Transnationalism, gender, and civic participation: Canadian case ...

Environment and Planning A 2006, volume 38, pages 1633 ^ 1651

DOI:10.1068/a37410

Transnationalism, gender, and civic participation: Canadian case studies of Hong Kong immigrantsÀ Valerie Preston

Department of Geography, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3, Canada; e-mail: [email protected]

Audrey Kobayashi

Department of Geography, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6, Canada; e-mail: [email protected]

Guida Man

School of Social Sciences, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3, Canada; e-mail: [email protected] Received 24 November 2004; in revised form 2 June 2005

Abstract. It is widely claimed that recent migration trends show increasing levels of transnational activity, but there is a need for a more detailed understanding of the relationship between transnationalism and citizenship participation, particularly from a gendered perspective. A study of immigrants from Hong Kong to Vancouver and Toronto, the largest group of immigrants to Canada in the period 1989 to 1997, shows that, although migration occurred in a context of anticipated political instability around reunification with the People's Republic of China, the most significant justification for emigration was to further the interests of the family, particularly children's education. Gender differences are subtle, but women tend to focus more strongly on family considerations, whereas men are somewhat more concerned with economic and political issues. Transnational activities focus around ties of family and friendship, rather than around political or economic ties. Women and men both seek formal rights of citizenship, and are beginning to express a desire for more participation in Canadian society. Contrary to theories of hypermobility among Hong Kong emigrants, transnationalism and citizenship participation are seen as a basis for settlement. Gendered approaches to transnationalism need to understand how the concept of citizenship, and citizenship participation, develops as a result of wider social relations that are structured differently for women and men.

Emigration to another country is no longer a one-way passage. Recent research recognizes the complexity of international migration, under the rapidly expanding rubric of transnationalism, not as a single event but as embarking upon a way of life that places, and re-places, individuals and families within a new spatiality, stretching human relations across great distances. In the process, transnational migrants disrupt many taken-for-granted notions about immigrant settlement, renegotiating identities and citizenship practices. Our research is part of a large and ongoing project designed to understand how the concept of citizenship has changed for one of the largest groups of transnational migrants, people who moved from Hong Kong to Canada during the 1980s and 1990s. Based on intense conversations among migrants in focus-group sessions, as well as on extensive background information derived from questionnaires, we have explored the disruptions and connections that occur both in the regularities of everyday life and in the ideas and assumptions according to which everyday life is enacted. In this paper, we explore the concept of civic participation, asking how patterns of participation have changed through the course of migration and how participation À When we discuss international migrants to Canada, where permanent residence is an expectation and the norm, Hong Kong migrants will be identified as Hong Kong immigrants, the contemporary usage in Canada.

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V Preston, A Kobayashi, G Man

differs for women and men as gender roles influence community involvement. We draw on an expansive definition of citizenship that extends beyond formal entitlement to a passport and nationality to full participation in the public life of communities. The exercise of citizenship rights, also known as citizenship practice, is revealed in large part through the nature and extent of civic participation, which refers to a variety of activities that range from public involvement in politics to informal activities such as volunteer work. For some migrants, civic participation begins within the migrant community through volunteer work and involvement in settlement services. Over time, newcomers are expected to participate more in formal politics. The changing nature of civic participation is thought to promote a sense of belonging and is itself an indication of the attachment that is fundamental to identification as a citizen (Bloemraad, 2000). But that notion can imply a male identity as public citizen and household representative. For women, citizenship is negotiated and partial, influenced not only by the political, social, cultural, and economic context but by immediate concerns of family (Stasiulis, 1997; Yuval-Davis, 1997). Our analysis compares civic participation in places of origin and settlement and the ways that various types of civic participation are related to women's and men's identities as citizens in the place of settlement. We seek a link between migration as a resituation of family and the establishment of a place in civic life in Canada, and suggest that the connection be understood in terms of normative gender identities within both family and the larger community. Contemporary international migration and citizenship Transnationalism is not new, but its forms have changed in response to changes in communications and transportation technology, an expanding international division of labor, new global forms of culture, and evolving international and national policies and practices regarding citizenship (Levitt, 2001a). As a result, transnational activities have intensified, as more migrants are able to maintain ties through greater involvement at places of origin and destination (Portes et al, 1999). Contemporary international migration is transforming citizenshipöboth citizenship practices and the identities associated with themöfor migrants and for the societies in which they settle (Faist, 1999; 2000; Foner, 2001). The transformation is initiated by migrants who possess allegiances, activities, and aspirations that cross national boundaries and it is mediated by social practices and by the engagement of social and political institutions in their places of origin and destination (Smith, 2001). Social, economic, political, and cultural forces operating at different spatial scales shape transnational practices and their implications for citizenship (Massey, 1999). We are also concerned with the recursive relationship between those shaping forces and the active agency of migrants who not only effect changes in the larger society but also renegotiate definitions of citizenship within the family or cultural group. In Canada this transformation involves a continuing challenge to our definition of a multicultural society that also encompasses diverse forms and definitions of citizenship (Castles, 2002; Stasiulis and Jhappan, 1995). Given that in Canada, as in many other countries, recent migrants are part of racialized minorities, immigration inevitably involves the experience of both institutional and everyday racism, a significant factor in civic participation (Abu-Laban and Gabriel, 2002; Henry, 1999; Li, 2003). Researchers are challenged to recognize recent patterns of transnationalism not only as an intensification of movement but as a contingent process, subject to specific cultural variants and subject to change depending on a range of factors such as access to work and social services, and the renegotiation of human relations ^ including

