Othering mechanisms and multiple positionings: Children of Thai-Belgian couples as viewed in Thailand and Belgium

Abstract

Studies on the so-called “second generation” mainly focus on individuals whose parents are both migrants. This overlooks the situation of the children of “mixed” couples, in which one parent is a migrant and the other a citizen of the country in which they live. These mixed-parentage young people mostly inhabit cross-border social spaces that connect their parents’ respective countries of origin. Given this situation, how are these young people viewed in the countries in which they are enmeshed? How do they position themselves in relation to the viewpoints and stereotypes about them in these social spaces that traverse the borders of nation-states? To answer these questions, the present study examines the case of children of Thai-Belgian couples, who are called luk-kreung (half-child) in Thailand and metis in Belgium. Analysis of the empirical data gathered using qualitative methods shows that the study informants had access to citizenship in both of their parents’ countries of origin. Nonetheless, they remained widely subjected to othering due to their phenotypic characteristics, which are perceived as “different” from those of the majority population. This othering prompted them to adopt multiple positioning strategies: invisibilising their ethnic roots, accepting and highlighting their supposed “Otherness”, and acquiring Thai nationality (for those who did not yet have it).