective Reasoning and Subjective Truths --- p.85 / Conclusion --- p.86 / Chapter 5. --- Living at the Margins --- p.87 / Making People Il-/Extra-Legal --- p.88 / On Path for Extralegality in Hong Kong --- p.92 / Limiting Labour --- p.100 / Living at the Margins --- p.101 / Conclusion --- p.108 / Chapter 6. --- Hunting Mirages of Success --- p.110 / Bibliography --- p.124