Chinese Immigrant Associations
When and why did Chinese people begin to settle down in a Western society in this instance the Netherlands? When did Chinese immigrants to the Netherlands begin to set up their own associations and why? How have their organizational activities developed thus keeping pace with their efforts to adjust themselves to Dutch society? What factors have shaped their organizational structures and what is the social significance of these associations?
By LI MINGHUAN
Starting from an outline of the Chinese immigration process and the development of their associations in the Netherlands and making an analysis of their characteristics, the purpose of this research project is to portray the collective social features of the Chinese immigrants in the Netherlands. More specifically, the objectives of this study are:1. To trace the history of the Chinese immigration process and organizational activities in the Netherlands;
2. To discuss the diversity and unity within the Chinese immigrant community;
3. To explore their attempts to develop an identity while caught in the gap between their sending and receiving societies.
A general characteristic of Chinese immigrants in the Netherlands is that they are living between two worlds: one is the world of their origin, which is a physically distant but psychologically familiar world; the other is the world of their everyday life, which remains psychologically distant despite its physical presence. Taking the social significance of the Chinese associations as a special angle from which to start the research, this study aims to explore two aspects: how the Chinese immigrants use their social resources from their country of origin to survive and develop themselves in a Western society; and how their experiences in the West, regardless of whether or not they have realized their dreams, have affected their social status in their original world.
One of my major arguments in this study is that the Chinese associations are regarded as both barriers and bridges that function between the Chinese immigrants and their receiving society. Some studies have argued that the Chinese associations have only acted as boundary markers and barriers to closer relations with mainstream societies; while others have stressed that associations indicate a trend towards integration. Although Chinese immigrant associations are undoubtedly influenced by their Western surroundings, they are fundamentally derived from aspects of their original culture, e.g., values, habits, or ideas. Thus, instead of following the traditional approach of discussing whether the Chinese organizational activities have retarded the assimilation or integration of the Chinese immigrants into the host society, this study will explore their basic functions as an organizational approach to straddling the two worlds and, furthermore, their attempt to benefit from being the bridge between them.
Generally speaking, through the activities organized by the Chinese associations, their social functions can be divided into two categories:
1. Their manifest function is to form an invisible wall by accentuating the we-group feeling and differentiating their members from outsiders; on the other hand, they have built a bridge to the wider society by acting as a representative agent and as an intermediary towards the authorities and the general population;
2. Meanwhile, a latent function has been the construction of an ethnic niche; that is, a cultural and social space that is distinct from both the receiving and sending societies.
To a certain degree, I have attempted to study the general concerns of Chinese immigrants through this local case of the Netherlands. There has been a Chinese immigrant community in the Netherlands for about one century. Especially since the Second World War, Chinese immigration into the Netherlands has been on the increase, and the combined assets of this group have swelled considerably when compared to those of many larger immigrant communities in that country. Moreover, the Chinese have organized themselves to be able to call for proper attention to be paid to their significance, and particularly to highlight their human and economic potential for both the sending and receiving societies. Their process of socio-economic adaptation collectively reflects how Chinese immigrants have developed themselves in a relatively peaceful and lenient environment.
As the result of this research project, a book titled 'We Need Two Worlds, Chinese Immigrant Associations in a Western Society' has been written. The book begins with an examination of the process of settlement of the Chinese in the Netherlands. Then, once the history of the Chinese voluntary associations has been traced in detail, different types of associations are distinguished.
Finally, some conclusions are drawn from a comparative perspective to provide an outlook on the future development of the Chinese association movement in the Netherlands. The book will be published by Amsterdam University Press in December 1999. *
Dr Li Minghuan is a research fellow at the IIAS. She can be reached at: Minghuanli@let.leidenuniv.nl