CEU eTD Collection In partialfulfillment oftherequirements ofMastersArts for thedegree The case of Chinese entrepreneurs in therustbelts The caseofChineseentrepreneurs Why Would of the8 Department ofSociologyand SocialAnthropology Assistant Professor Daniel Monterescu th and10 Central EuropeanUniversity Professor Ayse Caglar MELINDA SZABÓ We Budapest, Hungary Submitted to Submitted Supervisors NeedA “Chinatown”? th districts of Budapest 2009 By CEU eTD Collection brought up in a foreign country yet with strong transnational cultural ties. identity can be constructed or maintained, which may otherwise be missing for those who were for the latter –, for its potential to constitute an enabling environment where “Chinese” ethnic regard tothe first group –, for the enhancement of business and economic positions, while –as developing a “Chinatown” in Budapest, however, less for the reasons of incorporation but –with better-off as well as the younger generation of Chinese who can be presumed to gain from connections tothe Chinesetrade area of the 8 district which is being revitalized by Chinese investors, however, along with maintaining strong “Chinatown” were developed in Budapest, its most probable site, today, is the part of the 10 “Chinatown” negatively in terms of social inclusion. According to my main findings, if a determine that within the local context who may be affected by the institutionalization ofa applied a top-down and a bottom-up approach for investigations. I paid special attention to qualitative research on the city leadership’s and migrants’ opinion about the idea. Hence I both made also but processes, these condition surely which networks transnational migrants’ answers to this question Ihave scrutinized not only the structural opportunities of the city and branding itself with themulticultural environment that these places constitute. For seeking promote transnational migrants’ urban incorporation and could advance the city’s position as recognition of a “Chinatown” would be beneficial both for the city and Chinese migrants. It may turned to form the basis of a“Chinatown”. However, according to my presumption, the formal the fact that despite the spatial concentration ofChinese trading enterprises these areas have not migrants’ investments and business activities. The aim ofmy thesis is to explore what may reason rust belts ofand mid-90s, Chinese traders’ enduring presence can beexpected inthe the city – especially in the 8 Although the number ofChinese immigrants in Budapest is lower than it used to be in the early- Abstract th and 10 th districts of Budapest, which became reviving areas thanks to th district. As for migrants, most probably the th CEU eTD Collection down. In addition, a thank you to Donna, who despite her age did notcrash and let our cyborg identity family to bear that they could see me less regularly in the past months. coming up in the course of fieldwork and of thesis writing, but also thanks to old friends and my ideas and stories my to listen to ready always was almost who Boros, Csaba to thanks Many concepts. my of some of quality the improve Many thanks also toDumitrita Holdis for her invaluable contributions, which helped me to wide-ranging experience on migrants with me, which helped a lot in enriching my case study. many thanks to Sándor ofP. researchSzabó, Gergthat I couldChinese inHungary that constituted avery useful sourceof my analysis beside thelimited scope conduct on ChineseI am also indebted to Pálwithin Nyíri for his personal help as well as for his extensive fieldwork on the framework of this thesis. I thesis. would say provided me with both constructive critiques and encouragement in thecourse of developing the Daniel Monterescu, who have supported my work throughout the whole academic year and Professor Caglar and Ayse Professor supervisors, my to appreciation my express to like I would Acknowledgements ŋ Salát, and Zoltán Várhalmi as well, who shared their ii CEU eTD Collection C C C B A A A C C I Contents Table of NTRODUCTION IBLIOGRAPHY HAPTER HAPTER ONCLUSION HAPTER HAPTER PPENDIX PPENDIX PPENDIX 1.2 3.3 3.2 4.2 4.1 3.1 1.1 1.2.3 3.3.2 1.2.2 1.2.1 4.2.2 4.2.1 1.1.3 1.1.2 1.1.1 3.3.1 L C T T C T H HE EMERGENCE OF HE BASIS OF AND PROPENSITY TO DEVELOP A DEVELOP TO PROPENSITY OF AND HE BASIS HE POSITION OF HE POSITION HINESE OPPORTUNITIES PROVIDED BY THE CITY GOVERNMENT TODAY GOVERNMENT CITY THE BY PROVIDED OPPORTUNITIES HINESE HINESE TRADERS INKS TO MULTICULTURALISM AS WELL AS SEGREGATION AS WELL AS TO MULTICULTURALISM INKS OW TO DEAL WITH MIGRANTS IN THE CITY THE IN MIGRANTS WITH DEAL OW TO T T D H A W A S W L 2 4 3 1 TRUCTURAL DETERMINANTS AND FORMAL POLITICS FORMAL AND DETERMINANTS TRUCTURAL HE CASE OF HE CASE HE LOCAL MICRO ONG IFFERENT POLITICAL AND CULTURAL APPROACHES CULTURAL AND POLITICAL IFFERENT OW MAY ETHNIC OW MAY BRIEF LOOK AT THE NOTION OF MULTICULTURALISM OF NOTION THE AT LOOK BRIEF BOTTOM 3 2 1 HAT A RITING AGAINST METHODOLOGICAL ETHNICITY M C T T HE HEORETICAL HINESE ETHODS - TERM URBAN DEVELOPMENT PLANS IN PLANS DEVELOPMENT URBAN TERM C “C - ITY AND UP PERSPECTIVE HINATOWN B “C E UDAPEST ON A GLOBAL CITY SCALE AND THE ECONOMY OF MIGRANTS OF ECONOMY THE AND SCALE CITY GLOBAL A ON UDAPEST ’ EMBEDDEDNESS IN TRANSNATIONAL EMBEDDEDNESS NETWORKS IN SOCIAL NTREPRENEURS HINATOWNS C HINESE AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR URBAN PLANNING IN THE PAST THE IN PLANNING URBAN FOR RECOMMENDATIONS AND HINESE - - GROUNDED SPATIAL SEGREGATION BE INCLUSIONARY BE SEGREGATION SPATIAL GROUNDED CULTURESOF INCLUSION AND EXCLUSION F U RAMEWORK ” RBAN MAY SIGNIFY IN THE URBAN CONTEXT OF CONTEXT URBAN THE IN SIGNIFY MAY ” AS SITES OF PRODUCTION AS WELL AS RECOGNITION AS WELL AS PRODUCTION OF SITES AS P LANNING , O THER ? “C HINATOWN iii M B UDAPEST IGRANTS AND IGRANTS : . A COMPARISON OF THE TWO DISTRICTS TWO THE OF COMPARISON A G ET AN INSIGHT INTO INSIGHT AN ET ” , IN THE B UDAPEST 8 TH O AND THE AND B THER UDAPEST ? L 10 “C OCALS ? TH HINATOWNS DISTRICT ’ DISTRICTS ” 57 27 78 31 86 84 83 87 23 19 44 40 15 14 71 13 64 63 11 40 35 32 58 7 1 9 8 CEU eTD Collection the garment and toy industry have bought up abandoned factories in the 10 (see Works. These two larger blocksChinese market –alsoconstitute known as the Józsefváros market –and in the building of the former Ganz a more or less continuous2006) andarea a withinvast themajority 8 of their businesseshowever, one-third are Chinese. That is, they takesare the most “visible” migrant group in the area. place in the density of migrantsabove is the highest (Hárs et al. 2006). Most of newcomers are ethnic Hungarian,mentioned Four Tigers According to research (K as a deputy mayorBudapest of estimated the ‘real’ numberChinese of in country be over 12 000. 2 1 who areaccounted official by statistics them liveinBudapest them Eastern European countries – does not exceed 1.5 percent of the total population, almost half of 2002). 1997, Nyíri (Gyimes live migrants Chinese part of the 10 city is tangible for everyone but especially for those who visit an area within the 8 common experience for most living in today’s Budapest. The presence of Chinese migrants in the isa market” Chinese Tigers “Four the from clothes cheap getting or shops”, “Chinese smaller Introduction However,my most interviewees, of but particularly Pál Nyíri, a prominent researcherChinese of migrants As a comparison, as well less than one-fifthnative of population lives there. Chinese Trade Area A large number of Chinese in Budapest are wholesalers trading in clothes and shoes (Nyíri Although in Hungary the number of transnational migrants – similarly to other Central and Having a cheap lunch and dinner in afast food “Chinese buffet”, buying cheap shoes in th district, where Chinese traders concentrate their operation, and where most onmap in Appendix 1). At the same time, very recently Chinese traders in 1 (K ŋ ŋ szeghy et al. 2008), it is in the 8 szeghy et al. 2008). Withspecial regard to those 7000-8000 migrants 2 as “Chinese”, 82 percent settled down in thecapital. tests the heterogeneous according to unitary thought. By colliding with its own boundary, unitary thought surpasses itself. Dialectics identity; the primacy of the principle of contradiction in dialectics 1 The contradiction is the non-identical under the aspect of th is the consistent consciousness of nonidentity. and 10 th district of the city where the th district as well(see district th Adorno 1966: 5 , aswella th district CEU eTD Collection Europe, usually regard that “as political and economic assets” embodying investment and investment embodying assets” economic and “aspolitical that usuallyregard Europe, description (2003) about the attract of local politicians to a “Chinatown”, who, at least in Western different groups of urban dwellers. wants to anticipate the opportunities that the development ofa “Chinatown” would bring to the market – thanks to its partial belonging to the informal economy have to be considered when one Area inhabitants who currently work as either suppliers or as employees of Chinese in the Arabs, Turks, ethnic Hungarians, as well as natives, including both Roma and non-Roma the same time, in case ofBudapest not only Chinese but also other migrants, like Vietnamese, potential advantages for migrants to participate in urban life have to be interpreted cautiously. At of a “Chinatown” constitutes a form of socio-spatial segregation within thecity anyhow, its the economic status of Chinese in the city. However, because of the fact that the establishment probably is, biased, I argue itentails the enhancement of both the cultural and political, butalso side of city government and formal politics. Although this form of recognition may be, and most “Chinatown” means the recognition ofethnic differences within the group ofcitizens from the part. This implies another premise that Ialso hold, namely that the development of a well-definable characteristics,that acity area becoming a “Chinatown” is not aresult ofcompliance with certain unchangeable, but that“Chinatown” is an outcome of an institutionalizationof process – alonga with the acknowledgementlabeling process, a that assumption the maintain I Yet a “Chinatown”. area the makes already “Chineseness” which I will arguein the neighboring districts and thefor public attribution of the markets in question toin the next However, one may argue that just because of the perceivable concentration ofChinese migrants market and its neighborhood. New Chinese Trade Area , or From another aspect, that is, from the angle of the city, relying on Christiansen’s Nevertheless, neither of these parts of the city is conceived as a “Chinatown” by the public. those natives who capitalize onthe cheap products they can buy in the so-called Chinese on map in Appendix 1), yet not coincidentally close tothe Józsefváros 2 Chinese Trade Chinese CEU eTD Collection distinct spatial frames that the conceptnations of constitutes. social structuresa “home” if and “host” country, but also in a transnational social field, which goes beyond3 the presented here are the following: attraction for tourism and further investments. an strategy, abranding as multiculturalism of also and “Chineseness” of commodification these, a “Chinatown” could also become part of theregeneration scheme of thecity, of the products and thetensions and marginalization bythe provision of employmentdemand opportunities, the supply of cheap for localgovernment can make use ofthrough the emergence of migrants is the reduction ofcertain social goods and that Budapest couldservices gain from the establishment ofa “Chinatown”. Today what the city forassume also 81),I (2003: achievement” of amonument and pride of “a source interests, thebusiness everyday subsistence. Beyond I use this term referring to migrants crossing national borders, however, not being embedded not simply in the Holding these assumptions throughout mythesis, the main concerns of the research tobe 3) 2) 1) certain locality in this way? Or also in case they would have pure economic interests? “Chinatown”? Only if they feel displaced and thus attempt to moor their identity to a What areChinese traders? thefrom the urban life, even if the “Chinatown” could accommodate certainconditions needs of exclusion? Which social groups might be threatened by the socio-economic exclusion up a“Chinatown” in Budapest in terms of the patterns of social inclusion and for What would be the risks and benefits of the institutionalizationmigrants processes of setting means to promote foreign investment? latter matters,to is it voiced also as a concern for transnational becomedeterminants, or also on the political and cultural orientation of the leadership? If the motivateddevelopment ofa “Chinatown” in thecity? Does it depend only oneconomic What are the conditions for anurban government to become interested in the to develop a 3 3 migrants, or only asa only or migrants, CEU eTD Collection will also examine the political convictions and cultural norms represented by the decision-makers subjected to neoliberal globalization processes which determine their economic opportunities, I be as conceived are cities all Although level. aswellglobal regional a local, at cities of scale aim of mapping out the economic and political power of the city, will position Budapest ona of a “Chinatown” in Budapest. The chapter will be divided intothree sections. The first, with the openness of city governments, including the municipality of the 8 enhancing mystanding elaborated there –and to the policy-oriented investigation of the will draw in the last part of the thesis. refers to the constraints of my empirical research and thus the limitations of my conclusions I in thethird and fourth chapters, which will elaborate the actual analysis. Also thesecond chapter inclusion. explain how the exclusive practices of an ethnic enclave may be turned into the means of social social risks of thedifference and the redistribution ofeconomic and politicalcommodification rights. Iwill reflect onthe potential understood, following Will Kymlicka’s definition (2008), as boththe recognition ofethnic of ethnicity,and will thus try tomake a link to theadvancement of liberal multiculturalism,yet which I in the last“Chinatown” part of meansthe anfirst exampleare both common theoretical mistakes of migration studies.ofchapter Iwill claim that anthe development of a ethnic pathwayis to chapter Iwillfor argue against both methodological nationalismmigrants and methodological ethnicity, which to participatechoose the city as an entry point instead of migrants inas agroup of the same ethnic origins.urban In the life the city and on transnational migration may becombined and why it is analytically more useful to within which the specific case will be introduced. It will describe how contemporary theories on the case of Chinese in Budapest. In the first chapter I will provide the theoretical framework The third chapter contributes both to the theoretical argument of the first chapter –also The second chapter will enumerate the methods – mostly qualitative ones – that I will apply To discuss and answer the questions, in the following chapters I will present my study on 4 th and 10 and th districts, to the idea tothe districts, CEU eTD Collection including not only Chinese but also Vietnamese to incorporate into urban life. Iwill speculate on traders, migrant of diversity strategic the willdemonstrate and interviews observations of analysis the formal economy through the institutionalization ofa “Chinatown” in Budapest. Second, the become excluded or more marginalized by linking Chinese traders’ operation more strongly to market”. Along these lines, it will pay special attention also to the perspective of those who may both inhabitants of the areas and pure business investors, in the operation of the “Chinese districts and will cover my own fieldwork observations. First, it will explore the interests of locals, politics. concept of ethnographic“flexible fieldwork on Chinese in Eastern Europe and by the use of Aihwa Ong’s (1999) extensive his on based argument (2007) PálNyíri’s of presentation the by will detail I This citizenship”of the more recently migrated Chinese and in terms of the strength of their transnationalto links. reflector in North America before. This fact has significant consequences in terms of the identityon claims the changesPeople’s Republic of China as distinct from those who settled down typically in Western Europe in theChinese diaspora who migrated to Eastern Europe after the 1978 economicChinese reform of the constitutedstate’s of two sections. The first one introduces the situation of those members of the migrationother stakeholders of the Four Tigers Chinese market and its extended neighborhood. It will be of as wellonthat a“Chinatown”, establish to inBudapest settled traders Chinese local of follow a bottom-up approach to study the case. It will focus more on the interests and propensity opinion on the potential advantages of a “Chinatown” in the two districts. current plans of the 8 the late 90s and at thebeginning of 2000s, while thethird section will be composed both ofthe plans and policy recommendations related to Chinese and their presence in thecity proposed in of urban development policies. The second section will mainly engage with the study of urban The second section will introduce the trajectory of the The fourth chapter, as opposed to the top-down approach ofthe third one, will attempt to th and 10 th districts for urban renewal and the comparison of deputy mayors’ 5 Chinese Trade Areas Trade Chinese in the8 th and 10 th CEU eTD Collection potential stakeholders of it, who may form a coalition to promote the idea. mean in terms of reference,Chinese propensity and interestsboth to build a“Chinatown” in Budapest, and onthat what it may geographically and anthropologically. It will also refer to the 6 CEU eTD Collection integration, moreover, that spatial segregation may have positive impacts on certain minority groups. In order toargue that social integration may beenvisioned also without spatial multiculturalismas a possible vehicle oftherecognition and accommodation of minority ethnic of idea (2008) Kymlicka’s to Will notion this link to attempt I will section second the in migrants more from below. Michael Peter Smith’s approach that analyzes the impacts of globalization onthe agency of itwith refine to willattempt however, chapter; this of section first inthe idea this elaborate will structures may be a mutually constitutive process with that of migrants’ urban incorporation. I reposition itself in theglobal competition between cities determined by economic and political Schiller’s and Ayse Caglar’s Glick IwilluseNina inBudapest, migrants Chinese research empirically todiscussand able be (2009) theoretical framework that recognizes that a city’s again,efforts cities are places where capital has to be anchored to be able for toself-reproduction. processes that both condition and are conditioned by neoliberal capitalism. Tocite Harvey (1989) globalization of structures important also are cities Nevertheless, constitute. cities level that perceived a kind of theoretical tension in the attempt tostudy transnational migrants at a local of transnationalism and transnational social spaces became of interest. Hence there might be fields where this ongoing reconfiguration ofsocial and spatial relations can be studied, the focus an axiom for urban researchers.spatial. Thanks toHarvey (1996) the Marx’s thesis of “the annihilation ofspace by time” became At theproduction. This led to a general shift insame the perception ofthe relation between the social and the time, in migrationof political debates, with a special attention paid to its links to the neoliberal capitalist mode of studies, as one of the central Chapter 1 Theoretical Framework Chapter 1Theoretical Since my thesis is concerned especially with an ethnic pathway of migrants’ incorporation, In order to combine these two threads of studies, that is, migration and urban studies, and Since the last decade of the 20 th century globalization 7 is a keyconceptofsocial sciences and CEU eTD Collection space and the socio-spatial restructuring processes under neoliberal globalization is borrowed scholars are to reveal the special case of migrants’ agency. two the “urban”, the constituting agents as dwellers city recognize which (2000), city the of opportunities in different cities. Along the lines of Henri Lefebvre’s concept of the “specificity” and critical urban studies can beconjugated with theories on migrants’ roles and their Schiller’s and Caglar’s innovation is showing how the contemporary ideas in political economist Glick yet example), for (1991) cities” “global of notion Sassen’s Saskia (take approach novel migrants in different urbanthey try to develop a conceptual apparatus that allowssettings. comparative thinking in thestudy of Of course of migrantthe incorporation is grounded on theempiricalcomparative investigations of specific cities as well – analysis of cities more). many and 2005, Florida Richard 2003, Rath Jan 2001, Waldinger Roger 1995, Portes Alejandro 1995, Sassen Saskia instance for (see studies migration in transnational issue investigated countries). Asfar as the economicinfluence migrants of is concerned, itis themostelaborately reformulated,refined, orrather concept ofdemocracy we (supposed aredealing withdemocratic enforce a raise inthe tolerance level of the major society towards ‘otherness’ as well as a is not new at all. As for the latterbeneficial for a city intermstwo of its economic, and maybe alsoeffects of social and political development the emergence of migrants may, to some extent, 1.1 Howto deal withmigrants in the city? empowering, and how all these can be applied to “Chinatowns”. approach and conceptualize what ethnic and racial segregation may mean, how that may become critically that articles (2005) Rath’s Jan and (2007) Phillips’ Deborah upon call will I groups, In terms of the spatially embedded social processes, their perspective that looks at global looks that perspective their processes, social embedded spatially the of terms In Glick Schiller’s and Caglar’s work (2009) is of further interest because – while their theory The idea that the emergence of migrants in urban spaces can be–and most ofthe time is – 8 per se is not a CEU eTD Collection even though the memberships of the different groups may overlap. While, for instance, Christian to become part of the city life and different groups of migrants have different pathways open – methods that both should be followed. two I suggest analysis. the during essentialist being without pathway” an “ethnic through elaborate how I try to examine Chinese migrants’ opportunities to get involved in urban life I part in this Therefore subjectivity. migrants’ reduces and studies migration usually characterizes identity, I think it is of importance to reflect on the problem of methodological ethnicity that population”), in order to avoid starting research with ana priori prioritization of a dimension of not 1.1.1 Writing against methodological ethnicity will detail. subsection thenext in Budapest, migrants Chinese studying way of anon-essentialist about Iconsider How perpetual reflection upon the social constructiveness of “difference” in thecourse of analysis. display ofmigrants’ “ethnic”difference fromthe natives, exclusively –mayalso advancethe analytical entry points – vis-à-vis thegroup ofmigrants, which would otherwise lead tothe thinking of the native population and migrants as homogenous groups, but defining cities as scrutinized. are groups migrant when analysis of asunits cities choosing suggest They studies. in migration location reject methodological nationalism that otherwise conceived to be a conceptual barrier to theorize i.e. the historically determined scales of “local”, “regional”, “national”, and “global”. Thus they prefer ascalar approachthatrecognizes theco-constitutive characteristic different ofthe scales, from Neil Brenner (2004). In contrast to considering to prioritize certain forms of identification (i.e. studying “migrants” vis-à-vis “native vis-à-vis “migrants” studying (i.e. identification of forms certain prioritize to First Although in thecourse of studying group of individuals in asocial context it is impossible This way there is a chance not only toavoid equating society with the nation-state and , to reflect on the fact that Chinese migrants of Budapest have different opportunities 9 city only as a unit of the nation-state, they CEU eTD Collection dwellers and thus indirectly would advance city rescaling processes. integration, may promote the socio-economic situation of not only Chinese but also other city it confirmsorigin constitute the reference point for labeling the ethnic pathway in question. As for the latter, thatof incorporation open, nor that only those migrants could capitalize onit, whose country-of-developingautomatically mean that all migrants a can make“Chinatown”, use of it, nor that there would signified. the not be other ways signifiers does not necessarilywhich refer to “the Chinese” or the place inhabited exclusively bythem as I the Four Tigers Chineseassume market. This illustrates well that “Chineseness” or a“Chinatown” as at Chinese besides working migrants etc. African, East-Asian, other and Mongols Vietnamese, would contributeaccording to research (Nemes 2006) –which observations my confirmed aswell are also–, there while buffets, Chinese in employees Hungarian encounter also can One guaranteed). quality to socialcalled Chineseonly to convey a message forconsumers (Chinesewares, therefore cheap with Nyíri (2002) gives examples when certain “Chinese” shops are owned by Hungarian, and are named as “Chinese”, nor all sellers in the “Chinese market” are or operated by Chinese migrants. the opportunities of opportunities the and in its neighborhood, I am to focus only on a group of newcomers and thus study primarily Bilingual Elementary School or by the Confucius Institute of the Eötvös Loránd University. 