The plasticity of diasporic identities in superdiverse cities

This chapter reviews and evaluates the main arguments for and against diaspora engagement policies. It examines the equally common normative argument that migrant-sending states have obligations to treat their diasporas fairly. The chapter also considers the increasingly widespread argument that better 'diaspora governance' is required to enhance international cooperation in the area of migration. It reviews and evaluates prominent arguments surrounding diaspora engagement policies, focusing on three main areas: the interests of states, the mutual obligations between states and emigrants, and the cooperation between sending states, receiving states and migrants themselves. The chapter has shown that migrant-sending states are confronted with imperatives and opportunities to pursue their interests through engaging their diasporas, but that these arguments alone do not necessarily override the territorial norm around which world politics are theoretically organized

Achieving ethnic authenticity through ‘return’ visits to Vietnam: paradoxes of class and gender among the British-born Vietnamese

The Vietnamese in Britain are a small and less visible community who remain largely unrecognised in wider society. For those born in Britain, constructing a Vietnamese identity and a sense of ethnic belonging is often rendered problematic due to a lack of inclusion in, and identification with, their local Vietnamese community. Instead, ‘return’ visits to Vietnam occupy a particularly important space in their narratives of ethnic authentification. Drawing upon the literature on migrant-homeland relations, this paper highlights the importance of divisions of gender, class and migration trajectories in understanding patterns of transnational participation and engagement among Vietnamese migrants. It is argued that British-born Vietnamese women are more likely to engage actively in their ‘return’ visits and make personal and emotional investments compared to their male counterparts whose visits remain largely symbolic. These differences are shaped by social class configurations and gender expectations both in Britain and Vietnam. However, while ‘return’ visits provide more effective ethnic authentification strategies for women than men who experience a more compromised masculine status and negative experiences in the ‘homeland’, paradoxically their class differences with the majority of the population weakens and questions this authenticity leading to an ‘arrested’ achievement of ethnic authenticity

Home and Online Management and Evaluation of Blood Pressure (HOME BP) using a digital intervention in poorly controlled hypertension: randomised controlled trial

Objective: The HOME BP (Home and Online Management and Evaluation of Blood Pressure) trial aimed to test a digital intervention for hypertension management in primary care by combining self-monitoring of blood pressure with guided self-management. Design: Unmasked randomised controlled trial with automated ascertainment of primary endpoint. Setting: 76 general practices in the United Kingdom. Participants: 622 people with treated but poorly controlled hypertension (>140/90 mm Hg) and access to the internet. Interventions: Participants were randomised by using a minimisation algorithm to self-monitoring of blood pressure with a digital intervention (305 participants) or usual care (routine hypertension care, with appointments and drug changes made at the discretion of the general practitioner; 317 participants). The digital intervention provided feedback of blood pressure results to patients and professionals with optional lifestyle advice and motivational support. Target blood pressure for hypertension, diabetes, and people aged 80 or older followed UK national guidelines. Main outcome measures: The primary outcome was the difference in systolic blood pressure (mean of second and third readings) after one year, adjusted for baseline blood pressure, blood pressure target, age, and practice, with multiple imputation for missing values. Results: After one year, data were available from 552 participants (88.6%) with imputation for the remaining 70 participants (11.4%). Mean blood pressure dropped from 151.7/86.4 to 138.4/80.2 mm Hg in the intervention group and from 151.6/85.3 to 141.8/79.8 mm Hg in the usual care group, giving a mean difference in systolic blood pressure of −3.4 mm Hg (95% confidence interval −6.1 to −0.8 mm Hg) and a mean difference in diastolic blood pressure of −0.5 mm Hg (−1.9 to 0.9 mm Hg). Results were comparable in the complete case analysis and adverse effects were similar between groups. Within trial costs showed an incremental cost effectiveness ratio of £11 ($15, €12; 95% confidence interval £6 to £29) per mm Hg reduction. Conclusions: The HOME BP digital intervention for the management of hypertension by using self-monitored blood pressure led to better control of systolic blood pressure after one year than usual care, with low incremental costs. Implementation in primary care will require integration into clinical workflows and consideration of people who are digitally excluded. Trial registration: ISRCTN13790648

‘Becoming adult by remaining a minor’ : reconfigurations of adulthood and wellbeing by young Vietnamese migrants in the UK