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intergenerational relations among migrant families and extended families, and relations between migrants and the larger society. Transnationalism also includes the incorporation of new or changed social practices and commodities that are mobilized within a complex web of human relations that includes both migrants and nonmigrants, and is ``multidimensional and multinhabited'' (Crang et al, 2003). As research on transnationalism has intensified in recent years, a more detailed picture is emerging of the significance of gender for contemporary migrants, but the link to citizenship is still rather weak. A growing literature (Itzigsohn and Saucedo, 2002; Mahler and Pessar, 2001; Pratt and Yeoh, 2003; Ryan, 2000; Waters, 2002; 2003; Willis and Yeoh, 2000; Yeoh and Willis, 2005) suggests that women and men differ in the ways in which they live transnational lives, and that they position themselves within transnational social fields in specific ways. Women who migrate alone leaving children in the care of other family members remit more money and for different purposes than do women who migrate as part of an intact household (Vertovec, 1999; Wong, 2003). Several US studies have examined women's transnational activities in depth öfor example, tracing the transnational ties of Salvadoran and Dominican women living in the United States (Levitt, 2001b; Mahler, 1999). There is considerable work on the impact of women's ties to their places of origin as a result of remittances, and only to a lesser extent on their citizenship practices and identities as American citizens in the United States, perhaps because many women are undocumented or hold temporary status (Goldring, 1998; Levitt and Glick Schiller, 2004). Fouron and Glick Schiller (2001) have also examined how women born in Haiti make claims on the Haitian state, which also views them as important members of an extraterritorial Haitian nation. In Europe, too, the focus has been on women from less-developed countries entering the low-waged end of the labor force and on the impacts of their migration on their places of origin (Kofman, 2004; Salih, 2001). Recent studies emphasize the place-dependent nature of transnational behaviors, particularly their dynamics within the household. Several studies have examined how family concerns influence men's and women's decisions to migrate, and acknowledge that gender affects efforts to maintain social identities and social ties in multiple places (Constable, 2003; Hondagneu-Sotelo and Avila, 1997; Kofman, 2004). Evaluating the emancipatory potential of transnational migration, researchers have explored changing gender relations within the household (Levitt, 2001b; Morrison et al, 1999; Pribilsky, 2004; Waters, 2002; Yeoh and Willis, 1999), social imaginings of gender relations (Chamberlain and Leydesdorff, 2004; Pessar and Mahler, 2003), and transnational motherhood (Hondagneu-Sotelo and Avila, 1997; Wong 2003). When researchers have paid attention to the gendered nature of migrants' involvement beyond the household, they have concentrated on the ways that gender relations and ideologies underpin differences in men's and women's involvement in community affairs at their places of origin (Fouron and Glick Schiller, 2001; Goldring, 2000; Levitt and Glick Schiller, 2004). Levitt's (2001b) landmark study of transnational migrants in Boston is typical of this genre of research. She discusses at length how men and women negotiate a new regime of gender relations in Boston, which is transformed again when migrants return to the Dominican Republic. The limited attention to the citizenship experiences of migrant families at their places of settlement, however, is surprising. While state regulations at places of origin mediate family negotiations about migration (Bailey et al, 2002; Constable, 2003; Pratt, 1999; Raghuram, 2004) that are the basis of transnational family arrangements and transnational practices, substantive and formal citizenship rights at the place of settlement influence how transnational families are organized, framing their transnational ties. As transnational migrants settle, they also seek to participate in community affairs

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at their places of settlement (Waters, 2003). Citizenship regimes at the places of settlement and origin are likely to be highly gendered, affecting the citizenship claims of migrant men and women and how they live on a daily basis. Some authors (Vertovec, 2004; Werbner, 2004; Yeoh et al, 2000) stress the need to analyze the organizational, moral, and aesthetic dimensions of diasporic social and political movements as a defining feature of postcolonial diasporas, wherein a variety of cultural formations are reproduced, negotiated, and contested. Such optimistic assessments of the potential for women migrants to change both themselves and their surroundings, however, run counter to the fact that they arrive deeply marked by the gender regimes of their places of origin (Fouron and Glick Schiller, 2002), and transnational activities may be equally important as conservative tendencies in order to retain aspects of traditional culture, resulting in a complex and often contradictory web of gender relations (Constable, 2003; Morrison et al, 1999; Salih, 2000; Yeoh and Willis, 1999; 2005), particularly where families are concerned (Waters, 2003). Mobility in such cases acts, ironically, as a strategy for belonging, rather than for hyper-cosmopolitanism (Cheah, 1997). Such contradictions indicate that we do not understand enough about how gender relations are renegotiated and transformed, both within cultures and in relation to the larger society, through transnational practices. We consider here both formal definitions of citizenship, as defined by the laws and regulations of the sending and receiving nations, and substantive or participatory aspects of citizenship, lived practices, and identities that shape and are shaped by norms and values in both places. The two are closely intertwined. Although formal equality does not always translate into lived equity, it is an essential prerequisite for achieving lived equity, and formal aspects of citizenship frame or enable the lived reality of citizenship practices and identities. Over time, citizenship practices and identities also influence and redefine formal aspects of citizenship (Castles, 2002; Faist, 2000), for both the original migrants and their children (Fouron and Glick Schiller, 2002). On the surface, transnationalism is at odds with Canadian policies concerning immigration and citizenship. Canadian immigration policy, in both its selection and settlement policies, has been predicated on the notion that the vast majority of immigrants settling in Canada will become citizens (Abu-Laban and Stasiulis, 1998). Citizenship is conferred fully on all immigrants who become naturalized after a minimum period of three years, and is automatically conferred on all who are born in Canada (Bloemraad, 2002). Once naturalized, all Canadian citizens are formally equivalent. Dual citizenship has been permitted since 1977, in a long-standing recognition of transnational ties and their importance. The evolving treatment of immigrants in Canada illustrates Yuval-Davis's (1997) contention that citizenship rights are based on membership in various communities. Profound gender inequalities in the exercise of citizenship rights and participation are part of Canadian history, despite contemporary guarantees of formal equality (Stasiulis and Jhappan, 1995). Immigration policies are gendered in the selection of immigrants and in the provision of services to assist with settlement, as programs favor male breadwinners from nuclear families (Fincher et al, 1994). Women who enter Canada in specific female-dominated occupations, for example, as domestic workers under the Live-in Caregiver Program, usually come without their partners and children to live under specific regulations that govern where they can live and work for up to three years, and that place specific limits on their formal citizenship entitlements. Further, legacies of gender oppression in Canadian society and in their societies of origin shape the diverse ways that immigrant women exercise their citizenship rights.


