Mobility, white bodies and desire: Euro-American women in Jakarta

This paper illustrates how cultural logics of desire are being transformed in the context of the global economy refashioning intimate lives. Exploring the experiences of Euro-American female professionals in Jakarta, it suggests that they become uncomfortably visible as ‘white bodies’; their desirability appears compromised, especially given Orientalist discourses which valorise Asian women's bodies. At the same time, women's position as well-paid employees generates a contradictory logic of desire: the ‘ego-boost’ they experience at work may intensify their demands on the masculinity and enlightened views of potential partners, thus rendering Indonesian men, with their perceived bodily effeminacy and ‘traditional values’ unattractive. As one response to the lack of desirability, some women engage in a moral discourse that casts Indonesian women whom they consider ‘bargirls’, as well as the Euro-American men they attract, as morally deficient. The paper thus provides an alternative perspective on reconfigurations of desire in the context of global gendered mobility

Living in the gap: foreigners in Yogyakarta, Java

The discussions concerning 'movement' and 'identity' often focus on potentially threatened identification processes. In contrast to this, there are ‚movement‘ situations in which identification is not necessarily experienced as problematic, but seems to become overall less relevant. In the case of foreign nationals living in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, movement is sometimes seen as a possibility for extending one's personality, rather than questioning it. This is made possible through the specific circumstances under which this kind of movement occurs. In the context of global political, economic and social inequalities, living in the 'gap' between their 'home' countries and the Indonesian setting, this existence gives rise to various economic and social gains. This situation seems to diminish the sense of urgency of identification processes, while at the same time producing a set of diverse affiliations, which also bring about changed notions of 'home'

Aid work as moral labour

This paper argues that some of the engagements and practices of international aid workers can be productively understood as forms of moral labour. Taking Hardt’s concept of ‘immaterial labour’ (1999) as a point of reference, the paper examines the moral practices that aid workers engage in the course of their work and personal lives. Much of the relevant literature focuses on the humanitarian imperative – that is, the implied moral responsibility of better-off nations and individuals to assist others in need. Less extensively, some development literature has adopted the understanding of aid and development assistance in moral frameworks of the gift, or ‘doing good’. What happens, though, in terms of experienced and practiced moralities in the concrete situations and scenarios generated by such helping imperatives? Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork among aid workers in Cambodia, the paper examines some of the perhaps inevitable moral entanglements which these workers find themselves in, and have to negotiate. The analytical benefits of framing these efforts as ‘moral labour’ include a broadened understanding of how morality matters in aid beyond the helping imperative, as well as a recognition that the significance of this labour does not rest on products that may result from it, but lies in the performance of the labour itself

Transnationalizing the ‘Moral neoliberal’? Private aid initiatives in Cambodia

Within South East Asia, informal, non-state development actors have become more prominent. The case of small-scale, private aid activities in Cambodia offers the opportunity to reflect on how state frameworks and interventions matter for such projects. Typically, theories of how a state encourages its citizens’ pro-social behaviour while retracting is own commitments, view this within a single nation state. Citizen aid in Cambodia, however, is often characterised by collaborations between national and international peers, and relies, to some extent, on resource flows along those networks. It encourages us to think through such approaches transnationally. This means broadening the analytical framework of the ‘moral neoliberal' (Muehlebach 2012, The Moral Neoliberal: Welfare and Citizenship in Italy. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press) to account for the fact that activities of thus-responsibilised citizens expand beyond the confines of their nation state. In the Cambodian case, a lack of public service provision, combined with a hitherto loosely regulated third sector, have created conditions where such initiatives have proliferated. The case of private aid thus challenges the scope of ‘moral neoliberal', as conceived within the framework of a nation state, as it leaves out of sight those ‘ethical citizens’ who are active transnationally

