Transnationalism and the geography of (sub)ethnicity in Hong Kong

Abstract

The concept of diaspora as an active agent in the making of transnationalism has been a subject of various interpretations and heated debates. This study examines the heterogeneous subethnic identities of the Chinese diasporas and their spatial manifestation, using Hong Kong as a case. With its colonial connections and strategic location, Hong Kong has functioned as a center of origin and destination in the transnational movement of the Chinese diaspora. The great spatial mobility demonstrated by the Hong Kong sojourners or their "refugee mentality," as it is known, is found to be deeply rooted in their subethnic identity in the nation. A systematic analysis of spatial data collected in 1961 and 1996 reveals an uneven geography of subethnicity polarized by the elite English and Shanghainese on the one end and the local Kejia people on the other end. Despite the processes of deterritorization and displacement, the great spatial mobility of the Hong Kong sojourners and the diasporic landscape they have created have remained effectively shaped by their place-based ethno-linguistic identities. The seemingly "ungrounded empire" of Chinese diaspora capitalism, in which Hong Kong has played a crucial part, has been based on preexisting place-specific conditions.