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Among recent immigrants from Asia, transnational strategies often involve spatial separation of family members. In so-called astronaut families, one partner, usually the man, returns to the place of origin to pursue economic opportunities (Chiang, 2004; Lam, 1994; Man, 1997; Waters, 2002; 2003). Sometimes both parents become astronauts, but children nearly always remain at the destination, at least until they complete their education. Although research in New Zealand suggests that the partners usually reunite in the country of destination (Ho et al, 2001), the settlement experiences of men and women in astronaut families are quite different. As single parents, separated from their partners for months at a time, women in such families have distinct transnational practices unlike those of others who migrate within intact nuclear and extended families (Waters, 2002; 2003). We examine how gender affects migrants' civic participation and citizenship practices in the Canadian context, where the majority of migrants are expected to settle permanently. Our analysis is primarily descriptive and qualitative. We draw on information from questionnaire surveys and from focus-group transcripts from a larger study in which 190 men and women participated. We have selected adult participants of at least 29 years of age: seventy-one women and forty-two men. Younger participants were excluded from the analysis because they represent a different generation; the majority are educated primarily in Canada, with a very different exposure to citizenship possibilities. Each participant completed a questionnaire to provide information about migration history, settlement experiences in Canada, transnational practices, and participation in civic society in Canada and Hong Kong. As participants were recruited through a snowball sampling strategy, inferential statistical analysis was inappropriate. We use the questionnaire information to obtain demographic data and information on transnational activities (travel to and connections with Hong Kong), and to evaluate the relative frequencies of various forms of civic participation in both places. The focus-group transcripts provide narrative insight into the meanings and significance of these experiences. In small groups of four to eleven people, participants discussed immigration and settlement in Canada, participation in civil society, and the ways in which gender and race affect their lives (1). Linking the information from the focus-group transcripts with the questionnaire information creates an extraordinarily rich information source that allows us to connect transnational immigrants' civic participation with their views of citizenship. Our comparison of the civic participation and views of citizenship expressed by men and by women reveals that gender roles and expectations are complex. Participation as a citizen of a larger society cannot be understood independently from participation as a member of a family unit, as it is obligation to the familyömet through the fulfillment of highly gendered and normative family rolesöthat informs wider civic participation. We attempt, therefore, to link the gendered expectations of migration as a family project to subsequent expectations of citizenship. Hong Kong immigration to Canada Hong Kong has been an important source of immigrants since Canada liberalized its immigration policies in the 1960s. The number of such immigrants increased dramatically after 1984 when the government of the United Kingdom announced that the colony would be returned to China in 1997 at the end of Britain's lease (Skeldon, 1994), (1)

Ten of the focus groups were exclusively men or women, but most were mixed groups of men and women. Initial analysis of the transcripts reveals few differences between the views expressed by men and women in mixed focus groups and in segregated focus groups. The discussions were conducted mainly in English, but a Cantonese speaker led many of the focus groups which allowed people to speak in the language with which they were comfortable.

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and rose again more steeply after the events at Tiananmen Square, Beijing, in 1989.(2) Hong Kong was the largest single source of immigrants to Canada between 1991 and 1996; however, the number declined precipitously after the handover of the colony to China,(3) from a peak of 33 723 in 1994 to 17 769 in 1997, before plummeting to 888 in 2001 (Statistics Canada, 2003a). Hong Kong immigrants have settled overwhelmingly in two metropolitan areas, Toronto and Vancouver. In both cities the average Hong Kong immigrant is better educated and more affluent than most other immigrants and nonimmigrants, and Hong Kong immigrants are concentrated in middle-income suburbs. Despite minor differences in their social backgrounds, we found no discernible differences in immigrants' transnational activities in Toronto and Vancouver. For the purposes of this paper, therefore, participants from the two metropolitan areas are grouped together in the analysis. The men and women who participated in the study are typical Hong Kong immigrants (Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 1996; Preston and Man, 1999) living in high concentrations in Markham and Scarborough in Toronto and in Richmond in Vancouver. Almost half of the women and three quarters of the men have some postsecondary education. The majority of Hong Kong immigrants are married. More than three quarters had lived in Canada for less than ten years at the time of the focus groups. Our results agree with those of others (Waters, 2002; Yeoh and Willis, 2005) who have found a highly normative view of the family to be the driving force for some women's migration. As Waters (2002) reports, the women emphasized that they had moved for the ``good of the family'', with educational opportunities for children as a major attraction. More than two thirds of the women mentioned family concerns as an important reason for migrating and another 50% mentioned educational concerns. A dual citizen who has lived in Canada since 1993, Louise, expresses typical views: ``The reason I came here was also for my children and my husband loved the place so much. He wanted to come here very much. He felt the place was excellent ... . His move was also for the children. He thought Canada's university education would be better than Hong Kong's'' (N3, TNF3, 30). Women emphasized the attraction of educational opportunities that were more accessible, less stressful, of better quality, and less expensive than those in Hong Kong. Few women mentioned that they had sought or derived personal benefits for themselves from migrating to Canada. Their narratives of migration decisions stress the benefits of life in Canada for other family members, who may comprise an extended family of adult children and their partners, elderly parents, and children, or a nuclear family consisting of themselves, their partners, and their children. Although men share women's concern with the well-being of the family and children's education, they place more importance on political concerns as a reason for migrating. One third of the men, compared with only 16% of women, mentioned political reasons. Family considerations were cited as a reason for migrating by 64% of the men, slightly fewer than the 71% of women, and educational concerns were cited (2) On 3 ^ 4 June 1989 hundreds were killed, wounded, and arrested after defying a ban on public demonstrations in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. Emigration applications from Hong Kong surged immediately afterwards. (3) In the statistical information, Hong Kong immigrants are those born in Hong Kong. This definition of Hong Kong immigrants ensures consistency between census information and administrative information available from Citizenship and Immigration Canada. It probably underestimates the population from Hong Kong by excluding people who were born in China but relocated to Hong Kong before migrating to Canada.