4 Based on information from an interview I conducted with the ward of one of the Protestant churches. Budapest migrants can participate in the three Protestant and one Pentecostal church that Chinese rent in Hence, to conclude, the opportunity of an ethnic pathway for incorporation neither Second: So being concerned with those migrants who operate in the Four Tigers Chinese market 4 , migrants with pedagogical education may beemployed by the Hungarian-Chinese to avoid essentialization it has to be underlined that neither all shops and buffets Chinese traders to “incorporate” through the development of a “Chinatown”. 10 CEU eTD Collection more effective urban incorporation of migrants; neither means that if more pathways are religious pathway through which transnational migrants could participate in urban life. end of it. As for the range of opportunities they exemplify an ethnic, an entrepreneurial and a and developingtheir socio-economic of as well as institutional and political links to a city in applyquestion. the concept as an expression that reflects on the processmigrants’ anchoringof themselvesinhabitants at a – thecertain which studylocality of is relevant, though, cannot be unfolded within the framesthis thesis ofscrutinize –, migrants’I will opportunities insteadthe dynamicsof the interrelationsof between newcomers nativeand native population constitutes homogenous, for the “other” almost impenetrable entities. Yet5 since the thesis is to provide migrants with a wider range of opportunities for “incorporation networks, and maintain that those cities which are at the“upper end” of the continuum can different cities’ abilities to position themselves in respect to various global, regional and national transnational networks, better than the scrutiny of transnational communities. within relations power and the asymmetries It mirrors identity. migrants’ of construction investments, remittance flows, various modes of transnational activity, as well as onthe examined, which embraces those influences which migrants’ transnational connections have on political and cultural life of a city. On the other hand, “transnational social fields” has to be a city ona global city scale determines migrants’ opportunities to participate in the economic, a city and theagency of migrants, on the one hand, one has torecognize that the positionality of networks theories cannot, they also reflect on the different power status of different cities. capable tograsp the reality of such relational inequalities within networked spaces that actor- subjects of globalization processes. By using Sheppard’s notion of “positionality” (2002), which is (Saskia Sassen 1991) Caglar promote butcomparative urban thinking, however, dealingalso not only with “global cities” with “non-global cities” – which1.1.2 Structural determinants andformal politics should be still conceived of as I will use this notion in my analysis with the assumption that neither the group(s)migrants of nor the group(s) of According to their claims, the wider range of opportunities does notnecessarily entail a Glick Schiller’s and Caglar’s suggestion is to sketch a continuum which istorepresent which a continuum sketch is to suggestion Caglar’s and Schiller’s Glick To recognize the dialectical relationship between the positionality and rescaling dynamics of Reflecting on thecompetitive environment that global capitalism creates, Glick Schiller and 11 5 ” than those at the other CEU eTD Collection “socially structured and culturally patterned behavior of groups and practices of institutions” groups at the expense of others. The mobilization of bias is most importantly sustained by certain favoring (in/)action individuals’ in manifested be it may acts, chosen individually of actual issue that are mobilized by political organizations. Although the latter is not simply a result non-decisions – that is the conscious ignorance – of the governance, but also the bias on the his concept only for the study of formal politics), one should account for both the decisions and will use I general, in power about talks Lukes (however, politics formal of realm the of out issues concerning the practice of agenda-setting and the agency of policy decision-makers. the “three-dimensional of shortcomings the Despite politics. toformal regard special with power on argument [1974]) (2005 Lukes’ Steven on draws idea This distinctively. incorporation migrants’ concern may view of power”agenda depending on the political and cultural orientation ofthe policy decision-makers, which he promotes,structural determinants, different policy concepts may be considered an issue and put on the it draws attentiona “Chinatown”, in the third chapter. to importantconditions for the promotion ofan ethnic(-entrepreneurial) pathway, that is the establishment of factsthese lines, I will look at thepositionality of Budapest and will investigate the structural produced between migrant inhabitants and the city’s dynamically changing positionality. Along of each city in terms of migration has to be regarded as an individual case. study the that assertion the underlines statement This locality. of reconfiguration social the on or global – agents do not have predictable consequences on the measure of migrants’ incorporation migrants with different opportunities to become local – and through thevery same processes In this sense the fact that different cities, based on their positionalities, provide transnational structurally given, the more beneficial impacts migrants have onthe rescaling processes of a city. Lukes asserts that when power controls the political agenda and thus keeps certain potential Nevertheless, Iwould argue thatwithin the very same economic circumstances and Therefore eachcity canbeseentohavea different trajectory, affecting theinterplays 12 CEU eTD Collection or in positive sense. In negative sense itusually pertains to therhetoric of revenge-taking for the by the “politics of return”, which is a political imaginary that can beproduced either in negative 2001: 151-152). (Smith lives” intheir absences felt present make transnational migrants, exiles and refugees invent an “imagined community” (Anderson 1983) “to of most 2) 193)”; 1991: (Appadurai reproduction” cultural for basis the alters “fundamentally deterritorialized people: 1) “the loosening of the ties between wealth, population, and territory Smith points at two consequences that urban researchers have tobear in mind when studying reconfiguration in terms of the spatial practices of a variety of actors with transnational bonds, and deterritorialization of (1991) concepts Appadurai’s to Referring ethnoscapes”. “global entanglement with the structural positioning of a city, he is more concerned with the emerging emergence of transnational political practices of migrants, exiles and refugees are determined in how the weight and contribution of the actual production and reception of cultural flows and the impacts of the cultural and political practices produced “from below”. Instead of investigating broader dynamics of the global economy” (Glick Schiller and Caglar 2009: 9) as well. are the organizations of social, economic, and cultural production that “respond to and shape the leave space forthescrutiny of the institutional frameworks that acity constitutes, however they “transnational urbanism”, suggested by Michael Peter Smith (2001). As they argue that would not considers the positionality of a city as the main factor of these processes – rejects the study of the main emphasis onthe economic-structural determinants and – since first and foremost 1.1.3 A bottom-up perspective the possibility to establish a “Chinatown” will be presented and compared. concerning the “Chinese markets” will be scrutinized and where city leaders’ various opinion on (Lukes 2005[1974]: 26). Iwill illustrate this process in the third chapter, where policy documents Yet thereare several responses to the experienced deterritorialization.Smith exemplifies it contrastIn tothis top-downapproach, Smith (2001)highlights significant the global Glick Schiller’s and Caglar’s approach (2007, 2009)to migrants’ urban incorporation puts 13 CEU eTD Collection ethnography on Seattle’s Chinatown-International District (2006). 6 of socio-spatial segregation. the last subsection ofthis part will attempt to conceptualize “Chinatowns” as specific examples an inclusionary socio-spatial practice. Besides, being interested particularly in Chinese migrants, despite its bad reputation among social scientific scholars, should be able tobe envisioned also as self-identity; and 2) the concept of ethnic and racial segregation, which in my specific case, conceptualizing these differences in order to construct the ‘other’ and develop asuperior ethnic of instead way, affirmative in an diversity ethnic of acceptance the promote is to ideal case, in an incorporation, I have to reflect on such related issues as 1) the notion of multiculturalism, which, to multiculturalism1.2 Links as wellas segregation. Getaninsightinto “Chinatowns” “host locality” will be researched in the fourth chapter of the thesis. when migrants’ identity, their senses of belonging and needs to reterritorialize themselves in the agency, Smith’s argumentTherefore (2001) although will be ableI agree to bewith fruitfully recognizing may feel themselvesapplied less displaced the structural in a bottom-up thus and networks, social dispersed spatially widely by sustained determinantsand are maintain refugees and approach and its dialecticsresponse to displacement. However, Smith (2001) points out that today’s transnational migrants with “Chinatown”.the Asian section of a city into anethnic neighborhood, like the“Little Saigon” or the All of forinstance, of, transformation thesesocio-spatial and cultural the mean itcan sense positive while in reactions“loss” of the homeland (represented, for example, by right-wing South Vietnamese in the US), express the desire to reterritorialization as a collective For more information on the dialectics between space and identity see Abramson’s, Manzo’s and Hou’s Since Iam seeking explanation for the lack of a specific ethnic form of migrants’ This thread of theories I consider balancing Glick Schiller’s and Caglar’s approach well. 6 14 CEU eTD Collection into details in these, since the implementation ofthose do not necessarily belong to the supported by the government, also in theparticular case of immigrants. Yet Iwould notgomore institutional frameworks and provides examples when liberal multiculturalism is considered to be within concept the discusses Kymlicka rights. social and economic political, of redistribution “liberal multiculturalism”, which both implies the recognition of ethnic difference and the of term (2008) Kymlicka’s I willuse this, Toanalyze development. economic for purely concerns a “liberal multiculturalist” discourse as acts of promoting Chinese incorporation, or express ethnic origins – Iwill pay special attention whether Chinese-concerned policies are framed within to institutions recognized by the government –through making reference to their common districts. will embrace the analysis of the micro-society of the “Chinese” markets in the 8 or more uneven by time (Nyíri 2007). Iwill go back to this question in the fourth chapter which weaker is Chinese of organization civic and political the al. 2008) et (Örkény research a recent to according time, same the At 2002)). (Nyíri 90s early the in exiles political like many background, 2000) (regardless whether formerly they came to the city with totally different occupational garment, shoe or toy industry heavily rely onnetworks and ties to the country-of-origin (Nyíri the in bybusinesses employed orare start and inBudapest settled who are migrants Chinese the introduction, it is quite migrantscharacteristic in case of Chinese in Budapest. The main reason behind this is that, as I mentioned in and seems to be incorporateperpetually their critical perspective, Iam togo back to the track of ethnic-based investigation of valid to that adetour making after self-identification, manyor categorization of forms ethnic the from stem of tthose relying onclaims to the common culture, descent, or history of the newcomers which would migration studies and to advance the idea that migrants’ capacities may be improved also without 1.2.1 Abrieflookat thenotionof multiculturalism So because Iam to suggest processes that link individual or organized groups of migrants Although Glick Schiller’s and Caglar’s prime aim is toenrich the conceptual vocabulary of 15 th and 10 th CEU eTD Collection 7 moral obligation towards the ‘others’ members of the dominant group view multiculturalism also as a benefit to themselves, not just a the make can which pays”, like“multiculturalism reasoning, self-interesting and strategic more multiculturalism extends and thus furthers the logic ofhuman rights became entangled with the than actively advocated the issue. Hence the reaffirmation of the underlying moral argument that support ofthe corporate world to gain support from the majority, who otherwise rather tolerated the needed multiculturalists movement social while diversity, accommodating about arguments economic efficiency, could become more popular whenit was linked tomulticulturalist 129). (2008: emerged which interact incomplexways with the earlier ‘social movement multiculturalism’” multiculturalism’ ‘corporate of form a distinctive that indeed and multiculturalism, with peace its made has worlds corporate the say that to it isfair time, “over America, North and Europe Western in least at ideologues, neo-liberal and elites business from resistance faceof the in politicians social-democratic or left-liberal of support the with mobilization popular from raised was multiculturalism” movement if“social even that admits he Nevertheless, origins. different market deregulation andthe spread of the capitalist mode of production, the two have quite multiculturalism moreor less corresponds in time with theera of intense economic globalization, constructed ethnic and racial opposed to the former,hierarchies. which is more committed to the moral obligations tosubvert the socially He argues that despiteconceived to be a mere economic interest-led promotion of the idea of themulticulturalism, as fact that the is which of latter the emergence multiculturalism”, “corporate the and multiculturalism” movement “social of research. competence of acity government, which constitutes the major focus of the related part of my This illustrates well that there is no way to escape from structurally given social orders. Kymlicka claims that theneo-liberal push for decentralization, first in thename of Instead, I would reflect on and, to some extent, contest Kymlicka’s argument about the 7 . 16 CEU eTD Collection near future – unless some revolutionary thing happens to the current mode of global production by the majority without its entanglement with political or economic interests, at least not in the citizenship, I cannot imagine a moment when the ideal of multiculturalism would besupported subordinating a social group asopposed to the other –, into relations of liberal-democratic citizenization” that convert such ethnic and racial relations that build onbinary oppositions – competitiveness or attracts tourism. should be endorsed or rejected on the basis ofwhether it increases global economic multiculturalism that idea the opposes harshly he advantage, strategic a provides multiculturalism and entrepreneurs –, who are seen as contributing to a city’s prosperity and vitality, framework of my research I would rather claim admits, after Shachar (2006), that in thegrowing competition among countries (within the commodity or lifestyle good that can be marketed and consumed” (2008: 32). Although he “repackage[ing]as if the “original” political and moral goal would inherently attributed to the practice of culturalhas the obvious downside that it may reduce the ideal of multiculturalism toa marketing ploy – differences as inheritedan racial or ethnic hierarchies may support the economicidea to develop a “Chinatown” in Budapest. dominant groups who otherwise tend to ignoreasset or downplay the relevance of challenging in a exactly whatglobal will be discussed in mycase study as the potential reason why those members of the economyethnic neighborhoods in order to attract visitors, elite immigrants, and foreign investment. This is and/or their highlighting as multicultural, themselves brand to strategies cities’ is mentions he even that as a emphasize the economic spin-offs from multiculturalism” (2008: 130). One of these examples Even though Iagree with him in that multiculturalismshould be taken as a“means of At the same time, as per Kymlicka, if “multiculturalism means business” (2008: 32) it also it 32) (2008: business” means “multiculturalism if Kymlicka, asper time, same the At As Kymlicka says it rightly, “the most common strategy in this regard has been to 17 cities ) to attract elite immigrants – professionals CEU eTD Collection multiculturalism – that is, recognition and accommodation grounded primarily on ethnicity – ethnicity on primarily grounded accommodation and is, recognition – that multiculturalism means of social inclusion along this line, it has to beadmitted that the promotion of especially with an with especially remain constitutive elements of the democratic order. Hence even though my research is engaged excluded The exclusion. to leads inevitably democracies liberal within borders its of constitution explain the ideal of guaranteed universal human rights is however postulated and open, the concerned, but also that of class. This multidimensionality of social inclusion helps to better racial- orethnic-based differences that matter when opportunities of social inclusion are several other migrants than Chinese are trading, Ialso feel the need toemphasize that not only typically have agood social background, and alsobecause in the observed “Chinese markets” activism of the racially and ethnically disadvantaged concerned. majority and partly also thecorporate elite to promote the idea of multiculturalism without the post-socialist context,that ifweare to accept that samethe trajectory may betruein aCentral and Eastern European we shouldcase, my to regard with means, issue.This the voiced first who were activists movement notsocial expect from the precedent when corporatecity elites would have initiated the adoption of multiculturalism; alwaysleadership the as“Chinatown” in Budapest more cautious.representatives Namely because hestates that in the “West” there is no makes my analysis and speculations aboutof the possibilities todevelop an inclusionarythe North American experience about the emergence of multiculturalism onthepolitical agenda otherwise valuable thoughts. the thesis as well as becausethe scarcity of my empirical of findings at this researchstage of to underpintranslation” the (presented by Boris Buden 2003), which I cannot unfold here, though,poststructuralist becausethe limited ofviewpoint scope represented of by Judith Butler using Homi Bhabha’s concepts“hybridity” of and “cultural8 of the majority to subvert ethnic and racial hierarchies could be expected or democratic systems. Until then I consider it rather naivety to think that the moral commitment Nevertheless, a slightly more optimistic contestationKymlicka’s of argument may also be provided from a At the same time, especially because part of the Chinese migrants whom Iam engaged with Despite this contestation of Kymlicka’s argument, his claim onthe Western European and ethnic pathway of incorporation and attempt to conceptualize “Chinatown” as a 18 8 . CEU eTD Collection availability onurban segregation vary between countries and over time, and even if changing as Phillips does throughout herwhole article – although terminologies, categories and data that – if we think about within the framework of national government and public administration conceptualized, what it means, and how it became anindicator of migrant integration. She argues can be segregation racial and ethnic ashow questions such engageswith and perspective critical a “Chinatown”, that is, an ethnic precinct by using Deborah Phillips’ (2007) article. section will attempt to reconcile them and argue for the empowering consequences of developing incorporation a bears theoretical tension, since these conceptsseem to becontradictory. Yetthis 1.2.2 How spatialsegregation inclusionary? mayethnic-grounded be inclusion. question how exclusivepossibilities of more inclusive social organizations.practices Therefore the next section embraces the of an ethnicpolitically unacceptable that with making reference tothis inevitabilityenclave notto look for the may be turnedon a more realistic, less idealistic basis, partly inevitable. Nonetheless, I find itinto morally and the means ofemancipatory aims of multiculturalismsocial bycorporate interests, which, however, I recognize, think, terms of social inclusion, in the fourth chapter. environment and speculate about the potential winners and losers of setting up a “Chinatown” in unavoidably acrucial factor. So I will bear this inmind when Iturn tothe scrutiny of the local of the logic of capitalist production – the class status, as an other dimension of identity, becomes can be realized only through the commodification of “Chineseness” and thus the entanglement incorporation. With special regard to the institutionalization ofa “Chinatown” – which, I think, ignores other dimensions of identity, which, however, equally condition the opportunities for Phillips seeks to address both research- and policy-related concerns of segregation from a The query whether we can conceive of ethnic orracial segregation as a way of promoting This dilemma goes to a degree back to Kymlicka’s concern about the displacement of the 19 CEU eTD Collection populations even further, affecting life chances, such as access to work, detrimentally. the “ghettoization” of a neighborhood can stigmatize already vulnerable and marginalized problematic if spatial and social segregation does not go hand in hand. While on the other hand, white ethnic groups. On the one hand, in case of non-white ethnic groups they make it seem integration. They reinforce racial and ethnic divisions by applying double-scale to white and non- towards spatial and thus social integration in cities. – expose anxieties communities) politicalabout discourses within many European Union states – as Phillips states (2007) the apparentMuslim British (e.g. segregated spatially living prefer migrants transnational of group certain failure of those“enclave” groups toit followdrawsan form minorities Jewish when or cities in communities gated little protective, into move people the “usual” attention, pathways whileneighborhoods are labeled and connoted ifwith social integration. When wealthier,black usually, white people becomeproblematic only if non-white ethnic groups are clustering, which is mirroredsegregated in ways ethnic in a “ghetto”would point out two. First, she argues that the fact of residential segregation is considered to be or if distributions of different ethnic groups,attention to some major problems of the ways outof thinking about theobserved ofgeographical which – with regard to my researchand policy debates about the implications of segregationinterests for social cohesion. Therefore she draws – I exclusion (Gilroy 2000). feelingscommunities of and belonging and to a place for possible popular resistance rather than victimization10 and 9 can be observed important continuities both over time there ways, various in inquiry insocial directions and thinking frame contexts political and social produce and sustain spatial segregation, not only the constraints or institutional discrimination of Yet this should not be considered more than twenty-thirty years. However, we should not downplay the fact that “ghettos” can an also be inverted to create positive attributes of Phillips argues that these views themselves have serious consequences in terms of social Her aim is to challenge myths about ethnic clustering and toinform contemporary political Second, Phillips underscores that it should not be ignored that there are various forces that 20 9 and between nations. 