Becoming Global in the Arabian Gulf: Identities and Aspirations of Second-Generation Chinese Expatriates in the UAE

Abstract This article seeks to fill in the gap in the existing literature on global migration, overseas Chinese, and Sino-Gulf relations by focussing on the experiences of second-generation Chinese expatriates in the UAE. Based on in-depth interviews with a group of teenagers and young adults who have spent their formative years in the UAE and their parents, this paper examines the educational aspirations and identity dilemmas among second-generation Chinese expatriates in a cosmopolitan setting with an Arab Muslim cultural root. It seeks to unravel the complex feelings of being simultaneously privileged and marginalised among these young adults. It shows that the broad political-economic forces powerfully shape the positionality of the centre and periphery. The discourse of ‘becoming global’ helps to anchor these young adults in a rapidly evolving world and cope with alienation and marginalisation.