Running on Rooftops: a novel and critical reflection on writing from an identity of expatriation with an examination of West-meets-East encounters and attitudes depicted in literature

This thesis is in two parts: a creative work of fiction and a critical reflection on writing from an identity of expatriation. The creative work, a novel entitled Running on Rooftops, revolves around a fictitious community of expatriates living and working in China. As a new college graduate, Anne Henry, the novel’s protagonist and narrator, decides to spend a year teaching English in China. Twelve years later, though still unsure of how to make sense of the chain of events and encounters that left her with an X-shaped scar on her knee, she nevertheless tells the story, revealing how “just a year” can be anything but. The critical reflection, entitled Writing on Rooftops, explores the nature of expatriation as it relates to identity and writing, specifically in how West-meets-East encounters and attitudes are depicted in literature. In it, I examine the challenges and benefits of writing from an identity and mindset of expatriation as illustrated in the works of Western writers who themselves experienced and wrote from viewpoints of expatriation, particularly those Western writers who wrote of expatriation in China and Southeast Asia. The primary question addressed is how expatriation influences perception and how those perceptions among Western foreigners in China and Southeast Asia have been and can be reflected in literature. In the end, I argue that expatriation can be a valuable viewpoint to write from, offering new ways of seeing and describing our world, ourselves and the connections between the two.

Gestão do conhecimento em contexto de internacionalização: A transferência do conhecimento para as subsidiárias angolanas e a influência dos fatores culturais nesse processo

Mestrado em Gestão e Empreendedorismo

The call for sailing uncharted seas: Motivations and expectations of recently graduated individuals

We explore the motivations and expectations that are impacting Portuguese recently graduated individuals in their decision of becoming international managers. Throughout a qualitative analysis over 20 interviews we construct a theoretical framework of recent graduates actual expectations and motivations regarding their international assignments. Accordingly, individuals are conducted by the desire of cultural-diversity experiences, social pressures and challenging environments. Expectations are not a result of a straightforward process; instead, they are dynamic and influenced by the challenges that international managers have to cope with during their international journey. Moreover, expectations and motivations are not mutually exclusive; they produce impact on each other, characterizing a dynamic process of international managers‟ lives.

Projeto InOut Expat

O Projeto InOut Expat foi desenvolvido para apoiar e ajudar os expatriados em fase de mudança para um país estrangeiro, através de uma plataforma eletrónica que oferece os serviços de uma secretária virtual para auxiliar em situações burocráticas e/ou pessoais. Oferece também, formação intercultural focada em cultura/costumes, etiqueta e linguagem não-verbal. O website tem informações gratuitas de todos os países do mundo como, o custo de vida, a língua oficial, o PIB, a capital, a bandeira que são informações facilmente encontradas num motor de busca na internet. Também apresenta links e publicações com noticias, ofertas de emprego e entrevistas a expatriados. Os expatriados envolvidos no projeto estão felizes pela decisão que tomaram em mudar de país, mas a maioria sentiu tristeza, insegurança, choque e outros sentimentos negativos na adaptação ao país de destino, a InOut Expat pretende colmatar estes sentimentos. O projeto está a cumprir o que promete desde fase embrionária. É sem dúvida uma ferramenta útil para quem opta por emigrar ou imigrar, principalmente no auxilio de uma secretária virtual para procurar casa ou trabalho.

