Espace populations sociétés (Dec 2009)
Migrantes, femmes, mères chinoises
Abstract
In 2008, according to OECD data, expatriates from the People’s Republic of China amount to 2 070 000 people. Chinese migrant women contribute to an important international migratory phenomenon of the early 21st century : the progressive feminization of migratory flows. They participate, in today’s France and Europe, into the diversification of the origins of migrant populations. Until recently, they remained poorly known, both in their individual profiles and migrant trajectories. Data gathered on the occasion of two research programs have allowed us to achieve a better understanding of the migration of these women, their place and role within international flows of Chinese populations and women. Among the collected data, we present here those dealing with the conditions of elaboration of their migratory project (departure from China). They include the causes of their migration (what led them to build a migratory project ?) and the modalities of construction of this migration project (how were they led to build and initiate the project ?). This stage of the Chinese women migratory project reveals two synchronized specificities : their belonging – or not – to migratory institutions, and their status as women.
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