Illegal Migration in China: Social Perspectives on Modern “Snakeheads”

Författare

Emmy Yen

Summary, in English

This essay attempts to analyze possible social perspectives on modern day “snakeheads“ (shetou 蛇头, facilitators of irregular migration) in China’s emigration-intense regions. The essay argues that even though “snakeheads” are criminals there is a huge variety of perspectives on how “snakeheads“ are perceived by society - reaching from condemned and hated to celebrated and admired - and tries to find reasons for this phenomenon.
While connecting case studies to current research, the evaluation of their social position is approached by analyzing (1) their occupations, (2) the methods they use in illegal border crossings and (3) distinct features of history, culture and society of the emigration-intense regions using the example of Fujian Province.
The existence of the various perspectives on “snakeheads” seems closely related to three aspects: historical tendencies, the strong desire and social expectation to go abroad, and the unclear sense of the concepts of legal and illegal of members of society in the emigration-intense regions. It will be shown that a full understanding of their social position is only possible through understanding those distinct features of history, culture and society, thus suggesting that effectively reducing irregular migration in long term can most likely only be accomplished by understanding and reshaping these cultural practices and
educating society, not only by reinforcing legal pressure.

Keywords: “snakehead”, shetou, 蛇头, irregular migration, illegal migration, social position, social perspective, emigration-intese regions, Fujian

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