Legal Framework for Cross-Regional Networks: The Case of Services and Migration

Paper prepared by Marion Panizzon and Charlotte Sieber-Gasser for the International Conference on the Political Economy of Liberalising Trade in Services, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 14-15 June 2010 Recent literature has shed light on the economic potential of cross-border networks. These networks, consisting of expatriates and their acquaintances from abroad and at home, provide the basis for the creation of cross-border value added chains and therewith the means for turning brain drain into brain circulation. Both aspects are potentially valuable for economic growth in the developing world. Unilateral co-development policies operating through co-funding of expatriate business ventures, but also bilateral agreements liberalising circular migration for a limited set of per-sons testify to the increasing awareness of governments about the potential, which expatriate networks hold for economic growth in developing countries. Whereas such punctual efforts are valuable, viewed from a long term perspective, these top-down, government mandated Diaspora stimulation programs, will not replace, this paper argues, the market-driven liberalisation of infrastructure and other services in developing countries. Nor will they carry, in the case of circular labour migration, the political momentum to liberalise labour market admission for those non-nationals, who will eventually emerge as the future transnational entrepreneurs. It will take a combination of mode 4 and infrastructure services openings-cum regulation for countries at both sides of the spectrum to provide the basis and precondition for transnational business and entrepreneurial networks to emerge and translate into cross-border, value added production chains. Two key issues are of particular relevance in this context: (i) the services sector, especially in infrastructure, tends to suffer from inefficiencies, particularly in developing countries, and (ii) labour migration, a highly complex issue, still faces disproportionately rigid barriers despite well-documented global welfare gains. Both are hindrances for emerging markets to fully take advantage of the potential of these cross-border networks. Adapting the legal framework for enhancing the regulatory and institutional frameworks for services trade, especially in infrastructure services sectors (ISS) and labour migration could provide the incentives necessary for brain circulation and strengthen cross-border value added chains by lowering transaction costs. This paper analyses the shortfalls of the global legal framework – the shallow status quo of GATS commitments in ISS and mode 4 particular – in relation to stimulating brain circulation and the creation of cross-border value added chains in emerging markets. It highlights the necessity of adapting the legal framework, both on the global and the regional level, to stimulate broader and wider market access in the four key ISS sectors (telecommunications, transport, professional and financial services) in developing countries, as domestic supply capacity, global competitiveness and economic diversification in ISS sectors are necessary for mobilising expatriate re-turns, both physical and virtual. The paper argues that industrialised, labour receiving countries need to offer mode 4 market access to wider categories of persons, especially to students, graduate trainees and young professionals from abroad. Further-more, free trade in semi-finished products and mode 4 market access are crucial for the creation of cross-border value added chains across the developing world. Finally, the paper discusses on the basis of a case study on Jordan why the key features of trade agreements, which promote circular migration and the creation of cross-border value added chains, consist of trade liberalisation in services and liberal migration policies.

La movilidad de personas como manifestación de la proyección política internacional de los Estados. Estudio de caso: Brasil y África lusófona durante el gobierno de Lula da Silva

La migración internacional está relacionada, en principio, con el movimiento de un grupo de personas a través de las fronteras nacionales y que implica la intención de desplazarse y permanecer en el lugar de destino , creando así vínculos de tipo comercial, económico, social y político. Sin embargo una subcategoría de análisis es la movilidad. De este flujo migratorio hacen parte aquellos movimientos de personas en las que la permanencia a largo plazo no es el objetivo fundamental, sino el desarrollo de una actividad concreta durante un periodo de tiempo determinado en el destino. Dentro de estos flujos se pueden mencionar la movilidad estudiantil, la movilidad de trabajadores calificados y empresarios, inversionistas y otros que son calificados por algunos como expatriados . La idea más fuerte para lograr materializar la movilidad internacional como parte del diseño de la política exterior de los Estados se basa en el hecho que la población que emigra a un nuevo destino encuentra un espacio laboral y profesional diferente en el cual desempeñarse, y es a partir de esto que existe la posibilidad de generar una homogenización de los patrones culturales ya que el intercambio de ideas, imágenes y conocimientos crea de inmediato un enlace y un impacto mucho más concreto entre los individuos originarios y las personas del Estado receptor.

Stress und Belastung bei Personen im diplomatischen Dienst (Stress and burden in diplomatic service).

This paper describes working and living conditions of persons within diplomatic services from the perspective of stress and demands. The conditions of stress and demands described in this article are similar for leaders, volunteers, actors of international agencies and nongovernmental organizations. Scope and diversity of diplomatic tasks and connected psychsocial stress will be outlined. Families of diplomates are also affected. Mental health problems in the diplomatic corps are known, but they are considered as a taboo issue. Consequently, the basis of empirical research and literature is limited. It is mentioned that expatriates, migrants, refugees and students in foreign countries can develop similar problems. The role of psychology and psychotherapeutic interventions are discussed.

Stress und Belastung bei Personen im diplomatischen Dienst (Stress and burden in diplomatic service).

This paper describes working and living conditions of persons within diplomatic services from the perspective of stress and demands. The conditions of stress and demands described in this article are similar for leaders, volunteers, actors of international agencies and nongovernmental organizations. Scope and diversity of diplomatic tasks and connected psychsocial stress will be outlined. Families of diplomates are also affected. Mental health problems in the diplomatic corps are known, but they are considered as a taboo issue. Consequently, the basis of empirical research and literature is limited. It is mentioned that expatriates, migrants, refugees and students in foreign countries can develop similar problems. The role of psychology and psychotherapeutic interventions are discussed.