Are the Chinese in Africa more innovative than the Africans ? Comparing Chinese and Nigerian entrepreneurial migrants‘ Cultures of Innovation

ABSTRACt & RÉSUMÉ : The remarkable influx of Chinese migrant entrepreneurs in West Africa has been met with growing resistance from established African entrepreneurs. Whether the Chinese have a competitive edge over Africans because of distinctive sociocultural traits or whether the Chineseʹs supposed effectiveness is just a characteristic feature of any trading diaspora is open to question. This comparative exploratory study of Chinese and Nigerian entrepreneurial migrants in Ghana and Benin provides initial answers to these questions. Apparently, the cultural stimuli for migrant drivers of change are not restricted to inherited value systems and religions, such as a Protestant ethic or Confucianism. Rather, they are continually adapted and invented anew by transnational migration networks in a globalized world. There is no evidence of the supposed superiority of the innovative culture of Chinese entrepreneurial migrants versus that of African entrepreneurial migrants. Instead, there exist trading diasporas which have a generally enhanced innovative capacity vis-àvis local entrepreneurs, regardless of the national culture in which they are embedded. In addition, the rivalry of Chinese and Nigerian migrant entrepreneurs in African markets does not necessarily lead to the often suspected cut-throat competition. Often the actions of each group are complementary and mutual benefiting to those of the other. Under certain conditions they even contribute to poverty alleviation in the host country. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RÉSUMÉ: [Les Chinois en Afrique sont-ils plus innovants que les Africains? Comparaison des cultures d'innovation des migrants entrepreneurs chinois et nigérians] L'afflux remarquable des entrepreneurs migrants chinois en Afrique de l'Ouest a été heurté à la résistance croissante de la part des entrepreneurs africains établis. Que les premiers ont un avantage concurrentiel sur ce dernier en raison des traits culturelles distinctifs ou que la prétendue efficacité des Chinois est simplement une caractéristique de toute diaspora commercial est ouvert à la question. Cette étude comparative exploratoire de migrants entrepreneuriales chinois et nigérians au Ghana et au Bénin offre des premières réponses à cette question. Apparemment, les stimuli culturels des migrants pilotes du changement ne sont pas limités à des systèmes des valeurs hérité ou à des valeurs religieuses, comme l’éthique protestante (Max Weber) ou le confucianisme. Plutôt, ils sont continuellement adaptés et inventés de nouveau par les réseaux de la migration transnationale dans un monde globalisé. Il n'y a aucune preuve de la prétendue supériorité de la culture d'innovation des migrants chinois par rapport à celle des migrants africains entrepreneurials. Plutôt, il existe des diasporas commerciaux qui ont une capacité d'innovation renforcée en générale vis-à-vis des entrepreneurs locaux, indépendamment de la culture nationale dans laquelle ils sont intégrés. En outre, la rivalité des entrepreneurs migrants chinois et nigérians dans les marchés africains ne conduit pas nécessairement à la concurrence coupe-gorge souvent soupçonnée. Souvent, les actions de chaque groupe sont complémentaires créant un bénéfice mutuel. Sous certaines conditions, cette situation peut même contribuer à une réduction de la pauvreté dans le pays d'accueil.

Transnationalism and internationalism: Revival of the terms

The article is a review of the book Living in Two Worlds: Rethinking Transnationalism and Translocality (Moscow: NLO; 2020. 259 p.). The book was one of the results of the research project Transnational and translocal aspects of migration in contemporary Russia conducted at the European University of Saint Petersburg in 2015-2017 with the support of the Russian Science Foundation. The review convincingly shows that the authors of this scientific monograph really succeeded in rethinking the complex social phenomena behind the sociological terms transnational migration and translocal migration. The author of the review tries to answer the questions about reasons for the introduction of these terms into the theoretical scientific discourse and about directions the articles suggest for their rethinking.

CHALLENGES OF FIRST LANGUAGE ACQUISITION IN EARLY CHILDHOOD: FATHER OR MOTHER LANGUAGE?

