UCS

A Post-national discourse has emerged in globalization studies since the early 1990s, and it can be summed up as a call to think of ourselves beyond the bounded entity of the nation-state. Post-nationalism is mobilising conceptions of global governance and an increased interest in transnational and cosmopolitan constructions of the self and of imagined global communities (appadurai 1996; velayutham 2007:6). Having evolved in several countries, cultures and nations, Third Culture Kids (TCKs) and other serial migrants relate to the post-national discourse, and to the idea of feeling ‘international’. Yet, as Ossman (2013) argues, state borders still play a central role in identity construction processes. The border-crossing imperatives of TCKs mobile lifestyle mean that distinct nations come to compose the different chapters of one’s life history.

TCK identity construction is marked by mobility. In this chapter, different aspects of this mobility, namely affect, liminality, and networks, will be used to explore 1) how the accumulation of the diverse versions of themselves constructed in each homeland defines participants’ identity as ‘globals’, 2) how this process of identity construction affects their position as migrant and their sense of home and belonging. The data presented here emerges from 18 months of multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork in and around the communities of two International Baccalaureate (IB) schools in Melbourne, Australia and in Singapore. I will demonstrate that identity construction and conception of home and culture are inherently intertwined, and participants’ sense of belonging is mostly felt towards others with whom they share a similar life trajectory. In the field of mobility, the maintenance of select transnational social networks – through digital technologies and frequent travel – exposes the struggle over the capacity to access and maintain ‘network capital’ amongst people aspiring to be part of the global elite.

An increasing body of research looks at the social, economic, political and cultural dynamics at play inside the select networks of transnational professionals, and their relevance to both local and global contexts. Much less work, however, actually looks at the impact of a mobile and transient upbringing on the children of expatriates, who are often referred to as ‘Third Culture Kids’ (TCKs), ‘Adult TCKs’ (Pollock and Van Reken 1999) or ‘Global nomads’ amongst other terms. A key feature of the TCK literature and common characteristics amongst research participants is the perception of oneself as being ‘different’. A move, or a change in location (city, country) also often leads them to experience ‘difference’ differently, and consequently, to perceive themselves differently. This articulation of difference is influenced by four key factors: a) Looks and appearances; or how one physically represents oneself as being part of a ‘majority’ or ‘minority’ in the population in which one lives for the time being; b) One’s understanding and knowledge of the common norms, idioms and social myths in that new environment; c) The perception of one’s own marginality, and their capacity to form roots, to forge a sense of belonging and a sense of ‘home’; and finally, d) the local political context; the State’s discourse on the management of difference.
Having had to relocate several times from their birth to early adult years, TCKs’ identity struggles are further summed up by the cosmopolitan expression ‘to be International’. This is described as being at ease with people from a variety of cultural backgrounds. What constitutes ‘sameness’, ‘difference’ and ‘cultural diversity’ is thus questionable because these constructs are extremely flexible, and are often articulated regardless of national, ethnic or linguistic particularities.
In this chapter, we will draw on data collected over a period of 18 months of ethnographic fieldwork and participant-observations in and around the communities of two International Baccalaureate (IB) schools in Melbourne, Australia and in Singapore. By interrogating participant’s claims to cosmopolitanism and “openness to diversity” (Hannerz 1996), this chapter will seek to untangle the tensions and contradictions associated with determining categories of ‘difference’ and ‘similarity’. We are specifically interested in participant’s experience of transitioning from an ‘international bubble’ to a multicultural city. Using Kosnick’s (2009) distinction of cosmopolitanism and multiculturalism, we argue that for research participants in Melbourne, the perception of difference and sameness is influenced by academic, governmental and popular discourses on Australian multiculturalism. In Singapore, where most participants have settled and lived inside expatriate or ‘international bubbles’, categories of difference are influenced by discourses on cosmopolitanism. I demonstrate that the processes of categorisation and access to group membership lie within complex dynamics of local class boundaries, which TCKs have to learn to negotiate every time they settle in a new city.