10 CEU eTD Collection relevance of those: the matter of class, and the degree of the securitization ofa minority ethnic the discussion ofthe issue. She also mentions these in herarticle, yet I think underestimates the racially coded perceptions of spatial segregation more complex by adding two other factors for also acknowledge theproblem introduced by the first point, I would make herexplanation on the Chinese. integration, which consequently determines their political views also onthe spatial segregation of certain parts I will highlight how deputy mayors conceptualize these “end-points” of migrants’ provides a comparative frame analysis of the city leadership’s opinion onChinese presence, at Each is rooted in a different vision of the ideal society.these processes,Therefore which is also reflected in the terminology in used (i.e.the “assimilation”, third “integration”). chapter that also how social inclusion is conceptualized highly depend onthe views onthe expected end-point of process, whereby migrants “assimilate” in some areas of life and not others (Phillips 2007). While be referred to who have portrayed integration not necessarily as a linear, but amultidimensional in case of racialized minorities, some authors (i.e. Portes and Zhou 1993; Alba and Nee 2003) can argument when analyzing the interviews with migrants in the fourth chapter. report on the positive attributes of ethnic clustering, like the ethnic groups, or the lack of power of their individual agency. She invokes several scholars’ (and also to live decisive rolenearby) also in case of Chinese traders to decide to concentrate their business operations in the 8 So while Iagree and can adapt Phillips’ second point directly to my empirical research, and also integration withsocial comply can segregation spatial that tosuggest same time, the At These are the factors that – along with the reduced transactional costs – I assume to have –Iassume costs transactional the reduced along with – that factors are the These reasons and, in case of racialized minorities, for cultural a bothfor sense generations, several of after security.backgrounds similar from people some with neighborhoods language of their host country. Many families from minoritythe to speak ethnicthose unable […] to backgroundsexclusively, butnot still especially, applies prefer This […]. to groups live ethnic in minority developed community infrastructures [that] well- and may give risebelonging of to asensea sense support, ofeconomic] well-being[and social relations, for somecultural and memberssocial extended of th and 10 and th districts of Budapest. For this, I will unfold my 21 (Phillips 2007: 1148) 2007: (Phillips CEU eTD Collection the 8 were/are considered to fail to become socially integrated. 20 the spatial segregation ofBritish Muslims (Phillips 2007) orthat of Chinese in the late-19 as “exotic” places, instead of threats to the majority – in contrast with the public perceptions of those are often seen as spaces for entertainment and excursion, orby a more orientalizing view, their spatial segregation in “Chinatowns” in Western Europe or in North America, where today prioritize the last as the most decisive one. Especially if we look at the recognition of Chinese and based answers to the question ‘what aminority ethnic segregation is conceived to be asource of danger to the majority. Out of these three factors, when it comes to give empirical- the socio-economic integration of the actual group and the degree their presence in conceived to with interplays always it that argue I yet segregation, spatial groups’ ethnic minority politicizing 2007). well (Phillips spatial segregation –as the growing number of inquiries on the issue underpins this argument as which proves to be more important in terms of the public imagination andconcerns about their case, as abacklash of9/11 onnon-Christian immigrants, their presence became securitized, intheir cities, British in living Muslims many from same the presume can we though even time, possibility to conceivethem as ofa fifth column in the country. does not only mean their criminalization but, by constituting a “kin-state minority”Southeast (Kymlicka Asian 2008),cities alsowould the make this issue even more complex, since there the securitizationChineses of12 presence debated concepts“underclass” of vs. “undercast”, see Loic Wacquant (2008) and William Julius Wilson (1996).11 they belong to a higher strata of the society than those black who live in“ghettos” but also because likely – however, without considering them a homogenous group in any terms – Jewish communities seems to be more acceptable not only because they form awhite community group. As for the former, I would argue that – by using her examples – the spatial segregation of However, the trajectorythe public of perceptionChinese of and their spatial segregation in “Chinatowns” in As for a more refined analysisthe class-of and race-based patternsexclusion ofurban of“ghettos” and the th century US (Wong 1982) US (Wong century th In my case this will be relevant when I seek to answer the question why the municipality in Hence, in sum, Imaintain that theracialization ofspaces is part of the process of district is more rejective against thebuilding ofa “Chinatown” than the lead in the10 12 , regardless of their class status. These ethnic minority groups 22 signify 11 . At thesame ’, I would th , early- th CEU eTD Collection on specific “Chinatowns” (Tseng 1993, Mitchell 2000, Abramson etal. 2006). However, Chinese may also belived by groups of various ethnic origins is underpinned by several fieldwork reports “Chinatown” as a residential segregation, while the second proposition, that is ethnicized places residents there (Abramson et al. 2006). The latter suggests that there is no need to take of the architecturalin terms not sure, for least, at city, in each same the mean necessarily not does “Chinatown” that structure of an area, the composition of itsas challenges that the development inhabitants,of a “Chinatown” may arise. or theprovides an overview of all numberthose factors that may determine the potential opportunities as well of certain ideas of Jan Rath’s article (2005) which fit well to the theoretical framework set so far, and describe the conclusions that were drawn along these investigations. Instead, I will display only migrants in terms of incorporation. Nevertheless, due tothe limited scope of the thesis, I will not “Chinatowns” and to explore how the changing social dynamics of those affected Chinese particular of trajectory the reveal to were both which etc.) 2010, Pang 2003, Yamashita 2003, Wong 1982, Zhou 1992, Kaplan and Holloway 2001, Benton and Gomez 2001, Christiansen 1.2.3 The as caseof “Chinatowns” sites of production aswell recognition the city, marketing ethnic goods and space. to “Chinatowns” particularly. Therefore the next subsection will refer to those symbolic sites of attention little pays she Yet useful. and remarkable are claims – her segregation ethnic grounded business- but residential concern necessarily andnot research of as scale cities prioritizes –which analysis my for segregation, residential with was engaged and ofcities) were examples recommendations, took the national as the prime level of research (despite the fact that her advantages of their investments are underlined. This will be detailed in the third chapter. district, where, instead of criminalizing Chinese and their business activities, the socio-economic In order to conceptualizewhat Iexactly mean by“Chinatown”, first, I have to make it clear The research of“Chinatowns” have been embraced by many scholars (Bonacich 1973, Although Phillips, in order to beable to provide central governmental level policy 23 CEU eTD Collection 13 Rath However, (2008)). Kymlicka per as above was presented minorities ethnic for which of Western Europe,and means of productively commercialized placesofethnicdiversity (the risks by migrants constitute to the rise of city’s symbolic capital and its socio-economic development. labeling processes in question entail the recognition of the fact that the new urban spaces created by thelocal environment, including both the structural determinants and local agents –, the a more represents above) picture first (see Angeles Los themselves may beextremely varied in background, language, geographic origin, and socio- composition of the inhabitants of a “Chinatown” may be left as open questions interested in the opportunity when, however, the actual look, theactual number and ethnic valorized, becomes part of the “city’s symbolic economy” (Zukin 1995). Hence my research is if get which, city, the in place aracialized of signifier afloating israther “Chinatown” name with an ornamented arch from the other parts of the city. So these instances substantiate that the fabric of the city, subverting the monolith image that a “Chinatown” would need to beseparated Paris (see third picture above) both consisting of block houses are totally embedded into the Beyond a certainpresence form of or belongingChinese of to the area. Jan Rath (2005) states that today “Chinatowns” became “export products”, at least in least at products”, “export became “Chinatowns” today that states (2005) Rath Jan the “Chinatown” in “Chinatowns”. While recognized as to lookatthedifferent examples ofplaces that areformally economic status. As for the architectural structure, suffice it though, less enclosed area. The two Chinatowns of second picture above) can be found in adetached, of the “Chinese quarter” in Birmingham (see form of ethnic clustering, the architectural structure 24 “classical” 13 –conditioned CEU eTD Collection “Chinatown-International District” generally states that Abramson, Manzo and Hou as well; whose report (2006) onthe ethnography of the Seattle’s strengthen the social and economic integration of immigrants. This assessment is supported by before). Yet heis also convinced that the creation of such ethnic precincts as a “Chinatown” “mainstreaming” of theiractivities (however,I think, thetwoarenot exclusiveas Iargued supported, when migrants are allowed to form ethnic economies rather than to advance the analysis as well. crucial role in forming these structures. These are questions that will be of importance during my a has lawenforcement the also Therefore up. sets work, migrants usually many where economy, not only of formal regulations, ornon-regulations, but also of the rules that theinformal (2009)). However, hepaysspecialattention tothefactthatregulatory structures are composed Caglar and Schiller Glick of suggestions the to (similarly as well structures politico-institutional and economic wider wayin abstract a more in embedded are transactions and relations their embeddedness is social networks (echoing Michael Peter Smith (2001) above), but conceives that use of in is made – which entrepreneurship waysimmigrant the describe isto that caseembeddedness” “mixed of a “Chinatown”enumerates several conditioning factors that make this process possible. He coins the term – is embedded. He acknowledges immigrants’ concrete ethnic conflicts based on class differences; 3) as part of tourism it may reinforce gendered reinforce it may tourism of 3)aspart differences; on class based conflicts ethnic “Chinatown” would belong to gain automatically upward social mobility; 2) it may intensify intra- commodification ofethnic spaces brings up: 1) not all participants of the tourist industry which a Rath poses the question whether this model of socio-economic development should be Nevertheless, Rath also draws attention to the possible risks and challenges that the boundaries. concerns and negotiate differences, both of which shared involve toaddress mobilization a social conscious and political in toengage groups reconstruction ethnic for realm an important of identities and become They areas. reception immigrant and destinations tourist just more than are neighborhoods ethnic 25 (Abramson et al. 2006: 354) et al. (Abramson CEU eTD Collection enabling environment for them. businesses in the 8 the local migrants in Budapest. Yet I will also reveal how those Chinese who run their trading both the opportunities and challenges that the development of a “Chinatown” could mean for for instance, with regard to the use of public space. Pang et al. 2007); 7) touristindustry may generate further tensions between tourists and locals, landscape”, which makes a “Chinatown” cease to be a nodal point ofa vibrant community (see preservation of these sites may only serve “the homogenization and fossilization ofurban interference with one’s own affairs belonging totheethnicprecinct maybealso entailed; 6)the division of labor; 4) it may also reinforce stereotypes on the “exotic other”; 5) undesirable Keeping all these in mind, in the course of presenting my empirical research Iwill dwell on th and 10 th districts envision a kind of “Chinatown” that could constitute an 26 CEU eTD Collection the picture that the analysis of these documents draws I compare the various attitudes of the service provisions in Budapest, in general, and in the 8 social and development urban of context the inboth incorporation urban migrants’ concern bottom-up approach. “Chinatown” in the city as well as the perceptions of other locals actors on migrants, represents a the fourth chapter, which is to scrutinize Chinese interests in and propensity to establish a city leadership onChinese in Budapest offers a more policy-oriented, top-down approach, while along two approaches: the third chapter that is engaged with theexploration of the views of the analysis. enforcement since the early-90s. Their help contributed to the provision ofa more representative law the tohelp translator asofficial of incharge being been whohas professional Szabó, Salát, sinologist, Zoltán Várhalmi, sociologist dealing with migrants in Budapest, and Sándor P. expert interviews, with Pál Nyíri, anthropologist researching Chinese in Eastern Europe, Gerg of speaking Chinese and of the limited time of ethnographic research, I also conducted four lack the of in terms myresearch of constraints the of because also but Budapest, lifein Chinese working with migrant entrepreneurs. Besides, in order to learn more general information on renewal plans, migrants trading in “Chinese markets” and local people regularly encountering or my interviewees therearepolicy decision-makers responsible forthedevelopment ofurban Among interviews. sum, sixteen in of, conduct asthe aswell activities business their concentrate This includes the participant and non-participant observations of the urban spaces where Chinese well as impact on the socio-economic development of Budapest is the use of qualitative methods. Chapter 2Methods The third chapter analyzes policy documents, or more precisely, strategic plans that may The following two chapters that will present the results of my empirical investigations go My main tool to investigate Chinese entrepreneurs’ opportunities for social integration as 27 th and 10 and th districts, in particular. To enrich To in particular. districts, ŋ CEU eTD Collection presumptions about the left-wing and right-wing standings on migration issues; framing makes it terms of political convictions. However, for sure, the analysis will not subvert certain in lessbiased and refined more be analysiscan the thus that would maintain I because approach welcome, or as an ignored issue, etc.) and how the issue is considered to be handled. Ichose this framed in the narratives of policy decision-makers (e.g. as a problem, or as a phenomenon to structure interviews in away that illuminates how the general issue of“ of frame analysis, Iwill make use of the notions of “diagnosis” and of “prognosis”, which are to on the case I study, you can see the theoretical framework above. As for the conceptual apparatus the investigated issue are consciously implied in theanalysis. For theclarification ofmy position hand. political agenda at all. Yet this can be concerned by my analysis of the policy documents before the issue on asan what emerges fact onthe canreflect bynature that claims policy announced analyze interviews, which were conducted by semi-structured question, instead of publicly will I is that difference main the Methodologically, hers. from different slightly be will analysis my methodologically However, (2006). Verloo Mieke by inspired analysis”, frame “critical comparative analysis I have toreflect on this as well. Tostructure the interviews, Ichose to apply politicians in each municipality; however, I was not always successful in these terms. In my a left-wing orright-wing party. Therefore I tried to interview both liberal and more conservative promote migrants’ status may bedetermined, albeit not at all exclusively, by their membership in of their leadership. inhabitants, including migrants, only deriving from thedistinct political and cultural orientation two districts with similar structural facilities canprovide different opportunities for their mayors in each district. The advantage ofthis method is to be able to support the claim that the municipality representatives towards Chinese through theanalysis of the interviews with deputy Being “critical” in case of the “critical frame analysis” means that the researcher’s viewson researcher’s the that means analysis” frame “critical the of case in “critical” Being At the same time, it has to be taken into account that policy decision-makers’ intention to 28 Chinese in the city/district ” is CEU eTD Collection part of it concerned the self-identification and values of Chinese, depending on their attachments stages of [the] research” (Örkény etal. 2008: 2). Why I found it useful for my analysis is because a Hungarian Centralrelied Statistical on scarcity ofdata–which istrue forthe casesof both Budapest and thetwodistricts. Yetthesurvey Office, information isa usually there since as representative, be survey the guarantee to difficult is more it status, legal well as [from “obtained the]to answer” (Örkény etal 2008:2). However, in the course ofstudying migrants, regardlessdata of their aggregated fromsample, snowball sampling had to beapplied because a high proportion ofrespondents refused [in]the theBudapest-related the snowball method frompreceding 31 starting points. As the reports claims, “[f]or the Chinese […] by Hungary’s Office of Immigration and Nationality, and then this sample was expanded through databasescompiled in two steps: first, 100 had been contacted, who had been selected from a list provided 600 subjects, out of whom 249 compiledwere Chinese. The sample of Chinese, as the report admits, was democracy and immigrants’ social capital byin Europe. The survey I will refer towas conducted on the the framework of a larger EU-funded research that dealt with thequestion ofmulticultural within (2008), Várhalmi Zoltán and Székelyi Mária Örkény, byAntal done research quantitative environment unquestionably limited my investigations. difficulties to build trust in abothharshly competitive and informal economic-grounded asthe aswell above, mentioned constraints language the since aswell, researches Nyíri’s locals, including Chinese and Vietnamese, in thefourth chapter Iwill heavily rely also onPál – either in English or in Hungarian – several semi-structured and unstructured interviews with district as well as the place of Chinese real estate investments in the 10 fields are theFour Tigers Chinese market and the terrain of the former Ganz Works in the8 it. voiced politician also possible to recognize certain similarities between arguments no matter if a rightist or a leftist In addition, to improve my argument, I will take advantage of some findings of a The second part of the ethnography contains more field observations. The prime research 29 th district. Although I made th CEU eTD Collection posed in the introductory chapter above. I questions research general the answering ideasfor fruitful tosuggest supposed are findings to the host and home country, to their place of residence and to native people. The related 30 CEU eTD Collection analyzed how the related questions ofmulticulturalism, spatial segregation andcity branding are Józsefváros on Chinese and on the idea to develop a “Chinatown” in each district. It will be business activities of Chinese traders in the city. both former policy recommendations and current policy plans engaged with theemergence and scrutinizes It power”. of view “three-dimensional [1974]) (2005 Lukes’ on building opportunities, Therefore the second part assesses the role and power of formal politics in shaping migrants’ integration. off the cities are the less they tend toadvance migrants’ ethnic-grounded organization and and examines whether the two scholars’ assumption can beconfirmed, that is whether less well- world, a globalized in power political and economic its with accordance in scale city comparative migrants’ opportunity structures to incorporate into urban life. It situates Budapest ona the unit of analysis and investigates whether really a city’s positionality that primarily determines conceptual apparatus (2009) introduced in the first part of the thesis. Hence it takes the city as neighborhood. perceptions and spatial identities onmigrants’ that reflects approach as abottom-up taken be should of chapter will focus onthe interests theof local stakeholders, especially those of Chinese. The latter city, next the life, urban into Chinese incorporate to municipalities of strategies future asthe well with concentratesspecial more on the perspectives,positionality as mentioned above. While this part aims to represent a top-down approachregard and of Budapest, itsto policy theplans with regardFour toChapter 3TheCityandUrbanPlanning migrants Tigers as Chinese market and its The last section is to compare the views of the municipality leadership of K The conclusions drawn from this analysis are tobe refined in thesecond and third sections. This chapter has three sections. The first onerelies on Glick Schiller’s and Caglar’s To elaborate the findings of my ethnography, I decided topresent them from two different 31 ŋ bánya and CEU eTD Collection Strategy for the Integrated Urban Development of the Capital Budapest Capital the of Development Urban Integrated the for Strategy Budapest Metropolitan Area”). It argues that since globalization necessitates the promotion of globalization evokes for Budapest and for the spatial field it may influence (calling, insum, “the the city in its branding strategy. also later when Ipresent the city government’s propensity to capitalize onmigrants’ presence in on these notions see Glick Schiller and Caglar, 2009. 