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by only one third. Scott, who emigrated in 1986, more than a decade before Hong Kong was returned to China, summarizes the opinions of many men: `Ì came here for several reasons. First, 1997 was an issue to me. Though I had no experience of political oppression, I believed the future after 1997 was an uncertainty. Second, it's for my children's education. They were going to the post secondary education. People told me it's not good to be visa students. Finally, my wife and I like the country and society'' (N7, TNM1, 42). Political uncertainty framed migration decisions, but it was not the factor uppermost in people's minds when explaining why they had moved from Hong Kong to Canada. In this respect, the participants in the focus groups differ from the ``reluctant exiles'' identified in the 1980s (Skeldon, 1994). Participants of both sexes emphasized the importance of familial considerations and educational concerns as the main reasons for migrating to Canada. Despite being well educated, and contrary to the ease with which many entered Canada, both men and women faced challenges settling in Canada similar to those reported in previous studies (Lam, 1994; Ley, 1999; Li, 2001; Preston and Man, 1999). Many participants were unable to find remunerative employment commensurate with their qualifications. Approximately half the women responded to labor-market barriers and to the demands of settling their families in a new country by withdrawing from the labor market altogether, and another 17% work part-time. Men were much more likely to continue searching for work than were women. Even among the men and women who are employed, however, many are working part-time and many feel underemployed. The impact of employment difficulties was confirmed by the participants' household incomes. Less than one fifth of men and women reported household incomes of at least Can$50 000 at a time when the median incomes in Toronto and Vancouver ranged between $57 926 and $66 520 (Statistics Canada, 2003b). Despite such low incomes, the participants have rates of homeownership that approach the Canadian average, as many have used the financial gains from property sales in Hong Kong to finance housing purchases in Canada. The high homeownership rates confirm the transnational flows of capital and the dependence of Hong Kong immigrants on economic conditions in Hong Kong, but also suggest the priority that is placed on the home as a setting for a highly normative view of child rearing. Transnational ties

Transnational ties are a significant aspect of daily life.(4) Women report slightly stronger ties than do men, but differences in the number and nature of transnational ties arise mainly from the gendered nature of family separation (Chiang, 2004; Ong, 1999; Waters, 2002; Willis and Yeoh, 2002). Women are more likely than men to be living in Canada without their partners. The husbands of many of the women participants were astronauts, working and living in Hong Kong for long periods between visits to the family in Canada. None of the men had an astronaut partner. Many men had been astronauts or were contemplating becoming astronauts. In comparison, only a handful of older women whose children had completed postsecondary education even mentioned the possibility of returning to Hong Kong to live for a prolonged period of time. Contrary to images of Hong Kong migrants as hypermobile capitalists (Ong, 1999), the participants in the focus groups had few economic ties to Hong Kong. Among men and women who were living full-time in Canada, less than a quarter of men and women reported they still owned property in Hong Kong and even smaller percentages (4)

Table 1 lists only the activities in which at least one focus-group participant reported participation. The questionnaire included a much longer list of activities but few were salient.

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reported running a business or providing financial assistance to family in Hong Kong (table 1). The economic ties that do occur consist of money flowing from astronauts in Hong Kong to family members in Canada. Social ties are the most frequent types of transnational links and are slightly more frequent for women than men (table 1). Still embedded in kinship and friendship networks that span borders, the participants in our study stay in close touch with events and people in Hong Kong. To maintain their ties, participants consume Hong Kong media regularly, anxious to stay in touch with popular culture and current affairs in Hong Kongöwhich are then discussed in frequent telephone calls to Hong Kong (table 1). Table 1. Transnational ties and behaviors of Hong Kong immigrants. Women N Social ties immediate family in Hong Kong extended family in Hong Kong friends Economic ties property ownership run business financial assistance to family job trips to Hong Kong Use of media watch Hong Kong television or radio read Hong Kong newspapers watch Hong Kong movies Hong Kong ListServs Monthly social contacts telephone Hong Kong family e-mail Hong Kong family letter to Hong Kong family Travel to Hong Kong at least once a year less than once a year never

69 60 51 53 69 15 13 4 4 69 54 58 44 7 69 62 18 6 71 39 19 13

Men % 87 74 77 22 19 6 6 78 84 64 10 90 26 9 57 28 19

N 36 23 25 29 36 10 2 0 1 36 29 25 24 7 36 26 17 5 35 12 16 7

% 64 69 81 28 6 0 3 81 69 64 19 72 47 14 33 44 19

Note: Percentages may not sum to 100 because multiple responses were accepted.

Hong Kong immigrants who have settled in Canada are far less mobile than we had expected on the basis of previous research (Ong, 1999). Expensive trips to Hong Kong are infrequent, with less than half of all participants traveling to Hong Kong at least once a year (table 1). Contrary to previous findings (Chiang, 2004; Waters, 2002; Wong, 2003), but consistent with the frequent travel of Singaporean women between their children in Singapore and their husbands working in China (Willis and Yeoh, 2002), women are more mobile than men. Approximately half of the women travel to Hong Kong at least once a year, whereas only one third of the men travel to Hong Kong as frequently (table 1). Women's higher propensity to travel to Hong Kong is another result of the gendered nature of the astronaut family. As the spouses of astronauts, many women visit their husbands and other family members in Hong Kong, whereas the men in our study, who may be former astronauts but now reside in Canada with their partners, have less reason to travel to Hong Kong.


