Work

Personal network analysis from an intersectional perspective: How to overcome ethnicity bias in migration research

Year: 2021

Type: article

Abstract: Through qualitative personal network analysis from an intersectional perspective, this article contributes to the debate on the salience of ethnicity as a defining, yet essentialized, category in transnational migration research. The article includes a theoretical and methodological discussion of qualitative personal network analysis as a means to alleviate the risks of overemphasizing ethnicity over other categories, which provides the background to the empirical analysis. Drawing on 20 personal networks and qualitative interviews with Chinese international students who were studying in the United States, the findings of this study indicate that ethnicity, as a precursor to culture, along with gender and class, is important in friendship formations but not necessarily for job‐relevant issues. Moreover, through an intersectional personal network analysis, transnational family ties were problematized based not on their ethnicity but on gendered expectations and social norms.

Source: Global Networks

DOI: 10.1111/glob.12318

Author: Başak Bilecen

Institutions: University of Groningen, Interuniversity Center for Social Science Theory and Methodology

Language: English

Topic: Diaspora, migration, transnational identity

Subfield: Demography

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,300