14 position “low-scale” “down-scale cities”“top-scale” (e.g. London, New York), “up-scale” (e.g. Dallas),(e.g. “low-scale” (e.g. Philadelphia), and Halle, Manchester),to one of those ideal-typical forms of cities whose positionalities were defined by the scholars as I wouldCaglar’s comparative city scale that Idwelledconsider oninthe first chapter. In order to relate Budapest today’s Budapest as closerprocesses can be recognized (Glick Schiller and Caglarto 2009) a studies, can be avoided and how migrants’ dialectical relationship with urban reconfiguration methodological nationalism and methodological ethnicity, characterizing many migrations to incorporate into the urban life of Budapest n a specific way. This is the way how both research is interested in the opportunities of Chinese, more specifically, of Chinese entrepreneurs, 3.1 ThepositionofBudapest onaglobal city scale economyand the ofmigrants’ districts businesses. similar structural conditions of those areas in each district where Chinese entrepreneurs run their makers may provideframed. This will also show how the varying political and cultural orientation ofpolicy decision- migrants with different opportunities to incorporate, regardless of the However, I find the presented examples less convincing to make my suggestion accepted, for further clarification This document very explicitly reflects on the challenges that the evolvement of So taking Budapest as an entry point for my analysis, I agree to use Glick Schiller’s and Schiller’s use Glick to agree analysis,I formy point entry as an Budapest taking So As I stated in the first chapter, I am choosing the city as a unit of analysis even though my 14 . To elaborate the reasons I give voice to a very recent policy document, the 32 (Er ŋ etal., 2009), which Iwill use CEU eTD Collection sector; the rate ofpeople with tertiary education compared to the totalnumber of city dwellers is are concentrated in the capital; more than three-fourths of its economy is based on the tertiary enterprises foreign the asthat aswell investments direct foreign the of than half more average; is themost competitive city ofHungary: the GDP per capita is more than double of the national with the “Capital of the Danube”. Italian cities. Themain branding strategy the document proposes is the identification of Budapest counterparts. The Alliance is to be a competitor of the Mediterranean alliance of French and developed by major cities along the line of the Danube, under the lead of the German with German cities is underscored by mentioning the “Danube Alliance” that would be of the competition between Central Eastern European cities. The importance of relationships relations enhancing the connection to the German economy) has a great impact on the processes dynamically. Hence, for example, the cooperation with German cities (and through those spatial certain areas or within the European region do influence each other’s position mutually and Romanian cities. “South-Eastern Area” and its already blossoming relationship with Croatian, Serbian and some terms of renewal. Yet the unique advantage in potentials withsimilar partners as wellcooperative but ascompetitors cites post-socialist of Budapest is considered to be its thecloseness economic to the leadershipstructural conditions; vis-à-vis Budapest without a well-developedof strategy in the competitionthe for area. It conceivesidentifies Vienna as the major rival, which has “offensive regional politics” and “unfairly” better of Warsaw, Praguesupports the idea to position Budapest as the lead of the “Central/Eastern European Area”.and It Bratislava, the three Metropolitan Area into the European “region” is crucial (Er “the efficient and dynamic territorial cooperative processes”, theintegration of the Budapest Despite its relative handicaps at the regional level, from the national perspective Budapest perspective national the from level, regional the at handicaps its relative Despite The document rightly recognizes that the interrelations between different cities within It outlines what kind of restructuring processes are going on within this region, and 33 ŋ et al, 2009: 12-14). CEU eTD Collection city, and the question of multiculturalism. of question the and city, revitalization plans concerning the “development of cultural values”, tourist attractions in the partly contestcontinuum “ethnic pathways of incorporation are not likely tobe thisprominent”. Yet torefine and argument,invest in migrant transnational organizations, while in case of cities at theweaker end of the I will comefinancial means and corporate structure to support multiple forms of ethnic institutionsback and to theand Caglar’s argument claiming thatquestion cities with stronger position are assumed to have the when I assess currentto capitalize ontheir transnational business networks. urban region. Neither does it take it into consideration the high density of migrants and the possibility may advance the rescaling of Budapest through collaborating with cities out of the European about the “trans-regional” cooperation of cities. It does not account for such possibilities that Budapest, this general plan fails toinclude any idea about the global positionality of Budapest or level. Tobrand Budapest as the “Capital of the Danube” would enhance also these aims. enhancement of Budapest’spromotion of modern business services,position high-tech and knowledge-based industries and urges the as a tourist asrate is around 5 percent. Withoutwell going more into detail, the document recommends the as a cultural center2009: 20) Theeconomic activityat of Budapest citizensan is only 60 percent, whileinternational the unemployment social gaps within thecity,comparedto European the average, are salientlydeep”. (Er “Budapest’s social provisions in general at anational level are considered to be good, but the metropolis. around 30 percent; while almost half of the national income based on tourism is produced in the The lack of accounting for migrants’ presence in the city seems to justify Glick Schiller’s In spite of its well-developed conceptualization incertain points about the future of Nevertheless, within thecity there aregreat social differences, as thedocument admits: 34 ŋ etal., CEU eTD Collection repealed the abolishment of visa obligation in 1992. As a result –and also because of the end of 40 000 Chinese (most ofwhom settled down in Budapest) the government changed its views and emergence of Chinese entrepreneurs selling cheap commodities. Yet after the influx ofaround economic opportunities (Nyíri 2003). Chinese migrants from various social groups took off around 1989 in thehope of better workers ofstate-owned companies. Thus joining politically exiled intellectuals, anewwave of between 1989 and 1991 endangered the welfare of private entrepreneurs and also ofleaders and of the burgeoning free market. The sanctions of the “West” imposed on the Chinese economy Tiananmen massacre. After thestate retaliation, many Chinese entrepreneurs feared a restriction of export-oriented cheap consumer goods was already ongoing. trading and entrepreneurship, albeit with some constraints. Meanwhile in China, the production all) were cut back, whileat existed had they (where industries retail state-owned the of networks the countries European in some places, like Eastern many in mid-80s, the after argues, (2006) Nyíri As incountries. socialist the in Hungary, economies a legal space was economic incentivesopened to leave China pertained to the capitalist transition ofthe deficiency for private decision provided Chinese with the opportunity to move easily into thecountry. Their main country in theEastern Block, abolished the visa obligation for Chinese (Nyíri 2002). This policy However, these programs concerned only few people. friendship” between the People’s Republic ofChina and the, then, People’s Republic ofHungary. framework ofstudent exchange programs organized under aegis the of the“thesocialist in Hungary in thelate-1960s either as workers sent by the state government, or within the 3.2 The emergence of Chinese and recommendations for urban planning in the past The shrinking post-socialist economy of Budapest undoubtedly had gains through the The exact historical event totrigger the first wave of Chinese migrants was the 1989 first the Hungary, that after year One 1989. in started immigration wave of larger first The As far astheemergence ofChinese in Budapest is concerned, the firstimmigrants arrived 35 CEU eTD Collection promote the idea –, yet the report assesses the proposal as follows: on the Four Tigers Chinese market, orin another area where the actual municipality would and most influential Chinese organization, namely the the fact that there was an intention todevelop a“Chinatown” on the part of the then greatest included certain policy recommendations toconcerning urban refersplanning in particular. It also it ingeneral, migrants Chinese of characteristics ascultural aswell economic demographic, China. emigration of the Chinese diaspora – part of the expansive politics of the People’s Republic of Eastern European region, was considered to be – in contrast with former the waves of migrant population, whosethe analysis of Chineses situationemergence, in Budapest, and open for the contingent cooperation with the not only in managementHungary then, the producers of the report, as per thedeputy mayor, were really engaged with but also in the wholeon Chinese migrants in the city. As opposed to many others inCentral the political and economic and government of Budapest commissioned my informant along with a sociologist to make a report regarding Chinese was toassure that they did not pose a criminal threat to the city. Thus the local leadership around that time already, the left-wing, socialist-liberal government’s main concern opportunities for their families to join them. tofind trying countries European Western and Eastern other into further moved Chinese many the Balkan Wars used to mean a market with guaranteed demands for cheap cloths and shoes – The report in question (Gyimes 1997) beyond that let the government know about the about know government the let that beyond 1997) (Gyimes question in report The According to the current deputy mayor of Budapest, who was working for the city cinema, library, etc.) could be settled that (school, may serve institutions cultural the those other “identityon the while markets, – Chinese consumption” of placement intransparent of the Chinese colony. civilized(sic!) Chinese shops could be placed, which could replace the present – improper,citizens overcrowded entrepreneurs and European-level quality (sic!) sites could be supplied. Here, on the one hand,centre the as for the control of Hungarian authorities […] spaces would be more transparent, while[to] for Chinese set up […] a morepurposive is so-called It well-known. are (ghettoization) which of effects detrimental the integration, of “China-Plaza” – as In thisfar kind of “enclosedas cityit area” bothis personalpossible and public spaces would only advancenot segregation in instead the inner districts […]. In such a trade 36 Association of Hungarian Chinese Hungarian of Association (Gyimes 1997:95) (Gyimes –either built CEU eTD Collection “would be purposive economic and social political affairs of Budapest claimed that the city government “beyond that, since “[they] are very weak” means. The deputy mayor, also responsible for urban renewal, legislation orthrough financial politics, economy, etc.” were not able to promote these processes, through either politics official “the that considered he Yet policy. public of issue important is an with constructive ideas that could have organized official relationships. openness of the city leadership, the representatives of the migrant community could notcome up influence on the little had intellectuals those life personal, rather were way this built relationships Yetthe research. of the colony as a whole.to has been able toencounter and get into good relationship withOn Chinese intellectuals duringthe the other hand,on the lack of systematiche cooperation with Chinese inargued two ways. On the one hand, hewas happy that despiteSince then the government has not produced an upgradedthe report. The deputy mayor commented urban planning, nor on the legal treatment of Chinese (neither in positive, nor in negative terms). the production of the 1997 report, no salient changes happened: neither had it animpact on businesses in these shops, I will refer to the issue in the fourth chapter. “classical” Chinese markets. Seeking an explanation for this kind of disinterest in running designs, the authorized stores and larger investments, their turnover lags much behind that of the of the Ganz Works. According to research (Nemes 2006), despite the consciousness of their suburban areas, much farther from the city centre than theFour Tigers market and the building the Sárkányare These city. in the image Asian an mallswith three funded have investors Austrian as well Center, the malls onthe fabricChina ofthe city. What happened in practice since then is that Vietnamese, Chinese Mart andprocess would “not bepractical”, especially in respect of the disadvantageousthe effects of shopping Asia Center. All three of them are located in At the same time, also in this part, the recommendation argues that, for the government it He claimed that theresearch had confirmed that “the inclusion and integration” of Chinese As for the implementation of any kind of policies, according to my informant, following not to deny the possibility” of founding a “China-Plaza”, initiating this 37 CEU eTD Collection since as he puts it: leaders’ views, which I will present in the next sectionChinese market cannot be assured either. – he suggests the atby-pass all, but, onthe other hand, its heavy traffic in it, thesecure and efficient operation of the of the traffic, K the traffic, the of by-pass the without hand, transportation. Therefore he outlines that the present urban planning problem is that, on the one .ŋ continues towards the 10 10 commissioned by the municipality of the capital, is a particular “border” area between the 8 primal focus of Tamás Fleischer’s (2001) analysis, doneas part of an urban planning project perspective and draws fairly different conclusions. Instead of Chinese as an ethnic group, the issue –that is Chinese presence in the city in terms of urban planning – from adifferent if Isaid that I am dealing with this question”. lie would I because – this about say to nothing Ihave moment present the “At replied: he issue, what the report implies, though). For myquery on thegovernment’s potential interest in the fact the contradicts (this transparency” of afraid are They asacommunity. transparent become several years –”, “is not enough”. He suggested that “the community should take the initiate”. which theHungarian-Chinese, primarily economic relations having been systematically built for […] provides the free use ofa building for the Chinese-Hungarian bilingual elementary school – th bányai út, which is the road dividing the Ganz Works from the Four Tigers market that district that happened to bethe centre of the Chinese trade businesses. He is concerned with In the long run instead of the elimination ofthe market – as opposed to many policy Nevertheless, there is a 2001 policy recommendation as well which approaches the same His explanation forthe lack of a “Chinatown” was the “lack of Chinese interest of to logistic depots; not Greenfield construction, but the replacement of deterioratingBudapest’s economic activities [i.e. of the enhancement sector; theservice in development job conceptions: macro-economic national the position[The Chinese market] constitutes as all those a thingsregional that always appear in the dreams of the capitalcentre, city and in a centre of trading as well as of finance; building on existing th district, which is strategically important also in terms of transit of in terms also important is strategically which district, ŋ 38 bányai út cannot be excluded from transportation from excluded be útcannot bányai th and CEU eTD Collection order to alarger extent. However, he thinks that hinder the processes that would promote charging the local stakeholders controlling the local only migrants against taken measures stricter and stricter the that maintains He area. business the question into the realm offoreign police, which tends to criminalize all kinds of activity in the operation. Therefore Fleischer recommends the amendment ofcurrent procedures channeling concludes in thereservation of the low quality of business activities and that of illegality or grey just claims, report as the conflicts, social toethnically-grounded authorities of reaction hostile the whole district. enclosed “theme park” may beveryattractive for investors,whose emergence could reposition conscious urban planning project, an enlarged business area close tothe city centre, still an living standard. While, on the other hand, he underscores that within the framework of a district) would be much more impoverished, as these products are a significant factor of their of the poorest districts, it concernsservices supplied as “Chinese” in the market the lives of the less well-offthe inhabitants (being onemajority of residentstransportation. On the one hand, Fleischer claimsin that without theinexpensivethe goods and 8 Area as on thepositionality of the city, he proposes a detailed plan onhow to expand the (see At the same time, he is critical of the strict Hungarian legislations concerning migrants. The Recognizing thebeneficial impact of the Chinese market on the local environment as well on the part of the host [authorities], and those get recognition. can be set into native conditions only if, on the other hand, some frame regulations are thedeclared local community very clearlyin general) than to entrust the maintenance of order to the community itself. But thisit seems there is no other real opportunity to regulate “Chinese” trading (and the regulation of the life of capital investment; […], maintenance of the local service networks; etc. the heavy industrial works of Ganz] in Brownfields; utilization and renewal of the existing building blocks; Potential Chinatown Area on maps in Appendix 1) along with the reconstruction of 39 th , but also that of the 10 (Fleischer 2001: 3) (Fleischer (Fleischer 2001: 2) (Fleischer Chinese Trade Chinese th CEU eTD Collection produced by the commission ofK Józsefváros 3.3.1 Long-term urban development plans in Budapest, the 8 Budapest’s revitalization schemes will be analyzed. current city leaders’ opinion on the potential interplays between Chinese entrepreneurism and and put on the political agenda. issue policy as a conceived be may facts social different [1974]), 2005 Lukes (Steven hold they integration. Depending on their decisions, ignorance, but also on the culturally patterned bias decision-makers do have agency to shape citizens’, including migrants’ opportunities for social policy constraints, structural same the within that substantiate is to analysis following the create should bepromoted or not, going here also beyond Glick Schiller’s and Caglar’s argument, traders Chinese 2005)that (McEwan spaces” “newindustrial the whether question to the given 3.3 Chinese opportunities provided by the city government today result of the improper legal proceedings. finally leading to thegrowth of corruption. The threat ofgetthoization is considered to be only a pushing other actors, who would otherwise run legal businesses, into therealm ofillegality, renewal (Er Chinese migrants: one isthe formerly mentioned medium-term strategy of integrated urban am toanalyze five related policy documents that may also promote the urban incorporation of This is tobeillustrated in thefollowing two parts where policy documents as well as Although the former section already well represents that politically different answers can be Current acts of authorities rend up in keeping fair economic actors away from the area, To take into account the most recent efforts of the city leadership toreposition Budapest, I (Alföldi et al, 2008) and the ŋ et al, 2009), while two others are the ŋ bánya municipality – (n.a. 2007), which are plans on the Strategy for the Integrated Urban Development 2007-2013 40 Strategy for the Integrated Urban Development of Development Urban theIntegrated for Strategy th and the 10 the and th district – CEU eTD Collection “Jewish quarter”. “Jewish the representing latter the foods, kosher and specialties Hungarian the besides etc.), prosciutto, “Delicatesse market” would mainly provide WesternEuropean foods (e.g.French cheese,Italian representation of the historical past through architecture, which finally becomes the main focus. cultural elements among other tourist attractions. But another suggestion highlights the the municipality. It even claims that oneof these strategies can bethe representation ofethnic of Budapest. Thus it proposes that various representational strategies should be worked out by tourism and the development of urban attractions significantly contributes to the symbolic capital migrants in Józsefváros. Itis especially striking because otherwise the plan recognizes that urban conveys the strongest characteristics of “Chineseness” does not even mention the presence of values is among the main goals to be achieved by 2015. Itis formulated as follows: us that within the framework of a medium-term strategy thedevelopment of Budapest’s cultural conceived to constitute potential parts of the plans for social integration. that may concern migrants from the perspective ofwelfare and social provisions, which are districts two the of strategies policy the analyze to also am I Besides, al. 2006). et (Hárs located renewal of the 8 detail this goal further. district, regardless the ethnic origins or religious beliefs of its inhabitants). However, it does not ethnic-grounded culture traits (e.g. what actually happens to the “Jewish quarter” in the seventh The idea to establish special markets in the 8 inthe markets special toestablish idea The The most overarching document, that is the urban revitalization plan ofthe capital, informs The policy plan ofthe 8 This statement carries