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This description of transnational practices underscores how gendered family arrangements structure transnational practices among Hong Kong immigrants. Differences in transnational ties arise from men's and women's different roles in the family. As astronaut wives and dutiful daughters, women maintain intense social networks that span national borders, telephoning frequently and regularly consuming media accounts to stay in touch with Hong Kong affairs. Men are less involved in transnational links based on kinship. Civic participation Immigrants arrive in Canada marked by the politics and regime of civic participation in Hong Kong, which has a limited form of liberal democracy (Shiu-Hing, 2001). Before emigration, virtually no one was a member of a political party and few voted in elections (table 2) but, although they are still unlikely to join political parties in Canada, the voting rate nearly doubled upon achieving Canadian citizenship status. In contrast, they were more likely to have supported charities or to have belonged to community associations in Hong Kong (especially the women) than in Canada (see Reed and Selbee, 2001). Such memberships are often in alumni associations (including Canadian alumni associations) that act as important business networks for Hong Kong immigrants. The focus on education is also apparent in the high level oföagain, especially women's öparticipation in volunteer work for children's schools. Table 2. Civic participation of Hong Kong immigrants. Women N Canada vote in elections belong to political parties donate to political party donate to charities volunteer in children's schools Hong Kong vote in elections belong to political parties donate to Hong Kong organizations volunteer for Hong Kong organizations member of Hong Kong organization

71 3 0 0 19 17 71 5 2 9 24 30

Men % 4 0 0 27 24 7 3 13 34 42

N 35 7 2 1 11 6 35 3 0 3 14 10

% 20 6 3 31 17 9 0 9 40 29

Note: Percentages may not add to 100 because some respondents reported no forms of participation.

Focus-group discussions brought out a range of opinions on the appropriateness of being involved in Hong Kong politics, and, by implication, in civil society, from a distance. Having lived in Canada since 1986, Richard recommends that former residents of Hong Kong stay at arm's length from local politics there: `Ì think it's not appropriate because we are not living in Hong Kong. For many issues, we only knew about them through the media. We don't have first hand personal experience of these issues. We only learnt it indirectly ... . So I think we shouldn't participate in Hong Kong politics ... . Our judgment is totally based on second-hand information. It's totally wrong for us to act based on this second-hand information'' (N6, TNM1, 252).

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Others disagreed, arguing an obligation to voice their opinions. They were nonetheless realistic in their assessment that the Hong Kong government may pay no attention. Samuel, who has been in Canada since 1988, says: ``Personally, I think we should be involved in some way. ... Hong Kong is our original country ... its development is closely related to us. We hope Hong Kong will be good. For this reason, we have to express our views even if we are unable to vote. It allows the Hong Kong government to know the views of the Chinese who are overseas. Our ideas may not affect it, but at least, we can give them another voice for reference'' (N2, TNM3, 232). We were uncertain whether men and women would be equally active in organizations not oriented to the Hong Kong immigrant community. It takes time for newcomers to learn about opportunities for informal civic participation: until they obtain citizenship, permanent residents are unable to vote, which may discourage participation in political parties; and the demands of settling in a new society may leave little time, energy, or resources for participation in civil society (Stasiulis, 1997). Newcomers sometimes venture into civil society by participating first in their communities of origin and, as time passes, their involvement in civil society intensifies. Civic participation is expected to move from informal forms of participation to the political sphere and to extend to groups and organizations beyond the community of origin (Stasiulis, 1997). Those in our study reported low levels of civic participation in Canadian civil society, with two significant exceptions. Almost one in three donated to Canadian charities, a higher rate than their donations to Hong Kong organizations. And, most significant, a quarter of the women and nearly a fifth of the men reported that they volunteered in their children's schools (table 2).(5) This activity is consistent with the normative views of family education that underpin Hong Kong immigrants' migration decisions. It is also consistent with the fact that these women have lower rates of paid labor-market participation than they had in Hong Kong (see also Chiang, 2004; Yeoh and Willis, 2005). Women's involvement in their children's schools contrasts with men's greater propensity to participate in Canadian politics. Although the number is small, men outnumber women by four to one (table 2). Men also outnumber women as members and financial supporters of Canadian political parties. The low levels of political participation are similar to those of many Canadian-born citizens, however, whose participation in Canadian politics has been declining for decades (Stasiulis, 1997). Both men and women explained their low levels of participation by their limited familiarity with the Canadian political system and its lack of relevance to them, which suggests that their activities may change in future. Lucy, who has a high-school degree, speaks for many when she says: ``Rather, familiarity with the local political system is the issue. How many years have we been here? To what extent do we understand it? We don't know who's who'' (N1, TNF3, 288). The lack of involvement in Canadian politics also reflects limited political experience in Hong Kong. Coming from a colony where representative government is fairly new, and where the concept of a nation-state has never had any significance (Shiu-Hing, 2001), former Hong Kong residents have little experience exercising their political rights in a formal setting. After seven years in Canada, Monica still feels that their lack of political experience in Hong Kong handicaps immigrants' involvement in Canadian politics: (5)

Table 2 includes only activities in which at least one person participated. It excludes a long list of activities specifying different types of volunteer work and involvement in social groups and clubs, for which virtually no participation was reported.