В статье рассматриваются вопросы передачи родного языка следующим поколениям у населения Горно-Бадахшанской автономной области Таджикистана в ситуации активных языковых контактов: в местах фрагментированного распространения миноритарных памирских языков (ваханский, ишкашимский и др.), смешанных с зонами таджикского языка, где фрагментация населения усугубляется социокультурными практиками и брачными моделями; и при проживании в условиях внутренней и внешней миграции. В основу статьи положены материалы, собранные в ходе полевых исследований в Таджикистане и России методами наблюдения и интервью, в частности по методу фокус-групп, а также на основе анализа данных социальных сетей на памирских языках и публикаций по вопросам родного языка и лингвокультурной идентичности. Анализ языковых ситуаций проводится на основе типологической модели Эдвардса с выделением социолингвистических и демографических факторов, влияющих на жизнеспособность языковой группы. Мы рассматриваем формы передачи родного языка следующим поколениям у членов этих этнических групп в условиях двуязычия при традиционных моделях компактного проживания, а также в условиях многоязычия в ходе миграции. Установлено, каким образом стратегии жизнеобеспечения семьи, такие как тип расселения и брачные модели или выбор определенного типа миграции, оказывают влияние на стратегии и приемы передачи языковых навыков детям, а также на выбор и предпочтение языков родителями, а затем и самими детьми. Выявляются языковые предпочтения определенных групп на уровне семьи и этнической группы, их причины и приемы их поддержания. Кроме того, отмечен недавний поворот от нейтрально-позитивного отношения молодежи к родным (памирским) языкам к лингвистическому активизму и продвижению их в цифровом пространстве, а также созданию на них образовательных продуктов. The article is focused on the transmission of native languages to the next generation among the population of the Mountainous-Badakhshan Autonomous Region, Tajikistan. The article is based on data collected during field research in Tajikistan and Russia, using observational methods and interviews, in particular focus groups. It also draws on monitoring of social media in the Pamir languages and on publications addressing the mother tongues and linguacultural identity of the Pamir ethnic groups. Particular attention is given to the areas where language contacts are especially active. First, the steadily shrinking fragmented zones of distribution of various minority Pamir languages (Wakhan, Ishkashim) mixed with the Tajik language; here, fragmentation of the population in the contact zones is aggravated by socio-cultural practices and intensified by specific marriage patterns, whereby men marry women from neighbouring villages speaking languages other than their own. Another area where language contact and linguistic shift are most apparent concerns members of these ethnic groups who undertake internal or external migration. The analysis of linguistic situations is based on Edwards’ typological model employing a set of sociolinguistic and demographic factors which affect the viability of a language group. We examine the ways in which mother tongues are transmitted to the next generation among members of these ethnic groups in conditions of compact residence; we consider their specific bilingual model, when the native language turns to be a father’s language. We also trace multilingual models in the context of increasing translocal and transnational migration, with its variety of approaches. It has been established how family life support strategies, such as the type of settlement and marriage patterns or the choice of a certain type of migration, influence the transfer of language skills to children, as well as the choice and preference of languages by parents, and later by children themselves. Among our outcomes, we reveal the types of bilingualism of certain groups (passive/early bilingualism, multilingualism), the reasons for this bilingualism and the specific means of its maintenance (such as settlement and marriage patterns). We reveal a recent development whereby a neutral attitude towards native (Pamir) languages has given way, among the younger generation, to linguistic activism, the promotion of these languages in the digital space and the creation of educational products on them.

Idioms of polymediated practices and the techno-social accomplishment of co-presence in transnational families

Drawing on data from a comparative ethnographic study on media usage in transnational families this paper contributes to a reappraisal of polymedia theory. Two main theoretical assumptions are reconsidered. First, it is demonstrated why the equal availability assumption has to be revised in light of the complex interactions between the corporeal, communicative and social mobilities which together constitute transnational migration. Second, it is argued that the techno-socially accomplished co-presence in transnational families depends more on the creative appropriation and combination of different media channels and communication forms than on the choice between them. In order to empirically investigate the specific needs for, and forms of co-presence in families, the concept of ‘registers of presence’ is proposed. It allows us to understand in detail in what ways and in which constellations transnational families create togetherness with the help of communication technologies.

Introduction

The introduction addresses the idea of “Latin America” as a constructed concept of transnational and comparative significance. It introduces the reader to the dynamic character of regional perspectives, with questions that have grown increasingly complex given the contested nature of borders, increasing globalization, multiculturalism, and transnational migration. Although diversity defines Latin America, supporting comparative approaches within and beyond its fluid boundaries, it is equally important to note the shared geopolitical, sociological, and cultural trends that have shaped a transnational domain of connected histories, recurrent interactions, and continental visions. These transnational trends have emerged time and again, affecting the nation-states that crystallized in the nineteenth century. It is to the analysis of this Janus face of Latin American development that the book’s chapters turn.

‘Kyidug Manyom’: Transnational Migration, Belonging and Social Change in Mustang, Nepal

This paper explores transnational migration in and from Mustang, Nepal, a high-altitude region of the Himalayas, to understand how people who migrate and return reconstruct a sense of belonging to their birthplace. Narrative ethnography forms the core of this paper as we discuss the stories of four individuals from Mustang to explore the complex decision making around migration and the act of returning, permanently and cyclically. We build on theories of ‘transnationalism’ and ‘belonging,’ and emphasize the circular nature of migration, to argue that migratory journeys involve a continued evaluation of the social and economic realities of contemporary life at ‘home’—highlighting intergenerational tensions, ideas around cultural preservation, and a dynamic understanding of belonging in the context of a transnational community. Although financial need continues to be a primary driving force behind migration trends in Mustang, this paper acknowledges other factors that shape migration such as, family pressure and intergenerational tensions, and the infrastructural and technological developments that have made travel and communication easier and more reliable. Despite the widespread depopulation of Nepal’s highlands, we argue that many Mustangis who migrate remain committed to Mustang’s socioeconomic future, and nurture a connection to their ancestral homeland even as their transnational aspirations pull them away.