a potential opportunity to market part of the city as a value-holder of strong cultural characteristic is the enhancement of the presence of culture traits.everyday life of city dwellers. […] The basic means and priority of revitalizing those city areas which haveCity a places and city quarters as conveyers of culture are appropriate means to express the culture of th and 10 and th districts, where most of the Chinese as well as migrants in general are in general as wellmigrants Chinese the mostof where districts, th district that may concern therenewal of the part of the city that 41 th district is also put forward, yet the planned (Er ŋ et al. 2009: 71) etal. CEU eTD Collection background report of the current one, saying processes thanks to migrants is confirmed by a 2007 urban renewal plan as well, which is the migrants’ investments can mean for K socialism). during activity prevailing the deterioration of heavy industry in the area during the transition of economy, which, however, was with an otherwise aging population (mostly because many left thedistrict following the district the of aptitude apositive be to is conceived age young migrants’ the trends, demographic opportunities “the presence of Chinese” “in terms of multiculturalism” (n.a. 2007: 110). Among trading centers, with regard to the in thedistrict, which is otherwise constituted of agricultural fields, living spaces, industrial and ensure an environment for its inhabitants that remains attractive in the long run” (n.a. 2007: 106). for culture, sport and leisure that, through its supportive measures to live inthe district, is able to increasing population, free of segregation, younger and educated labor force, as well as the centre the generalmulticultural characteristic of the image of the district”goals is ofimportance. It is putunder oneof claiming that “K restructuring processes at all. at processes restructuring be crucial, actual area. For the realizationas of that the role of retailers and their transnational thenetworks could document“advance the establishmentpoints of out.creative industries”.Yet migrants This would lead areto the gentrificationnot conceived of the as agents of such Although the plan does not refer to the opportunities of economic development that When the document elaborates the more concrete aims related to the so-called action areas In contrast, the same document of the 10 The municipality also aims to attract a “creative class” (Florida 2005) into the city and to other hand, may provide an advantage in terms of [the opening towards] the Eastern world region.experienced Yet the in a way that they preserve their traditions at the same time. The emerging Westernbi-lingualism, on the cities in terms of segregation, here the definite intention of Asian migrants to integrate can be “multicultural” characteristic of the society of K […] it is possible to claim that despite the otherwise just rarely occurring minor tensions, the ŋ Laposd bánya shall be one of the districts of the capital with ŋ bánya, the recognition ofthe positive demographic ŋ bánya ťOŋ , its SWOT-analysis mentions among itsfuture among mentions SWOT-analysis , its th 42 district emphasizes that “the preservation of the is a significant a is value. As opposed to the experience of experience tothe Asopposed enhancing CEU eTD Collection multiculturalism. Yet it is not elaborated what kind of processes are referred to here. the district is considered to provide both “challenges and opportunities” in terms of particular, the question is more relevant. The remarkable number of Asian and Roma children in country, in general; however, comparing the significance of the problem in the actual district, in media and issuing guiding brochures is notweaker than in the capital or other parts of the municipality should be more supportive in the course of information. It argues that the use of efficient provision of social services, especially incase of Asian migrants and Roma, the local in this sense, arguing that the contingent linguistic andcultural obstacles which may hinder the question whether these people can get access to social provisions. The document is quite critical eastern part of Hungary as well as from abroad have “rather low social status”. This entails the contact with. migrants” from Asia and Africa with whom the employees of the Local Authority has direct generally higher than in other districts of Budapest, however, concerns only those “social devotes a separate part to the situationsocial benefits,of the plan ofJózsefváros,immigrants. in contrast with theignorance of the urban renewal plan, It admits that the numberIII/1993). Althoughof this plan ofK migrants is by each municipality since 2004 according to a 2001 amendment the so-called concern migrants and the specialaccounted for whether policy documentsneeds on the provision of social benefits at the thatmunicipal level their presence may evoke. Therefore I also studied compared to that of the 8 At the same time, it enhances that most of the migrants in Józsefváros, both from the This exemplifies how distinctive the political approach of the 10 opposing this in the public ofthe capital. thepublic in this opposing district has district Strategic PlansforSocial Services Strategic to communicate this positive experience more decisively more experience positive this tocommunicate th . Nevertheless, besides urban development plans it should bealso itshould plans development urban besides . Nevertheless, ŋ bánya does not claim migrants as potential stakeholders of ofboth districts, which is compulsory tobe produced 43 , because there usually emerges utterances of the Welfare Act (No. th district to migrants is migrants to district (Meggyesi 2007:12) (Meggyesi CEU eTD Collection makers in K 3.3.2 and Differentpolitical culturalapproaches: a comparisonofthe two districts the leadership of the two districts in question. This I will present in the next section. similar attitude will be reflected along the lines of the analysis onthe interviews conducted with those claims that are to support migrants’ social recognition are rather weak or not accurate. A made with deputy mayors in the two districts. interviews the of 2006) (Verloo analysis frame a critical Iwillprovide here city, in the presence municipality) and would be left out from the next conception (e.g. onthe experience that any of the Chinese organizations would have supported the only for political purposes, as a gesture towards Chinese but was not based on real experience, Józsefváros who is responsible for social affairs, this statement was included inthe document provisions. Notwithstanding, according to my interviewee, one of the deputy mayors in although not engaged in the urban renewal plans appear in strategic plans dealing with welfare on migrants. Hence it may propose that in the 8 that fallacious myin terms analysis.of 15 they plan to move further. At the same time, it claims that China, however, it supposes that most of them are settled in the district only temporarily, because Of course, Of this questions the authenticitythe document of as a whole, yet the other citedit partsmay of not be In order tomake a more comprehensive comparison of the standings of policy decision- This all suggests that the 8 Under the scrutiny of similar policy documents of the 10 The document at another point underlines that most of the transnational migrants are from also be of importance. be useful contacts for the social branch. The branch. the social for contacts useful be organization of Chinese.districts The Alliance has sub-organizations for youth asof well as forBudapest, women, which might like with that of Józsefváros, as a financial supporter (sic!) – is the greatest The Alliance of Hungarian Chinese ŋ bánya and Józsefváros and to grasp the diversity oftheir opinions on Chinese th district municipality’s advocacy of Chinese is ambiguous, while ambiguous, is Chinese of advocacy municipality’s district – which in the recent years got in contact with a few municipalities of Alliance for the Promotion of Chinese-Hungarian Friendship ofChinese-Hungarian Promotion the for Alliance 44 th district – as opposed to K to opposed – as district 15 . th district, not aword can befound (Kaló et al. 2004: 11) et al. (Kaló ŋ bánya –migrants, bánya might CEU eTD Collection the 10 the Four Tigers market and the Ganz Works in the 8 investors and as participants of everyday life; 2)the operation of the “Chinese markets”, that is revolved around three major topics: 1) the general perceptions of Chinese in each district, both as views onthe need for the recognition and assistance of transnational migrants in Budapest. illustrate that formal political convictions does not necessarily determine policy decision-makers’ terms of migrants’ urban incorporation will be to some extent confirmed, my frame analysis is to member of a conservative party, yet without success. opposition parties of equalrepresentation almost the Because of mayors. deputy asocialist in and a liberal with the policy board, I waspoliticians have a slight majority in the decision-makingalso board. This is the reason Ihad interviews to talk to the socialistthird party. In K deputy mayor, whoin theis a district, as wing deputy mayors welland with a conservative counselor responsible for the urban renewal affairs as an interviewrepresentatives is conservative. Therefore I conductedwith „right-wing interviews” with two right- the single deputy mayor who is a member of the the views of the leadership at the level of the municipalities of the 8 of comparison inthe interested Iammore Here part. this in analysis its willomit thus section, transition, I conducted an interview with a liberal deputy mayor. since Yet values I liberal presented politically holds leadership the capital the that of level the at in that fact a the former Given leaders of the city, andparties. three sameHence long I conducted interviewshave interviewees proportionally representing the political power of the left- and right-wingfour, with at leaders least, fromone-hour the conservative long interviews parties. with the liberal or socialist Although Józsefváros is also governed bya left-wing politician, the majority of the board of The questions I raised during the interviews and which were discussed more elaboratelyAlthough the presupposition that left-wing governors are “politically more correct” in For the part of my research scrutinizing the urban governance in Budapest, I was trying to th district; and 3) the possible need and promise of the development ofa “Chinatown”, also ŋ bánya the governor belongs to the socialists as well, while left-wing 45 th district, while the th and 10 New Chinese Trade Area th districts. in CEU eTD Collection Moreover, he complained that even no taxes can be expected from these enterprises as potential low-quality goods, which they can afford only thanks to the economic support of China. so theproblem is that Hungarian entrepreneurs are crowded out from the market”, Chinese sell that with its closure the local population would lose its opportunity to obtain to cheap products, is said it usually “although and advantage, economic nor political hasneither market Tigers Four different way”. However, again, the councilor represented a “minority report” stating that the political asset”, their opinions overlapped in claiming that “this [problem] should besolved in a providing cheap goods for local poor inhabitants and thus reducing social tensions, which is “a by advantage its recognized mayors deputy left-wing and right-wing both While aswell. makers engenders. the criminal cases that, according to him, the concentration of Chinese trading activities negatively affectsthepublic imaginary ofChinese.Hevaguely social referred tensions tothe and who claimed that the “illegal operation of the Four Tigers market” in the informal economy environment and “assimilate”. The only exceptional opinion was represented by the councilor, inhabitants of the districts, conceive of Chinese as migrants intended to adjust tothelocal mayors agreed on that Chinesedistrict. have“diagnosis”, then the“prognosis” voiced related theseto questionslittle by policy-makers in each conflictsformulated (“diagnosis”) and issues to be handled (“prognosis”). First I will examine the withthe municipality leaders’ narratives; while the first two questions can be analyzednative both as issues people,far, the analysis of how the last question is framed pertains mainly to the “prognostic parts” of thatsubstantiates it, the idea of setting up a“Chinatown” inthe the district was not put on the agenda so Hungariansubsection former asthe Since, municipalities. of strategies branding to the in relation Yet the perception ofthe As for the opinion of Józsefváros leadership onChinese presence in the city, all deputy Chinese Trade Area 46 itself was more dubious among other policy- CEU eTD Collection of state-owned companies that had been run in the national government was blamed for the current situation –referring to the careless privatization people cooperate in these activities”. Onthepart of the major society, only either the former Chinese that thanks to their economic power “they provide such incentives that makes native mentioned. When this point of view was brought up, one of my interviewees even blamed maintenance market’s ofthe informal economy of wererarelyoronlythe market verycarefully are responsible for this. The interests of native investors or native service-providers in the Chinese “real legal status” and “real business operations”. However, he did not claim who exactly reveal to authorities for it impossible make to in order intransparent kept said itwasconsciously frames and the concerns about the development of a “Chinatown”. members of the major society. This approach will be partly echoed in the prognostic parts of the can become demonized, or, touse the terms introduced in the first chapter, “securitized” by the observations. So I find this framing an example how the ‘other’ in the city, or at least, its activities the local urban environment insecure and delinquent. This cannot beconfirmed by my are tohide, for instance, “drug dealing”. According to another opinion, the market itself makes half-illegality of their operations in themarket, but that those can only be“cover activities” that the necessarily not are businesses Vietnamese and Chinese with the the problem that supposed representative in Józsefváros. The strength of this frame was various, though. One of them industry emerged in a “diagnosis” of another right-wing deputy mayor as well. Hungarians – but also that of the Europeans (!) in general – in the garment as well as shoe government was supposed to fail keeping order in the market. As for the role of the Józsefváros – than to the changes in the quality. the demanders’ greater sensitivity to theprices rise of– which thebetter-quality import of goods would surely16 entail income for the municipality. The low quality of goods As for this issue, Nyíri (2002) claims that usually the reasonsupplying of lower quality products derives only from Many interviewees conceived of the market as a “mess”. A right-wing deputy mayor also mayor deputy right-wing A as a“mess”. the market of conceived interviewees Many With regard to the market an explicit “criminalizing” frame was voiced by each 47 Chinese Trade Area 16 andthe reduction of the number of –, or the actual national CEU eTD Collection however, he also underlined the problem with “the fuzzy structure of property rights” there. wing governor was less against Chinese investments in the former buildings of the Ganz Works, 8 assume responsibility for the initiative, which should be concluded with an agreement that let the be done to regulate theresponsible for that. Onemarket, of my interviewee suggested that a comprehensive policy plan should but the nationalrather Hungarian entrepreneurs, however, without detailing in what ways, orwhoor would be capital levelexpansion of Chinese businessesgovernment is in correspondence with a proposition that would support was supposedhow the power of formal government can be practiced. The efforts to stop the territorialto market negatively. new businesses, orbyusing certain policy tools that indirectly affected the operation ofthe Chinese investments was tried to behindered by obstructing the issue of permissions to open themarket among membersofthe representativeboard. Therefore sometimes thegrowth of the against opposition wasastrong there that admitted leaders Right-wing Józsefváros. of mayor marketplace, as the Asia was suggestedCenter to beclosed down. The idea to bechanged and make it a “civilized, European” or the Sárkány Centermigrants would be expected by the city leadership. Regardlessare, ofpolitical convictions, the market was voiced by theidea to establishleft-wing a“Chinatown” in thedistrict it became clearer what kind of behavior of deputy of the market, the ways Chinese should beapproached from the side of the government, and the Chinese migrants in general, when deputy mayors framed calls for action related to the operation decision-makers. issue tobe presented in the following part of the analysis when scrutinizing the “prognostis” of operation of the market. Yet with regard to the indirect policy impacts, I was told more about the municipality, itwas told by each of my interviewees that they cannot intervene directly into the th district “take notonly the challenges but also theeconomic opportunities of that”. The left- This kind of agenda-setting echoes Lukes’ (2005 [1974])) thoughts on the different modes Although the negative perception of the market was seemingly in contrast with that of 48 CEU eTD Collection (Phillips 2007). 17 say concrete actions either. Yet her conviction tosupport migrants seemed to bestronger. She mutual relationship; maybe, the majority should take a gesture towards the minority”. She did not nationalized Chinese and gave them citizenship, has to take care of its citizens. However, this is a stronger statement and argued that despite “the isolation ofChinese”, “a homeland, which a made mayor deputy conservative the this, to As opposed responsibility. assume should who integration of Chinese, yet he could not name any concrete policy actions or social organizationsminorities, the socialist deputy mayor admitted that themunicipality may have done more for the imitation of the behavior of Hungarians, who tend not to socialize with others. also bepart of their motivations to adjust tothe local culture, and thus it may only be the may it that claimed interviewees my of one Nevertheless, Hungarian. little only speak they that fact the from derive could it likethat reasoning alternative an by contested was not assumption emphasizedconstraints which their parents are usually struggling with. On the other hand, both interviewees that language those have not did they was that provided they reason main The interviewee. Chinese were. They traced it back to their “unclear legal status”. This schools, are already “nicely assimilated “nicely already are schools, informants mentioned that the children of first-generational migrants, who attend Hungarian governor underlined that to build cultural links between those is of importance. These two a distinct culture from that of “foreigners”. integration of the majority,wing and right-wing politicians may conceptualizeonlythe role of the government in the social two of them,migrants. Regarding this I would point out two interesting observations, which refines how left- a left-wingmy interviewees seemed tobe concerned, in any way, withand thepolitical and cultural integration of a right-wing This partly reflects on a desired “end-point”social ofintegration which referred to above in the first chapter As forbuilding sociallinks betweenthemembers of the majorsociety and ethnic Although all of myinterviewees conceived that first generation Chinese migrants represent While these propositions concern the conditions of Chinese economic integration, not all 17 totheHungarian culture” – tocite the right-wing 49 CEU eTD Collection awareness that it is good to live here, for any kind of nationals, but ethnic intermarriages) and keeping the leading role for the major society: “ wasagainst she (e.g. cultures between distance certain keeping suggests waythat patronizing referring to the examples of Western European cities. preventive measures against social conflicts between migrant and non-migrant groups by interviewee, who supposed that Chinese presence in thecity will be continuous, proposed to take [social] tensions will emerge like it happened in the ghettos of [Western] Europe”. So my because if we do not openthe host country. She explained that “ittowards is important tohave penetrability between cultures, them, and do“Europeanization” of Turkishnot guest workers, who “were [not] given everythingtry they needed” in to constitutesupported her argument by hintinga at Germany’s responsibilitykind in the failure ofthe of community, consequences of this kind of gentrification see Cook 2009), but did not conceive of Chinese Szigony Sétány” a successful rehabilitation project (for a comprehensive analysis of the social be found within the whole country. All of them represented the construction of the “Corvin- 19 late the from with the urban renewal plans scrutinized above, as aplace with rich historical-cultural heritage construction. The deputy mayors consensually preferred branding Józsefváros, in compliance the national and city level government to assume the responsibility to conceptualize its since “the city of Budapest is as western (sic!) as to have [a Chinatown]”. But he, again, expected political convictions. Only the councilor admitted that it was “not an unimaginable possibility”, in this way was notreally welcomed bythe policy decision-makers of Józsefváros, nomatter of support would be conditional depending on the legal status of immigrants. who “chose [Hungary] as their homeland and swore on [Hungarian] citizenship”, that is her want”. The conservative deputy mayor underlined that she would advance the situation of those At the same time, her commitment to promote social integration was framed in a The idea to develop a“Chinatown” and incorporate migrants as well as to brand the district th century, as well as the area where the most tertiary educational institutions can 50 we should form thecity as we have to raise an we CEU eTD Collection described in the first chapter. local culture, which illustrates Lukes’ (2005 [1974]) notion of the third dimension of power, point to frame the issues concerning Chinese. This also mobilized various bias embedded in the Roma were taken by deputy example howmayors perceptions of Chinese are related to Romathe inthe city. All alongresearch, my of both districts, characteristic isavery standing latter the classissues, by biased be may integration sake of either covertly or overtly, as a reference Chinese were integrated well enough for not being in a need to establish such a place. not like tooccur, since that would lead a coercive ghettoization ofRoma. He considered that think that “Gypsies” should be also have such an enclosed area within the city, which he would associations” –, he worried about that if a “Chinatown” would be developed, many people would “biased these against struggles municipality the said, as he that, fact the –despite delinquency” high number of Roma population (20-25 % of the inhabitants), prostitution, poverty and contingent public reception ofa “Chinatown”: “since Józsefváros is usually associated with the represented the idea kind ofabout an “inclusionary country” towards immigrants in the county.rreining around 1000, who – according to the Hungarian history education in state-ownedChristian-nationalist elementary schools connotation – with an implicit reference to the politicsSaint István,of the first Hungary18 King of close totheinclusionary country. but those, who are [Hungarian]themselves form a Chinese area in apart of the city, but not in the city centre, […] may be good, citizens – mayorand I amput talking it “although aboutChinese would become evenmore isolated than they aretoday. As the conservativethem deputy such nowthing – […]like should that“Chinatown” would only[Chinese]be lead toghettoization and a kind of socio-spatial segregation where workers [that is not better-offGanz Works – as a remarkable resultmigrants] (see photos on that in Appendix 2). investment in therevitalization ofthe rust belt in the district – that is theabandoned buildings of It is difficult to translate. It would mean “host country”, but the word my interviewee used holds a strong While the first statement shows how migrants’ recognition and measures defined for the Those city leaders who have taken more care of Chinese integration thought that a 18 ” The socialistcity leader was more concerned with the 51 CEU eTD Collection .