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``The democratization of Hong Kong is relatively new. It's only been ten years ... . During our education period, we didn't have civic education. Hence, the sense of social involvement for our generation was low'' (N10, TNF2, 216). Several men also mentioned that they had little time to participate in Canadian politics and, after all, they were really interested in voting rather than in other forms of participation. Even after living in Canada for seven years, Curtis still finds that he is short of time to devote to politics: ``No, I'm not politically active because I lack the time to do so. If there's time available, I still won't participate either. I don't see the need. I would vote for the candidates I prefer. But I'll never involve in campaigning for them'' (N1, TNM1, 232). The few individuals who were anxious to participate in formal politics emphasized that participation was an obligation for all Canadian citizens and a right. Men explained their interest in politics in instrumental and symbolic terms, arguing that it is important to vote for politicians who support policies that meet the needs of the Chinese-Canadian community. Furthermore, voting is a right and a responsibility that symbolizes full membership in Canadian society. Mike is a married businessman who has been living in Vancouver for nineteen years. He was a volunteer in Hong Kong and has worked during elections in Canada. His views are based on the exercise of political rights: `Ìt's important because it allows you to choose a politician with a better policy. At least, you have the right to vote. Otherwise, it's useless to complain if the one you didn't like was elected. I've participated in election campaigns ... . It's difficult to motivate people to vote. _ They thought it wasn't relevant to them, so they weren't willing to vote. They didn't understand it. I think the public needs to be educated'' (N3, B1, 441 ^ 445). Women's reasons for political participation are rooted in their roles as wives and mothers rather than in their rights as citizens. After living in Toronto for seven years, Maureen is typically adamant about the instrumental value of political participation, especially concerning education policy. Her comments reflect her experience in the public school system where her children's school was destroyed by arson. Maureen was impressed that local residents were successful in pressuring the school board to rebuild, and comments that this experience ``shows they will listen to us'' (N10, TNF2, 198): ``Most importantly, we should not be apathetic about everything. _ If you want to make changes, you should talk to the councilor, MPP, MP of your riding. You should get involved in society and start the first step. They can represent you, but the system needs you to step out first'' (N10, TNF2, 200 ^ 202). Maureen, like Mike, values political participation in part for the recognition of her presence but, unlike Mike, she has participated to ensure the interests of her children rather than herself. Once again, the nature of civic participation and participants' narratives underscore subtle gender differences rooted in normative family arrangements and roles. Views of Canadian citizenship Highly gendered normative expectations about family are apparent in participants' comments about the meaning and importance of Canadian citizenship. Naturalization represents commitment to the place of settlement but, in the case of Hong Kong immigrants, it does not necessarily require abandoning residency rights in Hong Kong. The citizenship regime in Hong Kong is complicated and confusing but, in practice, most immigrants can take out Canadian citizenship and retain their rights

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to live in Hong Kong. Despite their limited involvement in Canadian politics, most of the immigrants from Hong Kong are committed to permanent residency in Canada. Many are already Canadian citizens: 44% of women and 51% of men. The rates of naturalization are low compared with those for all eligible Hong Kong immigrants, of whom approximately 91% were citizens in 2001; however, with an average length of residence of six years, the participants in our study may just need more time to become Canadian citizens (Tran et al, 2005). Participants certainly value Canadian citizenship for reasons that revolve around legal status, particularly political rights (compare Bloemraad, 2000). Men and women often mentioned the formal benefits that flow from legal status as a Canadian citizen. Some who have never had a formal citizenship (Shiu-Hing, 2001) or voting rights in Hong Kong placed great importance on the rights associated with Canadian citizenship. But we noted differences in the ways in which rights are expressed. According to Ben, who has lived in Canada for more than a decade, the yearning for citizenship is deeply rooted: ``Since I was born, I have never had a passport. I only had a CI. Therefore, I longed to be a Canadian citizen. Now, I've got it ... . Quite frankly, we have lost many things as a result of immigration. If we don't apply for citizenship, we'll have nothing here. So I desire to be a Canadian citizen'' (N4, N8, 212). In contrast, after living in Vancouver for four years, Nora expresses the views of many women who emphasize responsibility rather than right: `Ì think it's important. I think that when we do something, we should have a beginning and an end. So I have become a citizen ... . I think it's a responsibility. When we come here, we enjoy the social welfare of this country, so for me, it's my responsibility to become a citizen'' (N11, N3, 341 ^ 343, 345 ^ 349). A minority of the participants expressed a pragmatic belief that citizenship is a means of achieving a passport to another country in case of future political instability in Hong Kong. Ross, a single man who has lived in Canada since 1988, emphasizes the security associated with a Canadian passport: ``The passport is important to me. ... I have an identity. I'm a citizen of this country. A passport is my travel document and lets me exercise my duties as a citizen. ... In case I didn't like Hong Kong, I would have a back door to go to a so-called democratic society'' (N2, TNM3, 64). When discussing legal status, the narratives also emphasize the instrumental benefits of citizenship. As citizens they and their children have better job opportunities and eligibility for more scholarships, student loans, and domestic levels for tuition fees. Edward, who arrived in 1988, notes: ``The tuition fees are far lesser [than] for visa students. As a citizen, I can apply for OSAP [Ontario Student Aid Program] and scholarships. This is the major difference'' (N4, TNM1, 54). Citizens also possess a Canadian passport, which many considered very convenient for traveling abroad. A Canadian passport makes it easier to return to Canada and Canadian passports are considered more trustworthy by consular officials in other countries. Recently arrived in Canada, Tom, who is married with children, is very aware of the convenience: `Ìn Hong Kong, we didn't have protections. If we used the SAR [Special Administrative Region] passport, it was inconvenient for traveling. In contrast, it is more convenient to use the Canadian passport when traveling, rather than the SAR passport. Other countries trust the former more than the latter'' (N3, TNM2, 66).


