Chinese Labour Migration in the Digital Media Context (1) (Media, Culture and Communication in Migrant Societies)

By: Hong Chen

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Synopsis: What does it mean to a family when parents go abroad for economic gains while leaving their children behind? How do they maintain a family when living in different areas, separated for years? How do emerging digital media like instant messaging, social media, and webcam calls impact the everyday lives of today’s transnational families? Drawing on immersive ethnography conducted among UK-based Chinese labour migrants, their left-behind children and caregivers, this book explores how they employ digital media to negotiate family roles and maintain kinship ties. While virtual connections are indispensable, they are not a panacea for physical separation; rather, they introduce complexity to family dynamics. Probing the bittersweet experiences of various family members, it portrays how mediated familial communications intertwine with transnational socio-economic asymmetries and intra-familial dynamics. This book offers an interdisciplinary perspective for general publics and academics interested in migration studies, family and gender studies, and media and communications.