New Settlers, New Transnationals

This book is concerned with the experiences of acculturation, settlement and ethnic identity formation of a special cohort of migrants to New Zealand: members of the 1.5 generation, who migrated from East Asia as children of highly-skilled, well-educated migrant parents. Advocating a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods as a particularly effective way of 'doing sociology', the research explores the meanings, motives and aspirations of migrant adolescents. It addresses their perceptions and assignments of meaning with regard to their own ethnic identity as members of the 1.5 generation, their sense of belonging and the social distance between themselves and others in New Zealand society; their acculturation experiences and strategies; their relationships with their parents and other family members; and their engagement with the wider community. The experiences of this 'in-between' population confounds conventional explantions of migrant adjustment and settlement, and instead point towards new forms of intergenerational transnationalism.