17. Sojourners and Birds of Paradise

Most research into migration and diaspora tends to focus on one group or country at a time — often treating them in isolation. This is especially true for studies of Chinese and Italian migration to places like the U.S. and Australia. Here we discuss what we can learn by putting those stories side by side. The focus is on how people from China and Italy moved to the U.S. and Australia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and how many of them kept close ties to the places they left behind. By comparing things like family networks, remittances, migration chains, agents, loans, donations, publishing, trade, border laws, return visits — even the practice of sending bones back home for burial — we can explore the ways migrants stayed connected to their homelands. We also look at how the villages back home were affected, the role of those who stayed behind, and how the experiences of later generations started to diverge. Finally, this comparison sheds light on how the two white settler nations — the U.S. and Australia — treated migrants differently, especially along lines of race or perceived whiteness. We argue that these differences not only shaped migration at the time, but also still affect how historians write about these two diasporas today. Comparing them directly, we suggest, helps us understand both better. Williams, M., 2020. Sojourners & Birds of Passage: Chinese and Italian Migrants in Australia and the United States in Comparative Perspective, 1871-1914. Journal of the European Association for Studies on Australia, 11(2), pp.2-16. Please check out our publications at - https://chidestudypresscom.wordpress.com/the-bookstore Feel free to ask questions at: [email protected]