Title: Surviving the Global(izing) City: Burmese Transnational Migrants and Community Formation in Bangkok and SingaporeSubmitted by: Dr. Michael W. Charney, Centre for Advanced Studies, National University of SingaporeGlobal(izing) cities offer unique challenges and opportunities for community formation by transnational migrants. The prevailing literature on these transnational migrant communities, however, has not looked sufficiently at the additional challenges (and different responses to these challenges) brought by more severe problems linked to globalization, especially in the last few years. Using the case studies of Burmese transnational migrants in Thailand and in Singapore, this paper will analyze the ways in which transnational migrant communities have (and have not) adapted to the instabilities involved in globalization, particularly the recent Southeast Asian economic crisis. This paper will also stress its relevance to broader theoretical discussions on general transnational migrant community formation, on the nature and challenges of globalization for Southeast Asian cities, and the long-term impact of the Southeast Asian economic crisis on transnational migration within Southeast Asia. This paper relies upon field research in Thailand and Singapore in 1999 and 2000, interviews, transnational migrant community publications, archival materials, and other primary sources for its source materials. 'Return to Abstracts menuCarol Burnett Phone: 61 - 3 - 9349 1899 Email: c.burnett@asialink.unimelb.edu.au
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