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There are also gender differences in attitudes to the legal benefits of citizenship. Women talked mostly about the tangible benefits of citizenship for other family members, confirming that family well-being is central to women's migration experiences (see also Waters, 2001), whereas men emphasized the personal benefits to themselves. Although she has lived in Canada for more than five years, Doreen still expresses family concerns: `Ì have my citizenship. The reason for me to have it is because it will be convenient for my daughters if they want to stay here. Moreover, my time will be totally wasted if I don't get citizenship'' (N2, TNF3, 66). The difference is most evident in discussion of the advantages of a Canadian passport for traveling:(6) `Ìt doesn't matter to me. I have not obtained citizenship yet. I'm quite happy about my present status. ... I'll apply for one. It's for my husband's convenience because he is an astronaut. ... It's only good for my husband's traveling in and out of the country'' (N1, TNF3, 64).(7) On a more abstract level, both men and women also see Canadian citizenship as an important source of rights. Comments about rights often overlap with comments regarding the benefits of legal status as a Canadian. Mark, who has lived in Canada since 1987, describes the overlap as follows: ``Since then, I've realized the benefits of being a Canadian. I don't need a visa to go to Europe. I can leave Canada whenever I want. I'm free to enter or to leave the country. The rights and freedoms that are based on my Canadian citizenship are very important. Canada is a free country'' (N2, B1, 63). Of all the rights associated with Canadian citizenship, formal political rights were mentioned most frequently. Participants emphasized the importance of being able to vote as soon as they became Canadian citizens. Witness the views of Sue and David, who are both in their fifties with families and good jobs in Canada: ``The goal of immigration is to become a citizen. ... Since I'm an immigrant, I don't have any rights but duties. Once I become a citizen, I will have the right to vote. If I don't like the mayor, I can vote against him'' (N1, TNF1, 58). `Òne of the reasons I applied for citizenship was the right to vote. When I was in Hong Kong, we didn't have the right to vote. Now, we do. This is the most important reason'' (N3, B1, 65). Voting provides a voice in Canadian society. Voting for Chinese-origin candidates ensures that the interests of Chinese Canadians are represented at all levels of government, and can offset and fight the racism that Chinese Canadians still experience. Citizenship is also associated öalthough by fewer participantsöwith recognition of one's identity as a Canadian, by oneself and by others. The desire for a recognized identity is probably heightened by Hong Kong immigrants' experiences of ambiguous citizenship, as residents first of a British colony and second of a special administrative region of China. Sam, who emigrated in 1988 and has enjoyed a successful professional career, explains: ``Why did we emigrate? It's because we have the desire for a nationality. In Hong Kong, we didn't have a nationality. Without citizenship we wouldn't have the motivation to immigrate'' (N2, TNM2, 64). (6)

As Canadian citizens, astronaut husbands who work in Hong Kong can come and go without the risk of losing permanent residency in Canada. (7) Lucy's lack of interest in Canadian citizenship is consistent with her migration history. She commented that she did not know why she had come to Canada; her brother was here, so she followed him. Lucy's migration history is represented as a series of unexamined decisions in which she passively complied with family wishes.

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Many men and women emphasized the importance of becoming a citizen to indicate that they belong in Canada. Mary, who has lived in Canada for eight years and holds dual citizenship, underscores the importance of Canadian citizenship: `Ì think having citizenship is very important to me. It gives me a sense of belonging. As a citizen, I'm eligible to vote for the candidates I prefer'' (N6, TNF2, 48). Exclusionary experiences in Canadian society have enhanced the desirability of Canadian citizenship for many participants. Active as a volunteer in Vancouver, Nadine expresses the desire of many for recognition and security in the face of exclusion: `Ìt would give us security. They wanted us to come. But after we came, there are a lot of things that they don't provide for us. In fact, they started finding faults with us for so many different things. That we didn't do this right, we didn't do that right, we're trying to cheat them on this, that we're trying to do something illegal _ etc. So even though we really want to become a part of Canada, there are no opportunities for us to do so'' (N5, N3). Finally, participation in Canadian society is intertwined with citizenship and exercising one's political rights: `Ìt's very important. When I met the three years' residency period requirement, I applied for the citizenship immediately. Now, I'm already a citizen. Since I have decided to settle here, I need the right to vote. I want to participate in local affairs. So I want to be a citizen'' (N8, N6, 77). `Ìt's very important for me. I must be a citizen. I need to be a Canadian and be involved in society'' (N9, TNF3, 80). Joe's comments show that the complexity involves instrumental aspects of citizenship, individual rights, and identity as Canadian in the eyes of others: `Ìf one has a clean citizenship, it's very convenient to travel as everybody has said. I have Canadian citizenship. I think it entitles us to some of the services that are available to citizens. _ So in terms of being Canadian, I think it's also something that people are proud to be sometimes. To say you are Canadian, there are certain values that people perceive you to have, and they see you in a certain way. `You're from Canada'. _ When you travel, there's a little bit of that, I don't know, it's called prestige'' (N7, B1, 82 ^ 84, 90 ^ 96). These comments suggest that assuming a Canadian identity is associated with involvement in Canadian society, even if the most common form of involvement is the formal practice of voting or the entitlement to carry a passport rather than other more sustained types of political involvement. Involvement in civil society influences the emphasis given to symbolic and instrumental aspects of citizenship within the broader context of gender differences in citizenship narratives. Although the opinions of women and men do not differ in any significant degree, the gender difference is in the tendency for women to be focused on needs of family members, whereas men are more self-focused. This difference is played out in women's greater emphasis on social responsibility in contrast to men's interest in individual rights. Conclusions Gender matters deeply, but its effects are subtle. Our analysis has revealed how women's familial concerns dominate all aspects of transnational migration from the decision to relocate to their desire to become Canadian citizens. The men and women who participated in focus groups are transnational migrants, but their connections to Hong Kong are based on kinship and friendship rather than on economic ties.


