ABSTRACT

Singapore used to be receptive to labour migration and Japan more restrictive. Recently, trends in both countries have reversed and a selection based on racial background has been noted by migrants. Using qualitative data of young white Europeans, this paper argues that amidst changing immigration policies, the way these migrants are received and perceived as “skilled” is not necessarily due to their acquired skills but rather to the passively accrued value of whiteness. This in turn fuels migrants’ self-identification as white and their perceptions of a market demand for white foreigners. However, their migratory trajectories underline that in a changing landscape of skill appreciation, meanings of whiteness are changing, too. The paper links migration with critical whiteness studies and argues that white privilege is sustained differently in Singapore and Japan, yet that in both cases, whiteness increasingly acts passively rather than being actionable capital and that its benefits are questionable.

摘要

新加坡曾经接受劳工移民，而日本则更为严格。最近，两国的趋势都发生了逆转，移民注意到了基于种族背景的选择。本文使用欧洲年轻白人的定性数据，认为在不断变化的移民政策中，这些移民的接收和被视为“熟练”的方式不一定是由于他们获得的技能，而是由于白人的被动积累价值。反过来，这助长了移民对白人的自我认同以及他们对白人外国人的市场需求的看法。然而，他们的迁徙轨迹突显出，在不断变化的技能欣赏环境中，白色的含义也在发生变化。