University of Helsinki
Call for Chapters
(Deadline for abstracts: 1st September 2013)
Editors:
Saija Benjamin, Department of Teacher Education, University of Helsinki, Finland
&
Fred Dervin, Department of Teacher Education, University of Helsinki, Finland
Title: Beyond “Third Culture Kids”
“The place to which you feel the strongest attachment isn’t necessarily the country you’re tied to by blood or birth: it’s the place that allows you to become yourself. This place may not lie on any map.” – Jhumpa Lahiri
Migrants move from one place to another for various reasons. In past research the contested notion of “third culture” has been used to examine many and varied forms of migration. It was born from the need to describe the new realities generated by immigration in modern times. “Third culture” tends to describe the discrepancies between two cultures: that of the place of departure and that of the place of settlement. The ‘meeting’ of these two cultures is thus said to create a hybrid “third culture”. The phrase “a third culture kid” (Useem & Useem 1963) symbolizes a child of immigrant parents, growing up in this putative “third” culture. Since the term “third culture kid” was coined in 1976 (Useem & Downie 1976.), it has been widely used in research to describe groups of children living “outside their parents’ culture”, especially in relation to multi-mobility and -migration. But as the concept of culture has been deconstructed over the past decades and proved to be too “old” and “tired” to help us to analyze e.g. situations of intercultural encounters, is it still sustainable in relation to these children?
In addition to “third culture”, there are many other aspects that are considered as central to migration, e.g. the loss of identity, shifting of power, starting all over again, etc. But are the canonical characteristics of migration always the same, even when social environments that the immigrants experience differ? Do the issues traditionally related to migration (e.g. integration, acculturation, language acquisition etc.) remain relevant with migrants with a higher social and economical status, the target population of this volume – expatriate families, diplomats, “globetrotters”, etc.? To a large extent, migration of these extremely mobile families can be considered as privileged because of its intentional nature and simplicity in terms of practicalities. In addition, and in contrast to immigrants with more challenging settings, these individuals are usually not faced with the need to ‘prove’ their identities, nor start their lives from scratch every time they cross yet another borders.
Unlike the traditional labor migrants, such migrants are usually not described by their national origins, but rather claim to have an “international” identity, thus transcending the nation states’ borders and establishing a sort of forefront of globalization (Wagner 1998, 13). Distinctive for these migrants is also their mobility and repetitive patterns of geographical and social detachment, relocation and resettlement. Their children are typically considered as “third culture kids” owing to the transnational nature of their family’s life course. However, when there is no permanent place of settlement, the premises for the creation of a “third culture” no longer remain. What can then be understood as “culture” for these children and in which terms can they negotiate and construct meaning around their identities and affiliations?
Migrants of all types are often viewed through different broad social categories and descriptions and examined according to objective criteria. “Third culture kids” are referred to as one homogeneous group of people sharing similar characteristics although they represent diverse individuals with various life and family settings. The existing literature and numerous webpages dealing with the topic have created a lot of hype around the concept, even though, in essence, these children are just immigrants in special circumstances.
The United Nations’ recent report (UN 2011) estimates that by mid-2010, the global number of international migrants aged 15 to 24 is likely to reach 27 million (1/8 of the global migrant stock of 214 million). Out of these individuals, the descendants of mobile “executive” migrants form a pool worthy of study: crossing national borders in frequent intervals, these children grow up transitioning in and out of places, contexts, friendships and social realms, simultaneously weaving a web of transnational connections.
While considerable attention has been given to other kinds of migration, to date little has been published on “mobility within migration” or multi-mobility/migration in order to understand what the continuous international mobility represents for the young migrants, who have no or little say about the professional choices and relocation projects of their parents. Although the literature around the topic abounds with retrospective accounts on “childhood on the move”, the voices of the young, mobile migrants are seldom heard during the time that they are actually experiencing a mobile lifestyle. Through their experiences and negotiations the aspects of migration could be observed from a new and more glocalized perspective, taking into account how these people deal with the constant mixing of the global and local.
In order to encourage inter-disciplinary dialogues around the theme, this call welcomes papers from scholars working on any thematic or conceptual aspect of youth migration and multi-mobility and invites them to share and develop innovative research and concepts that address the issues of international migration. We are particularly interested in articles that attempt to move beyond the traditional aspects of “third culture kids”.
Papers from authors from around the world and from various disciplines are invited on any of the following themes (but need not be limited to):
- Meaning-making around identity in extensively privileged, intercultural and mobile life contexts;
- Placeless vs. placed identities. The strongest feelings of connectedness and belonging may or may not be attached to any physical place;
- The multiple affiliations and spaces of belonging or alienation of the migrant youth;
- The diversity and maintenance of the transnational social fields;
- The “culturality” of this population (traditionally tackled as “liminality”, “the interstitial culture”, “the third culture” or “the neither-here-not-there culture”);
- Analyses of the related concepts of “Rootlessness”, “Cultural Homelessness”, “Long-Distance Nationalism” etc.;
- International schools as spaces of continuity and stability.
Deadlines
Abstract of proposed chapter (300 words): 1st September 2013
Full chapters to be submitted: January 10 2014
Authors are invited to submit a 300-word proposal (including a few lines about the author(s)) in English to both editors by 1st September 2013 (saija.benjamin@helsinki.fi & fred.dervin@helsinki.fi).
The proposals should clearly explain the theoretical positioning and concerns of the proposed chapter, and include a short description of a corpus (where applicable). A basic bibliography may also be added. Full chapters are expected to be submitted by October 1st 2013. The proposed book will be submitted to Cambridge Scholars (Series: Post-intercultural Communication and Education, http://www.c-s-p.org//Flyers/series_24.htm).