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These findings contradict the construction of Asian transnationals as hypermobile migrants who relocate family members around the globe to take advantage of economic opportunities and to avoid economic risks (Ong, 1999). Few of the men and even fewer of the women in this study emphasized the economic aspects of their migration decisions, although some had a very pragmatic and instrumental view of the benefits of a Canadian passport. Especially for the astronauts, we may read the freedom to engage in economic activity in both contexts as a motivation for such instrumentalism. Our findings based on interviews with astronauts in Hong Kong would indicate that to be the case (Kobayashi and Ley, 2005). The commitment to life in Canada is also a commitment to civic participation. In the present analysis, however, we have considered only the views and reported behaviors of men and women who are currently residing in Toronto and Vancouver, and we cannot link the views of the women in our study to their astronaut partners. Moreover, several men indicated that they had given up employment in Hong Kong to reunite with their families in Canada, indicating a choice of family and lifestyle over economic incentives. Additional research is needed to explore how the views of astronauts and returnees in Hong Kong differ from those who have chosen permanent settlement in Canada, although preliminary results of the interviews and focus groups in Hong Kong would indicate that the difference is more an issue of life stageöthat is, the number of years to retirementöthan of fundamental differences between individuals. In answer to the persistent question concerning the impact of transnationalism on civic participation, we find that transnational ties do not reduce the desire for civic participation, although the major form of participation, especially for women, was expressed as voting and furthering children's education. Voting is tied to a sense of becoming Canadian and belonging in Canada. Participants identified several barriers to participation in formal politics that are familiar to analysts concerned with all Canadians' declining civic participation (Stasiulis, 1997). More optimistically, however, the women have a history of involvement in voluntary associations that suggests they are likely to become more active in the Canadian voluntary sector in the future. Theirs is a seamless relationship between the pursuit of family goals centered on education and active civic participation. On the basis of these findings, we agree with Levitt (2001a) and Itzigsohn and Saucedo (2002), who argue for an expansive view of transnational activities and citizenship to capture their interrelations outside the economic and formal political spheres. Whatever form civic participation may take in the future, however, the citizenship narratives underscore the importance of family relationships, especially for the womenöwhose emphasis on the family stands out. For the most part, their decisions to leave Hong Kong, to keep in touch with Hong Kong events and culture, to maintain social connections to Hong Kong, and to become Canadian citizens are explained in terms of family concerns, and it is the transnational field of family, rather than the political territory of either Hong Kong or Canada, that dominates. The narratives confirm previous findings that transnational migration is a family strategy but, as such, it is a strategy to obtain cultural capital through education rather than a strategy of `flexible citizenship' (Waters, 2003; compare Ong, 1999). The narratives reveal sophisticated views of Canadian citizenship. While all of the participants recognize the instrumental benefits of citizenship, particularly for children, many also yearn for the sense of belonging that they associate with citizenship. Belonging clearly begins with the franchise, but extends to the ability to participate fully in a society through institutions such as education and work, and to enjoy the benefits of a place as defined by environmental factors that range from clean air and spacious surroundings, to opportunities for recreational activities.

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Our findings also demonstrate the need for culturally specific, rather than generic, definitions of what citizenship and civic participation mean. For immigrants from Hong Kong, the significance of citizenship needs to be read through a cultural lens that defines the interests of the family ahead of those of either the individual or the state. For the most part, transnational ties with family and friends in Hong Kong have not reduced the desire of these immigrants to participate or to feel that they are full members of Canadian society but, rather, have expanded their sense of family and cultural identity. We find little evidence that the people who have immigrated to Canada from Hong Kong are ambivalent about their commitment to residency in Canada and to participation in Canadian affairs. Indeed, the majority of participants are anxious to become citizens so that they may feel a sense of belonging, and most take up citizenship as soon as the requisite time period has elapsed. They are settlers, but settlers who want to participate fully in Canadian society. Ironically, the transnational activities that create mobility also foster a sense of place. The slowly developing quest for greater civic participation is aimed not necessarily at radical transformation of postcolonial conditions or at the redefinition of cosmopolitanism, but at strengthening their ability to nurture families in ways that seem to reinforce, rather than disrupt, traditional gender relations. Although that traditionalism may be different for their Canadian-born children öan issue we are exploring in other work (Kobayashi and Ley, 2005) for women migrants, it is the driving force behind their decision to take up a new way of life. The transnational lifestyle, then, seems to be a complex of paradoxes: deeply conservative views of familyöincluding fixed notions of gender rolesöcombined with new forms of family relations; strong ties to place among a mobile population that is active in more than one place; commitment to citizenship participation in a society in which these immigrants are racially excluded. These seeming paradoxes, however, are the stuff through which social relations are negotiated. Such is especially the case in the negotiation of gender as a constant interplay of tradition and change: tradition in many ways provides the stability that allows change to occur; and change is embraced because it allows tradition to be maintained. That process of negotiation has its own geography, splayed out across domestic, neighborhood, metropolitan, and national landscapes. Acknowledgements. This is a revised version of a paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association of American Geographers, March 2004. The research is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council grant number 829-99-1012 to Audrey Kobayashi as principal investigator and David Ley, Guida Man, Valerie Preston, and Myer Siemiatycki as coinvestigators. We are grateful for wonderful research assistance from Ann Marie Murnaghan and Kareem Sadiq and for helpful comments from Helga Leitner, Patricia Ehrkamp, Ebru Ustundag, the editor, and three anonymous reviewers. References Abu-Laban Y, Gabriel C, 2002 Selling Diversity: Immigration, Multiculturalism, Employment Equity and Globalization (Broadview Press, Peterborough, Ontario) Abu-Laban Y, Stasiulis D, 1998, ``Welcome/stay out, the contradiction of Canadian integration and immigration policies at the millennium'' Canadian Ethnic Studies Journal 30 190 ^ 213 Bailey A J, Wright R, Mountz A, Miyares I, 2002, ``(Re)producing Salvadoran transnational geographies'' Annals of the Association of American Geographers 92 125 ^ 144 Bloemraad I, 2000, ``Citizenship and immigration: a current review'' Journal of International Migration and Integration 1 9 ^ 37 Bloemraad I, 2002, ``The North American naturalization gap: an institutional approach to citizenship acquisition in the United States and Canada'' International Migration Review 36 193 ^ 229 Castles S, 2002, ``Migration and community formation under conditions of globalization'' International Migration Review 36 1143 ^ 1168


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