ŋ without their emergence, since many buildings in the district got abandoned after the collapse of Moreover, according to one ofmy interviewees, some dwelling-houses could not be maintained Chinese. Both city leaders agreed on that Chinese have noserious conflicts with the majority. framed the same issues, we can find overlapping diagnoses with regard to theperception of .ŋ in “rag-fair” similar a have to refuse also would they and crack” to nut as“atough Józsefváros investments in therust belt ofthe district, they conceived ofthe Four Tigers market in with Roma than with Chinese. system was accounted as a success. Also they highlighted that the municipality has more concerns social integration ofmigrants’ children through participating in theHungarian national education of the polity of Józsefváros. orientation cultural the illustrate well narratives identity-constituting 2000) (Kjosszev colonizing self- These policies. city by promoted or targeted be should that civilization of level higher the formulations of policy documents investigated above), and meant some better quality or “Europeanization” werefrequently used, value-ladenconcepts ofmyinterviewees (similarly to (2008). Kymlicka by the presence of Roma. The concept not atall meant the ideal of liberal multiculturalism proposed the political agenda, while ontheother, that it is linked to theemergence of migrants, but not to globalization. This implies, onthe one hand, that multiculturalism is notconsidered to be put on Multiculturalism was conceived only as “a condition” which is unavoidablean consequence of all narratives. from was missing migrants and other Chinese ofallRoma, composed district bánya’s heavy industry. Chinese were supposed to adjust tothelocal environment, while the bánya. As for the Ganz Works buildings, theywere not aware of those reconstructions. Although both deputy mayors recognized the socio-economic advantages of Chinese Compared to these, and elaborating how the two left-wing deputy mayors of K As opposed tothe missing frame of multiculturalism, the terms of “European” and At the same time, the conception to capitalize onthe multicultural environment ofthe 8 52 ŋ bánya th CEU eTD Collection as well. As forpromoting Chinese cultural integration, the same deputy mayor assumed that to participate in the city’ political life which means they would become part of the electorate. His experience was that Chinese do want perspective. He claimed that more and more Chinese are getting nationalized in thedistrict, government would most probably advance migrants’ political integration as well. promotion ofeconomiccooperation; however, the opportunity to develop minority self- minorities in the district.support setting up alocal minority self-governmentThe for Chinese, similarly tothose left-wingof other ethnic deputyplans of investors. Formayor seeking solution tothis problem he stated that the municipality shouldseemed to be primarilysystematically with Chinese, which entails that the city leadershipengaged is not clearly aware of the future with the deputy mayors was concerned with the fact that the municipality could notcooperate more children. reconstructed, along with thebuilding of a kindergarten, which is also attended by Chinese abandoned factories were renovated, ornew buildings were set up, but also roads have been Chinese entrepreneurs “proved to beaccommodating with regard tothis”, notonlythe constructions as a condition of the opportunities for further investments in the area. Since the municipality started to negotiate with Chinese investors and required infrastructural growth for the whole neighborhood. While onthe other, both deputy mayors underscored that businesses. On theone hand, it is the valorization ofthe territory that engenders economic in the 10 the in in K (Örkény et al.) on the political organizationmigrants. of 19 for the poor not only ofthe 8 Nevertheless, they admitted that the Four Tigers market in theneighboring district was beneficial However, this assumption was not confirmed with regard to Chinese migrants in general according to the survey ŋ The other deputy mayor was interested in migrants’ political integration from another Although the agreements with Chinese investors were concluded successfully, one of the bánya can be also derived from its closeness to that market. From the emergence of shops th district the locals can have only indirect advantages, since most of them are wholesale th but also of the 10 the of also but 19 , which he thought should be endorsed by the municipality 53 th district inhabitants. Besides, the investments CEU eTD Collection prefer having a “Chinatown” in anarea that is more embedded in anenvironment where most of “ghetto”. residential segregation the of form any of imaginary decision-maker’s policy the that implies standing This district. of ethnic minoritiesemerged in thedistrict”. He explained this by the fact that Chinese reside more dispersedly in the is strongly associatedhe said, “we should not be afraid of the ghettoization ofChinese as we used to be when Chinese with as since, the city, the of favor in diversity ethnic of negative commerzialization the welcome unambiguously images of a denied the possibility to brand the area in this way. One of the deputy mayors seemed to and, in correspondence with that, of the idea of multiculturalism, neither of the city leaders operation of a church. based income that, according to tax regulations, could not have been accounted in case of the of the municipality. However, he reasoned this rejection primarily with thepossible loss of tax- buy a building to construct a church for themselves was turned down bythe representative board interviews I conducted with migrants as well. needed on the part of the children of Chinese migrants – which will bepartly confirmed by the of a “Chinatown” as a place to maintain (orinvent) “Chinese ethnic identity” may bemore host country]” to want to keep cultural traditions. From this he concluded that the development since it is a characteristicevents showing off their ethnic identity. As ofhe stated, this will“the most probably change over time, second generationalthey belong to the country where they are”. Therefore they do notwant to organize cultural migrants, who alreadywant tokeep their Chinese identity within thefamily”, but “for outsiders theywere want to prove that born [in the generation Chineseimmigrants arestill strongly attached totheChineseculture andthus“they Chinese are not in a need of that, because his subjective impression was that although first- The other deputy mayor expressed some worries about the same issue, because he would Regarding the views of 10 of views the Regarding The left-wing deputy mayor conjured up an example also when despite Chinese initiative to th district deputy mayors on the promotion of a “Chinatown” 54 CEU eTD Collection “securitization” ofethnicminority-related issues entails ofgovernment theretreat policies from thoughts I presented in thetheoretical part of the thesis, which emphasized that the inhabitants and for advancing the social integration of ethnic minorities. This underpins the makers’ advocacy both for branding the city with reference tothe ethnic diversity of its prognosis to appear in deputy mayor’s narratives. However, those could signify policy decision- formulations of policy recommendations the and strategies renewal urban the in emerged also – that frame “Eurocentric” colonizing economic development of the whole district. Therefore and also because of the strong self- multiculturalism ortherecognition of migrants’ activities as beneficial phenomena for the was represented by all deputy mayors inthe8 shops there. need for a controllable and transparent “China-Plaza” is framed by referring to the in “European-levelan thearea 8 of quality”the of promote the integrationthe Budapest of Metropolitan Area into the European region; how the “cultural openness”20 in K beneficial for the native and migrant people. should notbe struggled against, but rather attempted to becontrolled in away that is both the other hand, he said the local manifestation ofthe changing structure of global economy competitiveness today is a result oftheir expertise, which “Hungarian could also learn from”. On away from Hungarians. Yet he thought that even if it may have happened earlier, Chinese traders’ crowding out Hungarian entrepreneurs from the garment industry and thus indirectly took jobs receive the phenomenon. He referred to that according tomany people, Chinese enterprises were Chinese already made that investments to those regard special with positive”, as “rather district inthe a “Chinatown” in the district. However,currently placed surrounded by railway tracks. Nevertheless, he conceived of the developmenthe of was not sureare shops Chinese where area the unlike society, major the of members are how inhabitants the the major society would The instances for the “Europeanization” theseefforts ofdocuments are like: how the medium-term policy plans ŋ Relying onthese framings, Iwould argue that more opportunity is seemed to be provided bánya to establish a “Chinatown” than in Józsefváros. The “criminalizing” diagnosis that th district is urged to be branded through merchandising Western European foods; or how the 20 analyzed above – impeded a “multiculturalist” impeded – above analyzed th 55 district never went along with the promotion of CEU eTD Collection positive impact on all migrants’ opportunities to incorporate into urban life. a have can strategies branding “multiculturalist” the that substantiates Chinese of integration Chinese investors and not to Chinese migrants in general, the idea raised to promote the political would argue that even if the I prime Still multiculturalism”. movement “social with concern multiculturalism” “corporate of replacement of deputy mayors in K the recognition and accommodation of migrants, which confirms Kymlicka’s worries about the emerged. Yet it seemed to be astronger attraction to the commodification ofethnicity than to could have also promoted the idea of a “Chinatown”. frame which, however, would have been more subjugating by the exoticization of the ‘other’, the promotion of multiculturalism, in Kymlicka’s (2008) term. Neither emerged an “orientalizing” In the narratives of the 10 th district deputy mayors, the “multiculturalist” frame clearly 56 ŋ bánya was rather related to CEU eTD Collection old and new the more concrete processes of economic changes that haddirect impact on the trajectory of the a given structural framework, but will explore the already implemented and enforced policies and second section ofthis chapter will be more focused. Itwill not investigate the future plans within city level that structurally conditions Chinese entrepreneurs’ opportunities to incorporate, the well. as China organization. I will other Chinese, andbriefly how these ties interplay with Chinese migrants’ identity and political refer to the transnationalchanging migration networks, globalizationpolitics fromthat below, will scrutinize how the Chinese traders is,of Budapest are embedded in how of andthe to People’swhat extent Republic they are tied of to theirinformal rules, the chapter will dwell onthesehomeland three aspects affecting migrants’ agency. and to and formal both embracing structures inregulatory 3)embeddedness and structures, economic in 2) embeddedness networks, social transnational in embeddedness is1) that entrepreneurship, embeddedness” and the three dimensions that structurally condition immigrants’ the basis of speculations on Chinese interests and propensity to develop a “Chinatown”, which (McEwan 2005) that Chinese created and the identity of Chinese entrepreneurs. This will form the those who run businesses either in theFour Tigers Chinese market and in its neighborhood or in Budapest,. This chapter is to learn more from the migrants’ perspectives and especially that of municipality leadership onChinese traders’ activities in therust belts of the 8 economic performance and the related policy frames, introduced the reflections of the city and Locals andOther Migrants Other Entrepreneurs, Chapter 4Chinese New Chinese Trade Area Although the third chapter already charted the economic and political environment on the The first section, echoing also Michael Peter Smith’s (2001) views onthe processes of The first part of my case study, through the analysis of the assessment of the city’s the of assessment the analysis of the through study, case my of first part The Chinese Trade Area located in the10 . It will reflect on the dialectics between the new industrial spaces industrial new the between dialectics the on will reflect . It th district. By invoking Jan Rath’s (2007) term “mixed term (2007) Rath’s Jan invoking By district. 57 th and 10 th district of CEU eTD Collection always tried to find theactivities market niches and rather and Unlikeexpand formerly settledmoved Western European Chinese, who preferred concentrating their economicthefurther range ifof thetheirhad first establishedmarket restaurants and small works, and endeavoredactivities to become self-suppliers. started – toor shrink,startedcounterparts in Western Europe, who had mostly come from villages, has been less educated and Easternto their European vis-à-vis industry, shoe and garment the in participated largely Migrants Hungary. at firstly Chinese more cultural capital and stronger links to state-owned companies arrived in Eastern Europe, Western Europe. Formerly Ireferred to the fact that around 1989 more educated migrants, with War had different characteristics than the earlier waves of Chinese influx into the US or into that would entail the reconfiguration of the city as well. propensity to choose a form ofspatial segregation as a way of social integration (Phillips 2007), I am to explore how these strategies may influence migrants’ agency to incorporate and their constituent elements of their “reterritorialization” (Smith 2001) strategies in cities they are settled. become processes identification tiesthrough business transnational their assume that I because Hungary here, I am to study thebelow”. “from identity claims practices social of outcome an and amedium asboth conceives he Those refugees. and migrants that Chineseof the widely spatially dispersed social networks that are maintainedtraders by and sustain transnational in Budapest may hold,4.1 Chinese traders’ embeddedness in transnational social networks interviews conducted with migrants in the old and new will be underpinned by the analysis of a survey onChinese attachments to the city and of the Nyíri (2006) asserts that Chinese migration into Central and Eastern Europe after theCold Using this approach and relying on Nyíri’s extensive ethnographic research ofChinese in As I described in the theoretical part of the thesis, Smith (2001) is engaged with the scrutiny 58 Chinese Trade Areas Trade Chinese . CEU eTD Collection participated in. This initiative aimed at promoting a more efficient incorporation of Chinese into Chinese migrants and the representatives of the city government, and of a well-known NGO Chinese-Hungarian Friendship former assumption. This took place in September 1995 when the prominent examples –, when Chinese participated in host-country politics could confirm the well). Inaddition, even the first instance – which is, as per Nyíri’s accounts, still one of the few native organizations (like it was missed by my interviewees in the 10 the in interviewees my by missed was it (like organizations native maintenance of transnational ties, instead of seeking opportunities for institutional relations with in today’s Budapest is rather weak. Even those who organize themselves are focused on the Chinese traders in Budapest, is more likely to be close to an ideological model. of that like migrants, today’s of identities constructed the that with concludes This 2000). (Nyíri transformed into economic capital –, but the symbolicallyimportant core place today is Beijing be can – that capital political represent still can elites provincial the with Relationships capital. of actual birth-place. However, formerly for diasporan Chinese these ties meant the primer resource links to national elites and thus those are more important than their bonds to a province and the determine which model prevails in the life of a group. can activities economic and socialties of thenature He arguesthat community. pan-Chinese detach the group from others; and the “ideologicalbased on the particular culture traits of the group; the “inner-meditative model” that aims to model” that identifies thedistinguishes three groupmodels that can describe Chinese collective as identity claims:part the“direct model” of a claims to different groups of the Chinese diaspora. Based on Li Yiyuan’s (1970) categorization, he upward mobility of Chinese entrepreneurs. produce for exportation into the other countries of the region. This strategy better promoted the According to my research, and also to Nyíri’s (2007), the political organization ofChinese In case of “new Chinese migrants” the strong affiliations to the homeland are built onthe Nyíri (2000), in accordance with the characteristics of migration, attributes different identity organized the first, and since then the last, conference where both 59 Association for the Promotion of the th district municipality as municipality district CEU eTD Collection Chinese migrants should become an officially recognized ethnic minority in Hungary. Although it derived from the embark on a more efficient social integration of Chinese. that the organizational leadership was seeking her economic self-interests only. That is, it was not Budapest. Yet Sándor P. Szabó, another expert of Chinese, explained this suggestion with the fact policy report presented contradictionabove with the fact that the very same organization was the one (Gyimeswhich, according to the 1997), suggestedcan trigger social integration (see Phillips 2007) is acceptable, seemingly this proposition is inthe development enhanced integrationof of Chinese migrants. Provideda that my assumption“Chinatown” that spatial segregation in a weakening of its position. leadership rejected to participate in the event. Any achievement of the meeting would have meant Association for the Promotion of theChinese-Hungarian Friendship several Chinese groups in thecity. One example of that was even the organization ofthe mobilize significant degrees of political and economic capital. Yet his authority was contested by organizations of various Chinese provinces. Through its transnational networks he could Hungarian Chinese Embassy. The president of the association held prominent positions in public the organization originated from its leader’s close relationship with Beijing elites and the Chinese Hungarian politics towards China, etc. China, towards politics intellectuals and professionals could provide for Hungarian policy-makers related to their foreign treatment that Chinese face at foreign police stations; or the possible help that Chinese advantages that thenewcomers offer for the native; orthe problem of the discriminative legal the larger society. Within this context several issues were brought up, including the economic In contrast with this, the main organizer of the 1995 conference has even put forward that Moreover, according to Nyíri, the organization never agreed with the project ofa more Nonetheless, the meeting was notattended by the representatives of the , which back then counted as a very influential migrant institution. The power of 60 . Hence it is understandable why the Association of CEU eTD Collection bureaucratic apparatuses, modes ofgovernmentality, and economic entities still define and systems, juridicial-legislative their with along nation-states, that overlook not we must that even if globalization is considered to reconfigure the different spatial scales (Brenner 2004), aim to scrutinize the city and its migrants –, I invoke Aihwa Ong’s (1999) argument which claims why Ithink this is important –in spite of the fact that mytheoretical framework is based on the Republic of China can and do condition next section. despite their strong embeddedness in transnational networks, Iwill go back to the question in the Hungarian. Anyhow, to substantiate why migrants may need to incorporate into urban life, even P.Szabó’s opinion the prime constraint ofadvocacy is only thelack of the knowledge ofspeaking inBudapest migrants of self-identification the and involvement organizational Chinese –which among several other things investigated the political participation, the 249 of a sample on made al2008)– et (Örkény asurvey of analysis bythe refuted ispartly this diasporan Chinese, yet due to the limited scopethe thesis, of I will not refer to those. 23 exploit[..] very few opportunities to exercise their democratic rights.” (2006:61) claim is supported by the utterances of one of the deputy mayors in the 10 official minority status. He thinks that Chinese today dolike to participate in local politics, which foreign country. preferred belonging to a “global majority” of Chinese rather than gaining minority status ina Uygur minorities in China, to whom rather negative connotations are connected. Therefore they According to Nyíri (2000), they were afraid ofbecoming a “minority” similarly tothe Tibetan or themselves. Chinese of side the from expressed was proposal the against rejection harshest 22 a minority whose members live in the Hungaryterritory for of at least 100 years and have a citizenship. 