Navigating in-betweenness: transnational practices and identity formation among second-generation Chinese youth in Britain

Li, Keying (2026) Navigating in-betweenness: transnational practices and identity formation among second-generation Chinese youth in Britain. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

This thesis examines how second-generation Chinese youth in Britain negotiate transnational identity across everyday sites in London and Glasgow. Using multi-sited ethnography (comprising 36 in-depth interviews and participant observation in Chinese schools and family-run takeaways/restaurants, March-September 2023) along with reflexive thematic and sensory analysis, five mechanisms were identified that organise practices across settings: boundary work, positioning, embodiment/senses, digital mediation, and capital conversion. Boundary work appears in school lunch management (sandwiches, sealed containers, no reheating) and front-of-house/back-ofhouse language splits. Positioning is evident in English replies to racialised hailing in public and Mandarin with elders, and in teaching-assistant roles in Chinese schools. Embodiment/senses operate through kitchen noise and smell thresholds, hand control in calligraphy, and zongzi wrapping. Digital mediation involves ritual co-presence on WeChat and selective visibility to manage intergenerational gaze. Capital conversion links parental funds and networks to independent return visits and maps China-based training onto UK credentials. The findings suggest that the transnational identity outcomes of second-generation Chinese youth comprise ways of being, ways of belonging, situated transnational identity, and place-specific variations between Glasgow and London. This study contributes to scholarship on transnational migration and diaspora by advancing the concept of navigating in-betweenness to explain the dynamic, sensory, and agentic processes through which second-generation youth negotiate belonging. It also appropriates the “third space” as the co-occurrence of boundary work and embodied cues rather than a discursive label, and links street-level episodes to field-level belonging. City contrasts are noted in language brokering, catering exposure, school roles, and public “Ni hao” encounters.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Subjects: H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General); H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races
• Colleges/Schools: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences
• Supervisor's Name: Pasura, Dr. Dominic and Imperiale, Dr. Maria Grazia
• Date of Award: 2026
• Depositing User: Theses Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2026-86118
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 15 Jul 2026 10:39
• Last Modified: 15 Jul 2026 10:40
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.86118
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/86118