This chapter investigates how Vietnamese cultural media engages with the concepts of ‘Migration’, ‘Becoming Adult’, ‘Wellbeing’ and ‘Futures, to establish the potential impact such media have on young people’s migratory decisions. Through a particular focus on social media, this chapter argues that the internet plays a significant role in shaping and forming views about migration, how to succeed as a young migrant once in the UK and when to ‘return’ home to Vietnam. Although young Vietnamese migrants are frequently represented in the media as ‘child slaves’ and victims forced to work in cannabis farms, their migratory realities are in fact far more complex. We suggest that some young people may seek out ‘employment’ as a route to becoming adult, developing agency and fulfilling broader family and community expectations of their migratory journeys

A new post-diasporic moment of organising: Crafting ‘East and Southeast Asian diaspora’ in the UK

In this article, we discuss the productive ways in which diaspora has worked as a catalyst and provocateur for East and Southeast Asians in the UK. We explore how in its most radical conception, diaspora can foster progressive cultural, social and political forms of solidarity building and spaces for belonging in everyday contexts shaped by marginalisation, racial violence and state brutality. As well as connecting historical legacies with contemporary concerns and broader transnational flows and exchanges, formations of de-essentialised (de-ethnicised) diaspora can provide alternative visions of ‘Asianness’ that challenge politically regressive, neoliberal consumer and other constructions of Asian identities that homogenise, stereotype and dehumanise. We first discuss the specific ways in which the notion of ‘Asian’ diaspora is constructed in UK discourse, which highlights the legacies of empire and colonial legacies in shaping contemporary articulations of identities and forms of political mobilisation. Here, we draw attention to the invisibility of East and South East Asia diasporas, in particularly examining the hegemonic position of ‘Chinese’ over other ethnicities as well as the invisibility of East and Southeast Asian identities in relation to constructions of South Asian and Black British diasporas. Drawing on our research, we discuss how East and South East Asianness is constructed among different groups of young people in the UK. We highlight both commonalities and hierarchies among differently positioned ethnicities and show how these have been constructed in state and public discourse and also within communities. We examine the myriad ways in which differently imagined notions of ‘Asian diaspora’ becomes significant to individuals and communities, and how it offers new means of social boundary-making and creating alternative imaginations of the future. In particular, we examine the formation and visions of different groups such as BEATS, Daikon, Asia-Art-Activism, Eastern Margins, Diaspora Disco and Bitten Peach. Contestations around constructions of ‘Asianness’ in relation to gender, sexuality, political community and imperialism re-define the place of ‘Asianness’ in British and other societies. Finally, we reflect on the significant transformative role of COVID-19 on constructions of ‘Asianness’ in the UK as a catalyst for new politicised activities around civil society, community and solidarity. We also consider the related role of online platforms as a facilitator in these processes. In our conclusion, we argue that we are seeing a new proliferation of Asian diasporic consciousness in the UK. Exploring this emergence reveals both the limits and possibilities of ‘diaspora’ as a category for facilitating solidarity building and progressive politics. We suggest that the concept of ‘diaspora space’ is more useful for enabling inclusive and fluid understandings of diasporic consciousness and community building which can move beyond historical legacies and power dynamics to enable new visions.  Diaspora space also better represents the practices and activities of young East and Southeast Asian populations in the UK, which are far from unitary but instead multiple, distinctive and transformative.

Sharing biographical vulnerabilities in the focus group setting : building solidarities, de-individualising racism and protective silences

Doing focus group research with young East and Southeast Asian people on the racialised politics of belonging in Britain reveals rich and complex dynamics of vulnerability and resilience. Inviting young people to share their views and reflect upon their experiences as minoritized and underrepresented groups in Britain often entails the sharing of sensitive life stories. This includes the divulging of biographical traumas but also the discovery of shared commonalities, differences, humour and mutual empathy. This paper explores both the empowering and disempowering potential of focus groups as a forum for sharing biographical experience. We argue that the focus group setting can provide opportunities for overcoming vulnerabilities through listening to shared experience, developing solidarity with others and de-individualising experiences of racism. However, focus groups can also generate discomfort when differences between participants and facilitators are too great or too small or where power dynamics are too asymmetrical. In these situations, participants use ‘protective silences’ to shield them from sharing vulnerabilities and experiencing potential retraumatisation