21 would have been difficult toattain because of the strict rules Many of Nyíri’s Many of texts deal with the structural bothrole ofthe local and transnational media maintained by Among its findings it states that “participation in politica According to the Hungarian minority law (Act LXXVII/1993) only that ethnic group can be legally recognized as Before thatlet mebriefly reflecthow theinstitutional on structures of the People’s Nevertheless, as per P. Szabó, Chinese have notgot such a strong opposition against the 23 the transnational ties of Chinese citizens. To reason 61 l actions is not characteristic[Chinese]. of [They] 21 ofthe Hungarian minority law, the th district.However, 22 . According to CEU eTD Collection global markets, and ends up in the different mixes sovereignty concerning citizens variously according to whether they relate or the notion of “graduated how neoliberalsovereignty” processes can fragment not only spaces but also state sovereignty. She introduces which meansgovernment’s response to the challengesthat of global capitalism and capital flows is thea good example state initiatescontrol its populations, no matter in movement differentor not. Ong points out that the Chinese government also puts a higher pressure onits expats and expects them to become economically prosecuted. Chinese enforcement),exiles who were smuggled into a foreign country but(which would normally bepenalized by the could obtain a “usefulresidence resources” in terms of the economic development ofChina. For this reason even those permit do notcompetitive educational system. According totheofficial discourse, these“new emigrants” are have to be afraid of the state guaranteesbeing funds for their tertiary education, which means a major help ina highly also gain political positions as a reward. The family members of these people are alsosupported: they But sometimes investments. mainland their for allowances for instance, always expect, can They remained. who citizens other vis-à-vis privileges, certain receive can time, of period a short migrants who are settled down and became investors in aforeign country and return to China for since then. were re-established, while state delegations regularly visit the diasporan organizations abroad institutions that had dealt with diasporan Chinese before the repressive “cultural revolution” the end of 80s regulations were amended and aimed to ease the process of emigration. The the 1978 economic reform of China transnational migration had been seriously sanctioned; by the Chinese state’s migration politics has shifted over time. Nyíri (2000) outlines that while before Although the support and promotion of emigrants is growing since the 90s, the Chinese Nyíri (2000) claims that from the beginning of the 90s it became enacted thatA good illustration ofthe “flexibilizationthose ofthe citizenship” of diasporan Chinese is how 62 of legal compromises and controls. do not relate to registers of CEU eTD Collection workers, like administrative staff, interpreters, lawyers, accountants, etc. of trading business, as also Nyíri (2007) admits, Chinese migrants need to employ a range of local society and economy as well. Just on the contrary, for both the functioning and the profitability supply them with goods, capital and business information, they are not embedded in thelocal that just because Chinese businesses rely heavily ontheir connections to enterprises in China that 4.2 The basis of and propensity to develop a “Chinatown” in Budapest daily substances. 25 24 citizenship diasporan Chinese. These kinds of changes in state sovereignty and such reconfiguration of has an effect on the economic-political behavior as well as onthe identity construction of conceives of “new emigrants” as part of the Chinese economy and politics, which undoubtedly successful in theshort run, in order to help their homeland (Nyíri 2000). In sum, Chinese state interestingly, the third most important ties respondents named were their attachments to attachments were their named respondents ties important most third the interestingly, Chinese settled in Budapest are most likely tobeattached to other Chinese and China, the host country, their residence […] and other countries” (2008: 32), and states that while admits that “the integration of immigrants is greatly influenced by their degree of attachment to analysis The survey Budapest. to and Hungary, to Hungarians, to communities, to religious Chinese attachments – among others – to the homeland, to co-ethnic groups, to their social class, the survey (Örkény etal. 2008) introduced above as well, which refers to the examination of mobilization. In case of Budapester Chinese this proposition can besupported by the findings of social and as political as well identity-construction of sources important also but areas” article onethnic neighborhoods, local ethnic precincts are not simply “immigrant reception However, not only them but also those local service-providers benefit from It theis demandimportantChinese of to who know supply that the People’s RepublicChina still of does not allow holding dual citizenship status. Despite the strong transnational ties that Nyíri argues for, it would be misleading to think In addition, referring back to the quotation of Abramson’s, Manzo’s and Hou’s (2006) 24 primarily advance the discourse of “the global majority of Chinese migrants”. 63 25 CEU eTD Collection migrants, the Four Tigers market became the central depot of those cheap clothes and shoes market”. Tigers “Four as the traders themselves appropriated the place by naming the formerly known ”Józsefváros market” in the market beside the Polish, Russian and Romanian migrants, while on the other, Chinese group foreign – grounds racial on distinguished is, that – “visible” first the composed they hand, area is made a reference to the Chinese by the public. This derives from the fact that, on the one the environment thismulticultural Despite etc. Syrian, Turkish, Korean, Cambodian, Japanese, encounter with many Vietnamese and Mongols, but also Albanian, Polish, Ukrainian, Romanian, fourteen nationalities are represented, without accounting for all, beside Chinese onecan Ganz Works as well. According to one of my informants, within the for migrants of various ethnic origins. Itis true for the stalls placed in thebuilding of the former However, as I already referred to that, it is a place not only for Chinese to merchandise but also 4.2.1 Thelocalmicro-cultures ofinclusionandexclusion incorporation in this way, as formulated by my migrant interviewees. interests in the development of a “Chinatown” and their needs with regard tourban businesses in the neighborhood. The second subsection will be more engaged with migrants’ regulatoryintroducing the market’s trajectory.schemes I will account forboth those economic processes and thatfor mobilization and identity construction in the first subsection. Iwill present it alongcould with directlyand its neighborhood can serve as a place of migrants, and especially of Chinese entrepreneurs, affect the operationties to non-co-ethnic groups, their senses of spatial belonging to the city can be crucial. of ChineseBudapest, though, not to Hungarians. This shows that even if Chinese do not have strong social and other migrants’ Following the abolishment of the visa obligation and the influx of large number of Chinese The Four Tigers is the greatest “Chinese” marketplace that operates in today’s Budapest. This it thereason why Iam seeking answer tothe question whether the Four Tigers market 64 Chinese Trade Area atleast CEU eTD Collection what extent theactivities ontheFourTigers marketshould beconceived ofas part ofthe social relations within the local informal economy were set up. Although it can be never told to that of taxation, consumer protection, ornational public health –were guaranteed, but also the operation and the protection from the harsher raids of the police or national authorities – like how the Four Tigers market and its security service got organized. way the isalso This language. local the of knowledge the of regardless businesses, entrepreneurs’ provided services for Chinese that could reduce the transactional costs of immigrant the local police capitalized on the situation and organized the operation of these markets. They to and municipalities to networks social and knowledge local their of use making by policemen, to organize these markets. Therefore some Hungarian businessmen, along with former for abandoned places in the city. Chinese due to the lack of social and cultural capital were unable were set up, either based on the flea markets operating already in thesocialist era, orbysearching become steady. However, when this situation got conceived to be “unbearable”, some markets system of Hungary, the demand for such products on the part of the native population could the streets and under-passes of Budapest. Due to the collapse of both the economic and welfare in China from goods cheap selling were they emerged traders Chinese first the when that states 2007). in market” “Chinese got demolished for the sake ofthe “rehabilitation” of the area (just like it happened to another 1993, since the very first Chineseand strategically important when a lot of Chinesemarket, traders had to resettle their business activities in the so-called “Kondorosiexistence together with some others just after transition. This place became especiallymarket” crowded in the 11 whole Eastern European block. However, when this market was established it came into were easily imported to Hungary. Many products were and are still re-exported to countries in the which through the support of the Chinese government as well as through other transnational ties However, hence not only the necessary official documents for the normal business As Polonyi (2007)gives a short account of the trajectory of Chinese markets in thecity, he 65 th district, CEU eTD Collection them got corrupted and sought only their own interests. entrepreneurs, which current policy decision-makers did nottake into account, because many of considered it unquestionable that local inhabitants gained a lot from the presence of immigrant also is. He municipality local the than sources ofeconomic in terms position powerful more Chinese Trade Area recognize its potential interests in thecooperation with those Chinese who are investing in the changes in currentcircumstances. Atthe sametime, he argued thatifthecityleadership did not not pragmatic enough, or because the counter-interests of people “at a too high level” hinder the are decision-makers political because either implemented tobe chances no had those assumed the shifts of transportation that would even promote thedevelopment of a “Chinatown”. Yet he like reconstructions, infrastructural initiate should municipality the that proposed He district. the willing to recognize the advantages and the long term consequences of Chinese investments in of the Ganz Works, while ontheother blamed the current leadership of the district that it is not 2008-2009 economic crises. acquired by a Chinese Chinese areinvestor buying up parts of the buildings ofthe former Ganz Works as the nativecontrolling the reconstructions on the partowner of the of Ganz wenta technician as wellwith market Four Tigers the gatesof the guards at withthe intoconversations bankruptcy due toside of migrants but from thatthe of the native management. Nevertheless, I could have shorter many times I had to face a climate of suspicion and sometimes even resentment, yet not from the Rath (2003) emphasizes in his article. locally effective regulatory schemes and thus migrants’ opportunities for urban incorporation that informal economy, we must not overlook the significance of those informal rules that shape the The technician onthe one hand blamed the former government for irrational privatization since as well, market the in my observations constrained have rules informal these Partly, today, in the long run they could only lose opportunities, since Chinese are in a 66 Chinese Trade Area . Lately, a huge area was a area huge Lately, where more and more and more where CEU eTD Collection maintained by migrants’ business activities. But tosee whether the market areculturally and economically embedded intothe local settings engendered and this”. have the freedom to change certain things, which they like”, while ina “mall they could notdo “migrants to shape theirChinese –, in such a tidy environment that these malls offerclose for therenters no space remains for environment”.act out their cultures more freely – exemplifying itwith “the spitting Heon the ground” in case of said in the Fourlong trajectory of the market,Tigers but also pointed out that while in this environment migrants could market “theythe Józsefváros alwaysmarket vendors are more embedded than to want to move. He referred to the that beside the fact that those are too far from the city builtcentre, toprovide space especially for Asianunlike entrepreneurs to locate their businesses.the He explainedFour Tigers market, in this market to moving to one of those malls, like the Asia Center or the Sárkány Center, that were Hungarian sellers in the market. They made reference to that in contrast with Hungarians. ethnic groups of Vietnamese, but also of decent –theyarealready, like, Europeanized”.Chinese Atthesametime, cooperation within the co- was admired by the guards, but more prone togetaknife than Arabs.Well, theyalso arereally brutal…but theTurks are most the by some be aggressive and offensive more thanotherpeoples. Heframed ita way, like: “Vietnamese are even certain stereotypes could be subverted, like the biased imaginary of Arabs that they would of the guards said “here culturescontrol. They conceived of the sellerslearn of the Four Tigers market as “a real livefrom community”. One each other”,of tofear had if they cooperate always and vendors local the Arabs, or Turks, Vietnamese, Chinese, argued that thanks to the market“rulers” of the area, but reflected on the fact that regardless of the difference of the cultures of These interpretations suggest that both Chinese and non-Chinese entrepreneurs of the I queried a guard on the possible reasons why Chinese and Vietnamese prefer staying in As for the guards’ perspective, they did not say aword either on the formal or the informal 67 Chinese Trade Area can serve as canserve CEU eTD Collection 2007) that Chinese interests in the participation of native-dominated public discourse is limited, were the protesters against the increase of rents in the Józsefváros market (Nyíri 2007). rights discourse tostand up on behalf of Chinese, which was first used by those spokesmen who human the apply to tried already committee This China. from imports meat on ban subsequent was negatively affected by the discovery of a drug frozen chickens originating in Thailand and a inHungary Chinese up toprotest thereports, namelythe was set committee another immigrants, smuggle in to compatriots their of documents the reused news agency released a report about body-snatching by Chinese criminal groups who supposedly delegation consisted of Turkish and Afghan traders as well. Then, in 2001 when a Hungarian chairman was Vietnamese, the two vice-heads were presidents of Chinese organizations, but the delegation ofChinese and Vietnamese merchants” was arranged to see themanagement. The organization in 1998 (Nyíri 2007), onanother occasion ofrent dispute a “joint negotiating backed the interests of Chinese traders in the market butafter that its authoritative leader left the since then). brutality of the security guards of the market (the service-providing company has been changed market wanted to raise stall rents disproportionately. Later, they were complaining against the against their treatment and got into conflict with the locals was when the management of the connected to the operation of the Four Tigers market. The first case when Chinese protested likely most were authorities of Hungarian behavior discriminative the against organized migrants raised outcry against the perception of Chinese appearing in the Hungarian media or Chinese. a space for political mobilization, let merefer to Nyíri’s research on the political organization of These examples prove that although –as I referred toit earlier – Nyíri maintains (2005, During the 90s the already mentioned Chinese organization the Nyíri in one of his books (2007) points out that the few moments when some Chinese , which alsolet her voice hear in 2002 when the business of Chinese restaurants Committee for the Protection of the Lawful Rights and Interests of 68 Hungarian Chinese Association Chinese Hungarian CEU eTD Collection constraints the perception of Chinese migrants in the city. These kinds of accounts try to confine only related to themarkets asalmost exclusive sites ofChinese participation inurban life, it of developing a “Chinatown” in the city I will refer to in the concluding part of the analysis. people but bythe Hungarian mainstream media (Nyíri 2007). Theconsequences ofthis in terms create abrand unblemished bythe “Chinese market” image triggered notsimply by common newly labeled product strictly to departments stores and not at the Four Tigers market. That is, to motivated to introduce a new brand, in the otherwise blossoming enterprises they had, to sell the supported by Nyíri’s (2007) reference on the cases when certain Chineseentrepreneurs were Chinese entrepreneurs closer to the ideal model of social mobilization. This statement can be dependant on others, Józsefvárosas market and the demonstrationrenters of capacity to invest in spaces where traders are not so are on the selfHungarian of themanagement successfulmarginalized ‘other’ in the city,in through which not only the selfthe of the major society, but also the Four migrantTigers, exclusive.brings It provides opportunities for participationtraders but reproduces the image of the can the “Chinesebe markets” of Budapest in general.constructed. Hence it is a space that is both inclusive and to similarly – stigmatized highly is which a place also is it out, acted be can citizenships of forms Most probably,migrants to enter and incorporate into the city’s economy, but also aspace where thesubstantive leaving of the assumption that the omega of theomega ofChinese”. 26 moreover, not only for Chinese traders but also for other migrant entrepreneurs. contestation with its neighborhood where Chinese are spreading their businesses, is a strategic site of political their claim-makings revolve around the Four Tigers market. This proposes that the market, along This can be confirmed by my interviewee’s, P. Szabó’s statement that “the Four Tigers market is the alpha and the As for the influence of the media, if it advances a public imaginary of Chinese, in general, Nevertheless, even if we admit that the area in the 8 26 . Toconclude, both Nyíri’s investigation and my observations confirm the Chinese Trade Area can be a source of social and political mobilization – 69 th district is not only a gateway for CEU eTD Collection While the interviews I have conducted with migrants there I will scrutinize in the next subsection. informants were not really aware ofChinesetraders’ businesses andplans forthe future yet. to the participant observations in thearea and the conversations with native locals, my regard With so. assume I argument, (2007) Phillips’s on relying However, mobilization. for basis was developed too recently to be able to draw conclusions onthe potential of the place toform a inexpensiveness of products supplied by the market might bedeprived. formal institutions can provide them. Similarly, those poor who take advantage from the migrants usually work in themarket toseek better opportunities for social integration than ethnic origins and the possibly corruptednationality management and elites with theillegal migrants and sellers – regardless of of alliance awkward – The vulnerable. already are of who those of status social the jeopardize would the market would bethe integration ofthe, at leastruptured. partially, informally operating market into the formal economy However,market, which also the formal recognition ofa “Chinatown” located thereillegal would be – towards sellers and these processes. as it was concerned in the first part of myanalysis, towhat extent language constraints condition attempting to stand up against and contest the negative images of the market. Yet it is aquestion, pressure toleave theFourTigers market illegality and low-quality on their ethnic identity. Therefore wealthier migrant investors feel the 28 “Chinese market”, explanation can be found in my theoretical framework. 27 migrants tothe“Chinese market” Beside the constantthat threat ofit will be closed down soon. For the query how my research differs from this approach, despite the fact that I am also focusing on a specific As for the situation in the To look at the other side of the coin, the push – for the sake of a better image of the New Chinese Trade Area 27 , which is also an attempt to inscribe references of disorder, of references toinscribe attempt isalsoan , which 28 . However, in this way they just reinforce instead of 70 Idid reflect not on that here, because it CEU eTD Collection business for a longer time. trading in the stay to assumed years before, toBudapest migrated who aunt, her of support nor the Chinese girl who came to Hungary tostudy in an English-language college with the “everybody who is foreigner, sooner orlater, ends up in themarket”. Nevertheless, neither he, stated, boy 18-old As aVietnamese businesses. families’ their tosupport market work inthe to Hungary) accounted that after graduating at school – either at a secondary or tertiary level – went either children or other close relatives of first-generational migrants (not born but brought up in immediately after their arrival at the city. At the same time, also those younger migrants who were interviewees claimed that they had started to run businesses in the queried their views on the conditions to develop a “Chinatown” in Budapest. – which also referred to their ethnic identities –, and their imaginaries of a “Chinatown”. I also also Vietnamese processes. concerned by the development of a “Chinatown” in the city, do not have power to govern the the rust belts. So my analysis here reflects only the opinion of those who, however, would be 10 forthe one Chineseof weeklies, the main officewhich ofis located in the 30 10 marketplaces at the Ganzterritory ofprovided space for Vietnamese entrepreneurs as well, yet, interestingly, in the moved either to the buildingthe former of Ganz Works and/or the fact, the Four Tigers “Chinese” market is mostly inhabited by Vietnamese vendors languagejournalstoday. ofsellers wereChinese usually entrepreneurs reading in the market,my intervieweesall of confirmed that, as a Although,matter dueof to language constraints, I could distinguish Vietnamese from Chinese only by the observationthe of 29 migrants working in boththe 4.2.2 What a“Chinatown” may signify in the urban context of Budapest? The single exception was thea womancase of who arrived at Hungary 18 years ago to study here, and works now According to my informants, Vietnamese composes the second largest ethnic group in the th th district Chinese Trade Area Vietnamese had not emerged – as my informant working there said. district. I could notreach real estate investors who directly participate in the revitalization of As for the attachments to the market, almost market, to the attachments the As for My interviewees consisted of Asian (of various age and of both gender), mostly Chinese but This part of my analysis is to present the limited ethnographic research I have done among 29 , whom I asked about their attachment to the market, their senses of belonging Chinese Trade Area 71 ofthe 8 30 all of my older, first-generational migrant first-generational older, my of all New Chinese Trade Area New th and the New Chinese New Area Trade New Chinese Trade Area . The newly established Chinese Trade Area Chinese TradeArea . ofthe . s CEU eTD Collection interview he distinguishedwas in himselfHungary like only“we foreigners since 2003,….” and “you,he informed Hungarian….”, me towhen be he “a bit” Budapester. Yet during the the Hungarian blood [was] flowing in [his] veins”. On the other hand, when I talked to a manager of some already that was“surehe claimed even he “Hungarianness” his confirm To city. the 20 years ago, conceived of himself as Hungarian-Chinese but with a weaker sense of belonging to belonging to “Chineseness”, one of the Chinese retailers by the Ganz Works, arrived at Budapest cultural strong with asaBudapester-Chinese, herself identified marketplace, the at a vendor than who is in Hungary for 18 years and whom Iassumed to have a higher position at the social strata Hungarian. That is, on theone hand, while theChinese adwoman at one of the Chinese weeklies, better-off migrants were more willing to consider themselves