عنوان

British colonial legacies, citizenship habitus, and a culture of migration :

Number

TLets658135

Title Proper

British colonial legacies, citizenship habitus, and a culture of migration :

General Material Designation

[Thesis]

First Statement of Responsibility

Koh, Sin Yee

Title Proper by Another Author

mobile Malaysians in London, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur

Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.

London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London)

Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.

2014

Dissertation or thesis details and type of degree

Ph.D.

Body granting the degree

London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London)

Text preceding or following the note

2014

Text of Note

This thesis examines the relationship between British colonial legacies and a culture of migration amongst mobile Malaysians (tertiary-educated Malaysians with transnational migration experience). Drawing from Bourdieu's "habitus", I propose the concept of "citizenship habitus" - a set of inherited dispositions about the meanings and significance of citizenship - to understand how and why mobile Malaysians carry out certain citizenship and migration practices. These practices include: firstly, interpreting and practising Malaysian citizenship as a de-politicised and primordial (ethno)national belonging to "Malaysia" that is conflated with national loyalty; and secondly, migration (especially for overseas education) as a way of life (i.e. a culture of migration) that may not be recognised as a means of circumventing pro-Bumiputera (lit. "sons of soil") structural constraints. Methodologically, I draw from my reflexive reading of archival documents and interview-conversations with 67 mobile Malaysians: 16 in London/UK, 27 in Singapore, six in other global locations, and 18 returnees. I argue that mobile Malaysians' citizenship and migration practices have been informed by three British colonial legacies: firstly, the materialising of race and Malay indigeneity; secondly, the institutionalisation of race-based school systems and education as an aspired means towards social mobility; and thirdly, race-based political representation and a federal state consisting of an arbitrary amalgamation of socio-economically and historically diverse territories. The Malayan Emergency (1948-1960) further instilled state-led focus on "racial tensions", resulting in default authoritative strategies to govern, educate, and motivate the citizenry. These colonial legacies, inherited and exacerbated by the post-colonial Malaysian state, contributed to the institutionalisation of Malaysia's Bumiputera-differentiated citizenship and race-based affirmative action policies, with particular effects on education, migration and social mobility. By adopting a postcolonial approach to migration phenomena, this thesis highlights the longevity of British colonial legacies with long-lasting effects on Malaysia's contemporary skilled migration, both in terms of migration geographies and citizenship practices.

GF Human ecology. Anthropogeography

HT Communities. Classes. Races

JV Colonies and colonization. Emigration and immigration. International migration

Koh, Sin Yee

London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London)

Electronic name

p

[Thesis]

276903

a

Y