published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Osnabrück, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [417]-439) and glossary.

published_or_final_version / Social Work and Social Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

The effect of social capital on labor market outcomes is a key concern in sociological studies. Even though there are extensive studies on this topic, with the worldwide expansion of higher education, insufficient scholarly efforts have so far been devoted to understanding access to social capital in the educational setting and labor market impact of social capital for well-educated individuals. Moreover, studies on social capital and migration tend to focus on the role played by social capital on migration decisions and outcomes, contingency impact of social capital on migrants' labor market outcomes are not well understood. To fill the knowledge gap, this research is to examine undergraduates' social capital accumulation and mobilization on campus, and the associated outcomes for their job seeking, with the particular focus on 1) the impact of macro institutions on migrant students' social capital accumulation and mobilization; 2) contingency impact of social capital on labor market outcomes. Combining primary data from in-depth interviews in Tianjin and secondary data collected in Nanjing, China, I examine the different processes of social capital accumulation and mobilization between local and migrant students on campus, and associated labor market outcomes between local and returned migrant students. Findings of this study suggest that university provides an important context for undergraduates to establish social ties and accumulate social capital. By attending higher education institutions, especially elite ones, students gain opportunities to build exclusive social connections on campus. However, opportunities to accumulate social capital on campus are highly structured between local and migrant students because of the household registration system. Moreover, data from in-depth interviews have demonstrated that migrant students suffer disadvantaged capacities to mobilize social capital compared to their local counterparts. The household registration system deprives migrant populations of access to some local employment opportunities, such as government and government-affiliated organizations, migrant students suffer from weaker job information and influence when mobilizing their social capital. Further, by analyzing survey data from Nanjing, it has verified the institutional contingency impact of social capital upon the household registration system between local and returned migrant students. Both total and university-based social capital increases local students' chance to get a desirable job but does not do so for returned migrant students. The central argument of the study is that institutional constraints, such as the household registration system, could lead to different capacities for the accessibility and mobilization of social capital among local students, migrant students, and returned migrant students, finally leading to differential labor market outcomes in Chinese cities.

published_or_final_version / abstract / Sociology / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences. / Department of Communication

I argue that there are three decisive elements in the Uyghur migrants' construction of their ethnicity, namely one theme, two discourses, and three binary relationships. One theme refers to the unity and stability of the Chinese nation, which is not only the aim of the goverment to promote national belonging, it also creates the category of "Xinjiang People". Two discourses refer to the state discourse and the discourse of the marginal Uyghur migrants. The former emphasizes the importance of national unity and the latter focuses on Uyghurs' interest. These discourses are the tactics of negotiation between the state and the Uyghur migrants. Three binary relationships refer to the relationships between the Uyghur migrants and the state, the Uyghur migrants and the Han, and the Uyghur migrants and the other Muslim groups. Among these, the relationship between the Uyghur migrants and the state is cucial, as it influences the other two relationships. / This thesis examines how the Uyghur migrants in Guangzhou construct their ethnicity. I deconstruct the voice behind the state discourse, and analyze three binary relationships between the Uyghur migrants and the state, between the Uyghur migrants and the Han, and between the Uyghur migrants and the other Muslim groups in the context of globalization. / 黄云. / Sumitted: "2008年10月" / Sumitted: "2008 nian 10 yue" / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-09, Section: A, page: . / Thesis (doctoral)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 236-244). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / School code: 1307. / Huang Yun.