as Budapesters – but not necessarily Budapester. At the same time, depending on the class status, regardless of the length of residency, of formerly immigrated Asian were more prone to identify themselves either as Hungarian oras in Budapest for alonger period of time and those who were brought up in Budapest as relatives classifications Iam providing here has to be treated with caution. Nevertheless, since I had interviews only with nine migrants, all my observations and informants’ assessments and the popularity of the brand) in which they had an interest. nature of the profession of my interviewee, or from the size of the enterprise (based on my the from either conclude to Iwastrying status class the For as ”long”. residency of 10-15 years of these categories, Itook migrants less than the age of around 35 “young”, while a minimum of typically descendants offirst-generational migrants –orolder newcomers. Asfor thedefinition the length of theiror rather Budapester. In this sense, migrants’ identitiesresidency, varied and patterned mainly according to theircolorful picture when I asked them whether they conceive of themselves as a Hungarian, Chineseclass status and by the fact whether they were younger – Sandic As far as my investigations are concerned, not surprisingly, I found that those who resided In contrast, the senses of spatial and ethnic belonging of my interviewees drew a more , which is an internationally well-known wholesale company, in spite of the fact that he 72 CEU eTD Collection was very important. He was a commuter and saidchildren. he liked Budapest[to better live in thanHungary]. Vác, 10because dayswork inI have[each] [in] morning. a year Also[for weekends. Budapester.vacation]”. Yet he said he was not gathering together with Vietnamese either: “I am justThen, going to goHe home.had a NoVietnamese time.been Because staying wife it is andvery expensivein Budapest for eleven yearsarrived at Hungary only a year age. Thus she has not had strong ties to the city yet.he did not thinkyounger Chinese girl I talked to in Englishhe ina restaurant placed by the would be eitherof belonging toHungarian the Vietnamese culture. His parents were speaking no oror very little Hungarian.has never been inVietnam A because his parents could not afford to go, but still he had some sense in Budapest since he was 1, said he would identify himself both as Budapester and Hungarian. He Chinese culture, and assure it become important for them. confirmed that Chinese parents usually payspecial make attentionchildren to their learnthe family each year for amonth. The Chinese girl who was helping her aunt in running the business his with China visited regularly they said He for him. important to be seemed heritage cultural Chinese”. Yet he said they would move with his family if the business turned down. The Chinese year old boy with excellent Hungarian vocabulary told themselvesme thatas Budapester, however,“my with strong home Chinese cultural isties. In one Budapest,of these cases an 11- but I am service oratamore profitable wholesale business in garment the industry, they referred to belts of the 8 rust the in investments estate real Chinese recent the of reasons possible the me was explaining I also had a younger interviewee who lives in Vác 10 for years, though, for him Budapest Nevertheless, when Italked to an older Vietnamese vendor by the Ganz Works who has At the same time, the Vietnamese boy, who has just graduated at the high school and lives As formyyounginterviewees, nomatter whether their relatives worked in catering the th and 10 th districts. 73 New Chinese Trade Area CEU eTD Collection “It would employ a lot of Hungarian, like the market does now, which is good for you”. “It consequences of its implementation. nobody who would have denied the idea, or would have reflected on any possible negative was There that. of imaginaries positive diverse envisioned others some indifferent, were 1989 concern as “the business should beworked out”, or the Chinese vendor being in Hungary since in Budapest, some of my interviewees,attachments to Budapest than the average.like A more refined investigation would be needed. the Vietnamesedisaggregated retailer, whocity is arelatively important constitutingsummarized element of Chinese identities, it does not provide data his onlyof the surveyalong (Örkény et al. 2008) charted above. Although the survey states that belonging to the the linesobservations and assumptions may be falsified orverified, for instance, by the further refinement suggested,investigations – as well as suggestions for the object of further research on the issue. These withinsaying these are unquestionable findings, but rather speculations – based on ethnographic the groupwas trying toreflect on patterns for which I had only one or two examples –, Iwould not dare of those who had regardlessstronger of length of residency and age, and who are at a younger age. a “Chinatown” or “Little Saigon” in Budapest are those Asian who have a higher class status, precinct in the city, based on the interviews Ihad, we can conclude that who might want to have “Hungarianness” in general) means some sort of interest in the development of an ethnic the identity-construction through the cityscape (that is, identification not through the country and preservation of distinct ethnic and cultural belonging (that is, being Chinese, Vietnamese) and for process of getting Hungarian citizenship. here he could get in touch with more people, both Hungarian andChinese. He was under the The Chinese manager of As for the concrete answers to myquestions related to thedevelopment of a “Chinatown” Nevertheless, since I conducted only few interviews with migrants – let alone the fact that I In sum, provided that we accept the assumption that the conjoint demand for the Sandic unequivocally claimed that a “Chinatown” would begood. 74 CEU eTD Collection migrants who are sellers in the merchandised there should be Chinese. He thought that all Chinese, Hungarian, orother organizations or the fact whether Chinese live there would count, but that the products as referred to that above. He said he would be happy with an“American-type of Chinatown”, Therefore they invested into real estates. per myinterviewee, these people thought itwasbetter for their children to stayin Budapest. As interests. the business of just because move wantto didnot they Hungarian, isalready tongue gave was that those migrants who had brought up their children in Hungary, whose mother money Chinese traders have. Yet beside these economic-based calculations, thethird reason he second reason, because of the weakness of the Hungarian currency, it is better to invest the profits that Chinese gained on former businesses into the garment industry. Still, and this is the provided a threefold reason. First, because of the economic crisis it is not worth reinvesting the the soeasily. to move afford cannot connections, went back to China, because today business opportunities are better there. Retailers already moved to other countries, like Slovakia ortheCzech Republic. Some, who had good well, harshly affected the whole marketplace. The manager explained that some wholesalers waiting” – referred he to the current economic crisis that, as my other informants confirmed as here only in transit. Only for the business.would know where to go.” “For the Chinese,But it would begood. now,But not for the festivals. Theyit are is not good. Many alreadyvisit the left. I am still regularly who traders wholesale foreign [i.e. foreigners because business, the for good would be Chinese Trade Area For the question what hethinks why Chinese invest money into real estates now, he However, this partly contradicts to the information that the 11-year old schoolboy told me, He envisioned a “Chinatown” that embraces more streets. That is, how he reasoned why Chinese Trade Area in the 8 s to import cheap Chinese shoes and cloths] could find it easily. They Chinese TradeArea th district could notbecome one. He said that notthe cultural 75 s could become stakeholders of a “Chinatown”. CEU eTD Collection chapterthe thesis. of 31 years, built on the metaphor of the preservation of Chinese culture. He did not think that Chinese should live there. where Chinese food would be sold, and a “museum” would be operated, which I interpreted as a secured he would like tohave a “Chinatown”, because Chinese people could feel themselves more would not be necessary, though. But he doubted that other migrants could beinterested. He said It there. move would Vietnamese andalso Chinese some that assumed He that”. than bigger beneficiaries, but also other members of the Chinese minority, whose cultural and political their business and economic position this way. However, not necessarily theycould bethe only strong ties to the Chinese culture, orfrom wealthier entrepreneurs who would like toenhance migrants, who were brought up in Hungary (either as Hungarian oras Chinese citizens) yet with “Chinatown” in the despite the typical transnational links and identity claims – would support the idea to develop a work that hard as they parents do.” 20 years –, for whom this would be important also in cultural terms, and who would “not have to predicted that those second-generational Chinese migrants would establish one–in the next 10- those Chinese laborers who would enjoy themselves in aChinatown haven’t got much.” She would notbe a good business. Because thosepeople who have money usually travel a lot, while the near future, becausecould go out and spend their leisure time. But she disbelieved“the that anybody would develop one in Chinese take care only for the business, and a Chinatown today As for thesecurity sense of as an advantageethnic ofclustering see Phillips’ (2007) article introduced in the first According to one of my interviewees, there will be a “Chinatown” in Budapest within ten To conclude this part of my analysis, based on ethnography, my assumption is that who – A Chinese girl thought it would begood tohave a“Chinatown” where young Chinese 31 . New Chinese Trade Area Chinese Trade Areas Trade Chinese of Budapest could be recruited from either younger . However, in terms of size hesaid that“it should be 76 CEU eTD Collection migrants, who are economically weaker or less successful. reinforcement of cracks between themajor society (aswell as better-off migrants) and those system and topromote the redistribution ofcultural and political rights, but may also lead tothe diversity may not only provide tools for migrant traders to rupture the dominant socio-economic neighborhood, as presented by the first chapter. commodifiction of ethnicity for the sake of developing a formally recognized ethnic under more surveillance, let alone the concerns that Rath (2007) underscores related to the general. Most probably, they would have less capacity to capitalize ona planned “Chinatown”, Area groups who can gain today from the partial informality of business activities at the incorporation of Chinese traders may also lead to the exclusion ofsome of those vulnerable be economically integrated by the sell of “Chineseness”. integration could bepromoted this way, as well as those, no matter ofethnic origins, who could , like the poor of the 8 So while a“Chinatown” that can be conceived as a form of recognition of the ethnic Nevertheless, taking the opportunity of this kind of ethnic pathway for the urban th and 10 th districts, the illegal migrants, and the illegal sellers in sellers illegal the and migrants, illegal the districts, 77 Chinese Trade Chinese CEU eTD Collection and exclusionary, especially grounded on the difference of class statuses. Along these lines, I also I lines, these Along of class statuses. difference on the grounded especially exclusionary, and inclusionary for agroup of migrants, the degree of the social inclusion achieved may be uneven exclusion. as the exclusive prioritizationTherefore ofthe ethnic dimension ofidentity applied for the scrutiny of social which seeks the business and politicalI interests of only theelite.drew Yet I partially contested it as well attentionrecognize and accommodate ethnic minorities, with that of the “corporate multiculturalism”, to thelead to the replacement of the goals of the “social movementfact multiculturalism”, which is to that even if a “Chinatown”entrepreneurs. “Chinatown”, can enhance allcan the cultural, political and economic position ofimmigrant become support the claim that the commodification of ethnicity, like theformal recognition of a segregation. Moreover, it can form a basis for social integration. Rath’s conception helped to in the city. I applied Phillips’sPhillips (2007) and Rath’s (2005) conceptions about thespatial segregation ofethnic minorities to argue thatglobal capitalism and migrants’ opportunitiesspatial for social integration, while, on the other, on segregation interplayson the betweencities’ efforts toreposition themselves withinthecontextofneoliberal does not necessarily entail social economic development is recognized. entanglement of the processes of transnational migrants’ urban incorporation anda city’s socio- assumption that the institutionalization ofa“Chinatown” can bean example when the found this question relevant because throughout my whole research Ihave been holding the Budapest despite the high density of Chinese tradersConclusion in the 8 I reflected on Kymlicka’s (2008) concern that this kind of advocacy for ethnic diversity may I based this assumption, on the one hand, on Glick Schiller’s and Caglar’s argument (2009) The prime aim of my thesis was toseek explanation for the lack of a “Chinatown” in 78 th and 10 th districts ofthecity.I CEU eTD Collection meant to be more focused and explore the local cultural context as well as the interests in and decision-makers at a city level as well as in the8 approach. Asfortheformer Ianalyzed policydocuments and conducted interviews with policy answers for my above presented research questions I applied both atop-down and a bottom-up researchers orpractitioners with wide-ranging experience with Chinese immigrants. To find extensive ethnography as well as onthe expert interviews I have conducted with either that madereference to attachment the ofBudapester Chineseto thecity.Ialso relied on Nyíri’s ethnic precincts. terms of social integration and 3) the motivations of Chinese migrants to create this kind of challenges that the use ofwhen urban governmenta can become interested“Chinatown” in the development of a “Chinatown”; 2) the as part of the city’s branding strategies“Chinatown” in these areas. may entail in a build to isapotential I assumedthere reason isthe This investments. Chinese to thanks its neighborhood –in the rust belts of both the 8 those who have interest in the operation of the Four Tigers market and the business activities in who hold some stake in immigrant entrepreneurism. In case of Budapest this involve mainly reference, albeit thedevelopment of a “Chinatown” can directly concern also otherinhabitants, determined by both the city leadership and the migrants whose ethnic origin is used as point of area. Mypresumption was that the signification of an area as “Chinatown” in thecity is on the architectural structure, the exact ethnic composition and the number of residents of the makes reference toa spatially segregated ethnic precincts in the city does not tell any determinate “Chinatown”. outlined Rath’s (2005) report on the potential negative effects of the institutionalization ofa My main methods were qualitative; however, I also used the results of a quantitative survey aquantitative of results the used I also however, qualitative; were methods main My For the analysis Iposed three research questions that revolved around 1) the conditions Throughout the thesis I used the term “Chinatown” as a floating signifier that, however, 79 th and 10 and th and 10 th districts. The bottom-up approach was th districts, which are just reviving just are which districts, CEU eTD Collection not mind topromote the idea of multiculturalism in urban plans and todevelop a “Chinatown” of the new industrial spaces (McEwan 2005) that Chinese investors created. Accordingly, they did deputy mayors in the 10 the –, prognosis the in frame “orientalizing” an nor a “multiculturalist” neither of emergence “securitizing” frame toconceptualize Chinese traders’ business activities – which could entail the and calls emergence and business activitiesfor (diagnosis) andhow theyframed the related policy objectives actionsframework (prognosis). I municipality was more open forthe developmenttraced of a “Chinatown”. Based on mytheoretical thisWhile back the to theleaders way how ofpolicy-makers the 8 framed the issues of Chinese the social integration“Chinatown” in the district they govern. of a developing of the idea 3) and activities business 2)their presence, 1)Chinese on districts the Chinese but for the prosperity of the area, the 10 integration of Chinese in the city, I compared the frames of the city leadership in the 8 Beside the investigation of policy documents concerning urban renewal plans and the social political orientation, which may affect Chinese traders’ urban incorporation in varying ways. what kind of standings can bevoiced by policy decision-makers depending on their cultural and scale– a global weak on is rather position Budapest’s factthat the despite – that I investigated the nation, at a regional as well as at a global level. Yetto refrain and partly contest this approach, urban incorporation, Istarted my analysis with theexploration ofBudapest’s positionality within less well-off a city is the less it can provide the opportunity of an ethnic pathway for migrants’ multicultural trading areas of the two districts. regard toChinese, and made participant as well as non-participant observations in the Therefore I conducted interviews with local workers, no matter of ethnic origins but with special visions about a“Chinatown” of those Chinese who make use ofthe trade businesses in the city. The findings of my frame analysis suggested that although not necessarily for the sake of sake the for necessarily not although that suggested analysis frame my of findings The Based on the assumption, suggested by Glick Schiller’s and Caglar’s article (2009), that the that (2009), article Caglar’s and Schiller’s Glick by suggested assumption, the on Based th district weremoreprone torecognize thesocio-economic advantages 80 th district municipality used a used municipality district th th and 10 and district th CEU eTD Collection focused onthe local cultures of the Four Tigers market and its extended neighborhood conditions of the formal capitalist economy. Therefore,“Chinatown”, since it wouldto also meanconclude, a push towards the acceptance of the structural even if certain groups, with particular may become more marginalized in thecourse of the institutionalization ofa in migrants, illegal the and general in sellers, illegal the neighborhoods, the of poor like the today especially because those at least partially belong to the informal economy. These people drew special attention to the social groups who can make use of the operation of these markets economic and regulatory schemes that triggered and made the emergence of those possible. I explored the trajectory of the “Chinese markets” in Budapest, making reflections on the of Budapester Chineseanchored to thespace where they live theireveryday life. Therefore, based onthe factthat most traders work in the 2000). (Nyíri Europe Western and America North in counterparts waves oftheir first the than later arrived Chinese where for reterritoralization (Smith 2001) and ontheir identity claims – particularly inEastern Europe senses of attachments to China and todiasporan Chinese (Örkény et al. 2008), ontheir demands migration politics (Ong 1999) of the People’s Republic of China significantly influence migrants’ that “new Chinese migrants” can maintain after the 1978 economic reform and the shifts in the Chinese can beexpected as well. spin-off effect of its implementation, the enhancement of the political and cultural status of asthe narratives, mayors’ deputy the on based strategy, itsbranding of aspart only “Chinatown” Nevertheless, myconclusion is that even if the municipality would getcommitted to the idea of a general would beconcerned, which partly echoes Kymlicka’s concerns referred to above. unambiguous whether only the interests of Chinese investors or that of Chinese migrants in located at theterritory where Chinese businesses are concentrated in thedistrict today. It was not Yet it would have been misleading to think that members of a local colony would not be As for the second part of my analysis, first, Irecognized that thestrong transnational ties Chinese Trade Area 81 s of the 8 th and 10 and th districts, I . I CEU eTD Collection the issue, on the other, a more extensive research is needed to be done. Yet for the verification of my speculations, on the one hand, and for amore elaborate scrutiny of research –are not to suggest that only these groups could bethe beneficiaries of a “Chinatown”. constructed and maintained. Nevertheless, these assumptions – based on a limited ethnographic could constitute an enabling environment, where the “Chinese” ethnic identity could be Hungary, however, along with sustaining strong links to the Chinese culture, a “Chinatown” incorporation in general. While for the younger generation of Chinese who were brought up in necessarily entangled with the aim to promote Chinese migrants’ more efficient urban “Chinatown” would mean the enhancement of their business and economic positions, not of these groups envisioned a “Chinatown” in the actual urban context. For better-off Chinese, a Budapest, however, for varying reasons – which was partly reflected also in theway the members well as the younger generation of Chinese could gain from the development of a “Chinatown” in Relying onthose I speculated, and would conclude that most probably the wealthier migrants as interviews conducted with Chinese and Vietnamese in the consciously recognized interests in theestablishment ofa “Chinatown”. Hence I analyzed the no matter of citizenship and certain vulnerable groups named above. traders, better-off the among inequalities class-based of reinforcement to the lead may diversity context through the development ofa “Chinatown”, theformal recognition of their ethnic special regard toChinese, may enhance their social, political and cultural position within anurban As for the third question of my research, I was investigating migrants’ propensity to and 82 Chinese Trades Area s of both districts. both s of CEU eTD Collection the Area mayor of the 10 Map of the 8 Appendix 1 Alternative Chinatown Area s, aswellthe th and 10 th district. Potential Chinatown Area th districts with the designation of the older and the newer that was assumed to be being built in the long run, by a deputy as per the 2001 suggestion ofFleischer Tamás and 83 Chinese Trade Chinese CEU eTD Collection reconstruction works in Józsefváros Photos of the Four Tigers market and the buildings of the former Ganz Works under Chinese Appendix 2 84 CEU eTD Collection 85 CEU eTD Collection Photos of Chinese real estate investments in K Appendix 3 ŋ 86 bánya CEU eTD Collection ADORNO, Theodor. 1966. Theodor. ADORNO, ABRAMSON, Dan, Lynne MANZO, and Jeffrey HOU. 2006. From ethnic enclave to multi- ALBA, Richard and Victor NEE. 2003. Remaking the American Mainstream: Assimilation and Bibliography BONACICH, Edna. 1973. Atheory of middlemen minorities. APPADURAI, Arjun. 1991. Global Ethnoscapes: Notes and Queries for a Transnational ALFÖLDI, György et al. 2008. Strategy for the Integrated Urban Development of Józsefváros. BUDEN, Boris. 2003. 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