Caroline Schöpf presented a paper at the International Sociological Association RC54 conference “The Challenge of the Global Migrant” in Rome, Italy. The presentation received positive feedback and sparked an interesting and fruitful discussion. The following paper was presented:
Cultural difference or cultural inequality? An extended case study of the
experience of ‘cultural difference’ between highly skilled South Asian and
White sojourners in Hong Kong.
Caroline Schöpf, Max Weber Foundation; Hong Kong Baptist University
Most studies investigating the societal reception of migrants have been conducted
on cases of migration to higher developed countries, which, as I argue, is leading
to a conflation of the factors of ‘cultural difference,’ ‘societal power relations’ and
‘global power relations’. There is a lack of studies that seek to conceptually
disentangle these factors. This study compares the experience of ‘cultural
difference’ between highly skilled South Asian and White sojourners in Hong Kong.
Drawing on ethnographic data and in-depth interviews, I show that the experience
of ‘cultural difference’ is qualitatively different for the two groups of sojourners:
White sojourners primarily experience forms of positive ‘othering’ and
cross-cultural misunderstandings in the work place while enjoying an overall
positive and sometimes privileged societal reception. Conversely, for South Asian
sojourners, ‘cultural difference’ is experienced much more frequently in the form of
negative ‘othering’, devaluation and every-day racism. I review the literature of
migration and culture, prejudice, and attitudes towards immigrants and show that
the explanatory models offered there cannot fully account for these discrepancies.
I argue that the discontinuities between the experience of ‘cultural difference’ of
South Asian and White sojourners in Hong Kong can be best explained with two
approaches: A systemic racism approach focusing on societal inter-ethnic power
relations, and a world-system theory approach focusing on global power
structures.