Die folgende Dissertation beschäftigt sich mit dem Thema Stadtmigration in Astana (Kasachstan) und befasst sich mit der Forschungsfrage wie das Alltagsleben von Zugezogenen in der neuen Hauptstadt von Kasachstan aussieht. Mein Ziel war es, die verschiedenen Facetten des Alltagslebens und die daraus folgenden Herausforderungen zu untersuchen. Astana, seit 1997 die neue Hauptstadt von Kasachstan, wird oft das "Dubai Zentralasiens" genannt. Die kasachische Regierung wirbt für Astana als einen Grundpfeiler der neuen kasachischen nationalen Identität und als ein Symbol für das moderne, westliche, reiche neue Kasachstan. Die kasachischen Eliten feiern Astana als einen Triumph von Präsident Nazarbayev. Meine Forschung beruht darauf, dass ich vielfältige Selbsterzählungen von Kasachen sammelte, die nach Astana kamen um es zu "erobern". Damit leistet die Dissertation einen Beitrag zur urbanen Ethnographie in Zentralasien. Die Arbeit besteht aus fünf Hauptkapiteln. Kapitel eins umfasst die Einleitung und legt die theoretische und methodologische Grundlage der Arbeit fest. Der theoretische Ansatz von Setha Low „co-production of space“ (the social production and social construction of space) leitet die Forschungsfrage und der Begriff von Liminality (Turner 1967, Thomassen, 2014) wird als zentrales Grundkonzept die Analyse der Arbeit begleiten. Kapitel zwei beschreibt die Zugezogenen und definiert diese als priezzhie, die sich im Status von „in-between“ befinden. Kapitel drei beschreibt die Wohnsituation junger Zugezogener in Astana und Kapitel vier schildert das Single Leben von jungen Frauen. In den letzten Kapiteln geht es darum, welche Möglichkeiten und Chancen sich den Zugezogenen bieten, ihre Träume und Vorstellungen umzusetzen. Zusammenfassend lässt sich sagen, dass die Erfahrungen, welche Zugezogene in Astana machen, sehr gut als Beispiele für liminal personae und liminales Wohnen verstanden werden können. / The dissertation aims to answer the research question of what it means for various groups of individuals to live in Astana on a daily basis. As the new capital, Astana attracted a large number of internal migrants from various parts of Kazakhstan, who searched for better prospects and lives. Officially, the new capital is promoted by Kazakhstan’s government as “city of the future” and regards it as President Nazarbayev’s (1991-2019) most successful project. The dissertation offers an ethnographic contribution to urban experiences of migrants in Central Asia. The dissertation is divided into five main chapters. Chapter one offers an introduction to the theme and outlines major theoretical framework and the methodology on which the research is based. I apply the theory of the co-production of space (the social production and social construction of space) outlined by Setha Low to integrate the ‘spatial’ aspect as an integral part of my research. In addition, I employ the concept of liminality (Turner, 1967, Thomassen, 2014) as the central idea to analyze the stories of my informants. Within this framework, I argue that Astana’s unique urban space supports the emergence of liminal personae, liminal housing arrangements, lifestyles and career aspirations which are mutually connected and influence each other. Accordingly, the second chapter describes the newcomers who are defined as ‘priezzhie’ and occupy an in-between status. The third chapter looks at housing and focuses on renting in shared flats. The fourth chapter is about the dating experiences of young women. The last chapter is about achieving success and career aspirations of newcomers. In conclusion, I argue that liminality explains the temporary fixation of the ambiguous, conflicting, and unstable order which has emerged for many newcomers in Astana.

This thesis concerns a postpartum condition known as sobreparto among female Andean migrants in the lowland city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. While sobreparto is a traditionally Andean illness, its occurrence in the lowland city of Santa Cruz opens up new dimensions of analysis. In addition to exposing transformations of the traditional understandings of health, illness, and the body, the study of this phenomenon in an atypical setting sheds new light on issues such as migration, social networks, biomedicalisation, or gender patterns. By means of narratives of lives interrupted by sobreparto, it is possible to locate this condition within a wider frame of life trajectories, exposing motifs beyond the temporarily dysfunctional body. I argue that the narratives of sobreparto can be used as a springboard for a study of transformations in the understandings of motherhood and womanhood, migration and social networks, as well as emotions. Looking at these processes through the lens of a postpartum illness also reveals the connections between the ill body, the troubled mind, and imperfect social relationships. On the one hand, sobreparto can be analysed at the micro-level – in terms of an understanding of the body, individual reproductive histories, or the availability of other people's support. On the other hand, sobreparto constitutes a commentary on phenomena occurring at the macro-level, such as large-scale internal migration in Bolivia or the increasing domination of biomedicine as a model of health and illness. The city of Santa Cruz offers a unique setting for scrutinising these changes using a traditionally Andean postpartum illness as a point of departure. Being much more than a postpartum bodily dysfunction, sobreparto, therefore, can be used as a lens through which it is possible to see the interplay of social and political macro- and micro-processes in people's lives at the time of reproduction.