Transnational lives and their boundaries : expatriates in Jakarta, Indonesia

This thesis investigates the lives of Euro-Americans expatriates, who are posted by multinational companies for a period between 1 to 5 years to the city of Jakarta, Indonesia. The main argument of this thesis is that expatriates' transnational lives are marked by boundaries. The prevalence of boundaries contrasts with current discussions on migration and transnationalism, which emphasise notions of fluidity. I suggest that expatriates' construction, maintenance, and transgression of boundaries characterises their relations with Indonesia. This is played out in especially in the domains of race and gender, interconnected with the body, the use of space, and socialising. Gender and race are among the most persistent of categories, which reconfigure especially expatriate women's experience of Indonesia, although they can never quite be transcended. The centrality of these categories, of race and gender, is not reflected in research on transnationalism. I argue that although expatriates lead `transnational' lives, their practices are marked by boundaries more than by flows. The notions of flows and boundaries are not conceptualised as opposites, but as necessarily presupposing each other. I suggest, though, that the role of boundaries in transnational lives has so far been disregarded. The study of expatriates thus adds a crucial dimension to theories of transnationalism. It also carries political relevance, asexpatriates represent `transnationalism from above', counterbalancing the existing research on unskilled labour migration movements. As expatriates have hardly been investigated at all, this study then fills a significant gap in terms of ethnography

Brokering transnational flows of care: the case of citizen aid

A Cambodian town is the site of transnational flows of resources between private donors, and Cambodians in need of assistance. Such forms of ‘citizen aid’, initiated by individuals, constitute a form of resource transfer across borders which falls outside the purview of migration scholars. Unlike remittances, they are not primarily channelled through kin-related or geographical ties. Instead, they are enabled by brokers of care, Cambodian and international, who facilitate both personal connections and forms of support. The lens of the broker enables an understanding of citizen aid as a form of brokering care. It offers a critique of the moral ambiguity of the broker, as well as on the relationship between care and control. Casting people in need not merely as recipients, but as providing opportunities for intervention sought after by supporters, means upending conventional notions of who are recipients and donors, and what kind of resources they control respectively

Transnational lives and their boundaries : expatriates in Jakarta, Indonesia

This thesis investigates the lives of Euro-Americans expatriates, who are posted by multinational companies for a period between 1 to 5 years to the city of Jakarta, Indonesia. The main argument of this thesis is that expatriates' transnational lives are marked by boundaries. The prevalence of boundaries contrasts with current discussions on migration and transnationalism, which emphasise notions of fluidity. I suggest that expatriates' construction, maintenance, and transgression of boundaries characterises their relations with Indonesia. This is played out in especially in the domains of race and gender, interconnected with the body, the use of space, and socialising. Gender and race are among the most persistent of categories, which reconfigure especially expatriate women's experience of Indonesia, although they can never quite be transcended. The centrality of these categories, of race and gender, is not reflected in research on transnationalism. I argue that although expatriates lead `transnational' lives, their practices are marked by boundaries more than by flows. The notions of flows and boundaries are not conceptualised as opposites, but as necessarily presupposing each other. I suggest, though, that the role of boundaries in transnational lives has so far been disregarded. The study of expatriates thus adds a crucial dimension to theories of transnationalism. It also carries political relevance, asexpatriates represent `transnationalism from above', counterbalancing the existing research on unskilled labour migration movements. As expatriates have hardly been investigated at all, this study then fills a significant gap in terms of ethnography

Transnational lives: expatriates in Indonesia

Privileged migrants, such as expatriates living abroad, are typically associated with lives of luxury in exotic locations. This fascinating and in-depth study reveals a more complex reality. By focusing on corporate expatriates the author provides one of the first book length studies on 'transnationalism from above'. The book draws on the author's extended research among the expatriate community in Jakarta, Indonesia. The findings, which relate to expatriate communities worldwide, provide a nuanced analysis of current trends among a globally mobile workforce. While acknowledging the potentially empowering impact of transnationalism, the author challenges current paradigms by arguing that the study of elite migration shows that transnational lives do not always entail fluid identities but the maintenance of boundaries - of body, race and gender. The rich ethnographic data adds a critical dimension to studies of migration and transnationalism, filling a distinct gap in terms of theory and ethnography. Written in an engaging and accessible style the book will be of interest to academics and students, particularly in anthropology, migration studies and human geography

Expatriates in Indonesien

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