This article is concerned with the experience of children whose parents are  highly mobile professionals, also known as 'Third Culture Kids' (TCKs).  Through a focus on everyday practices and local emplacement, it shows how  the cities of Melbourne and Singapore influence TCKs' individual trajectories and complex forms of identification. By observing their engagement, or lack thereof with the local majority population, the article demonstrates how ethnicity, among other factors, influences their experience of place and position of privilege. Participants learn to
negotiate 'national' and 'international' elements of culture by drawing on social distance, international networks, language skills, and geographic mobility.

"A significant number of specific findings surrounding global migration may be gleaned in this edited collection. The inclusion and explication of these infrequently considered aspects of migration—themes ignored by other books attempting to explain migration in more generic terms— are certainly the volume’s signal strengths, adding a nuanced and highly textured rendering of the global migration process seldom found
elsewhere in the academic literature.  For example, consumers of the chapters contained in this collection will have a newly enlightened awareness and appreciation for issues such as the children of migrant
professionals. In Gabrielle Désilets’s chapter on migrant professionals’ children in Melbourne and Singapore, the ways in which the offspring of migrant professionals navigate new cultural waters as their parents
seek career success are examined." (p.698)

Inclusive practices at the neighbourhood level "Vivons nos quartiers" gives tools to community organizations in MTL neighbourhoods. The project "Vivons nos quartiers", a partnership between the TCRI (Concertation Table of agencies serving refugees and immigrants) and Centraide, aims to pool best practices for the inclusion of newcomers in Montreal neighbourhoods. Montreal has recently had to receive new categories of immigrants with new profiles, in particular a large number of Syrian refugees in 2015-2016 and refugee claimants in 2017-2018. This context meant that the host communities had to innovate in order to integrate the refugees and immigrants, a challenge which attracted the interest of researchers. The aim of the research is to document the introduction and the deployment of the "Vivons nos quartiers" project in Montreal neighbourhoods. Migration studies literature shows that the integration of immigrants is a dynamic process which involves a shared responsibility between newcomers and the host society. By observing the arrival and settlement structures at the neighbourhood level, the research documents best practices in the area of welcome and inclusion. The results show that local networks give essential support to the workers providing services to newcomers. In Phase 1 (2017-2018) of this five-year project, the researchers prioritized observation and participation on the ground. More than 180 hours of meetings, working committees and citizen activities in over 13 Montreal neighbourhoods were documented. These activities include training for service providers, meetings between key neighbourhood actors, conferences, forums and citizen activities as well as meetings of the steering committee and the advisory committee of the "Vivons nos quartiers" initiative. In Phase 2 (2018-2019), the researchers will carry out individual and group interviews and will document public awareness activities in the participating neighbourhoods.

Since the first urban climate initiatives began in the early 1990s, urban responses to the climate challenge have progressively shed their narrow environmental framings. A technocratic focus on measuring and reducing emissions is being challenged by a more holistic conception of climate plan- ning and action that embraces increasingly complex engagements with other issues like economic development, equity, spatial development, health, and quality of life.1
As a result, this chapter argues, a new form of agency is emerging to drive urban responses to climate change forward. A top-down vision of cli- mate action focused on the regulatory powers of isolated local government agencies is being replaced by one that is horizontal, relational, and collab- orative. This is in response to the fact that no one agency or organization can take the cross-cutting action that holistic responses to climate change require. Rather, climate-relevant policies and programs are driven forward by coalitions of multiple different actors. This collaborative and networked approach to urban climate governance capitalizes on the synergies between objectives across different subject areas (emissions reductions and health, for example) and also between different groups of actors that cut across scales and bridge the governmental, civil-society, and private sectors. This approach transforms relationships both inside and outside of local govern- ments, by linking together traditionally siloized municipal agencies and also forging partnerships with civil-society and business actors.