Saturday, January 21, 2017

Who should be called an expat?

What is an expatriate, exactly? And when is an expat an immigrant — or not?

The word expat is loaded. It carries many connotations, preconceptions and assumptions about class, education and privilege — just as the terms foreign worker and migrant call to mind a different set of assumptions.

But what makes one person an expat, and another a foreign worker or migrant? Often the former is used to describe educated, rich professionals working abroad, while those in less privileged positions — for example, a maid in the Gulf states or a construction worker in Asia — are deemed foreign workers or migrant workers. The classification matters, because such language can in some cases be used as a political tool or to dehumanise — as the debate around the word “migrant” suggests.

Fears surrounding job security, concerns over immigration and nationalism inspire discussion across the globe about who falls into which category. But a key part of this dialogue is how exactly we define different people who cross borders to work. Full story...

Related posts:
  1. The problem with being a long-term expat...
  2. The downsides of being an expat in Australia...
  3. There’s a mass expat exodus from Brazil...
  4. 10 popular expat countries to stay away from...
  5. The end of the expat? Cities fight for 'Inpats'
  6. Why are white people expats when the rest of us are immigrants?
  7. New international schools for Singapore as expat population surges...
  8. Switzerland and Singapore regarded as 'best place for expats'

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