Characteristics of Temporary Migration in European-Asian Transnational Social Spaces

Professor Pirkko Pitkänen is Research Manager of the Research Centre on Transnationalism and Transformation (TRANSIT) and Professor of Educational Policy and Multicultural Education at the University of Tampere, Finland. The areas of her expertise include transnational migration, cross-cultural work and multicultural training. Prof. Pitkänen has an extensive experience of leading large-scale international and national research projects. These include five EU Framework Projects (FP3; FP5; FP7; Horizon2020). She has published widely in national and international fields.  Dr. Mari Korpela is senior research fellow in the University of Tampere, Finland, and she has a PhD is social anthropology. Dr. Korpela has conducted extensive ethnographic research among Western lifestyle migrants in India. Her research interests include anthropology of childhood, 'third culture kids', lifestyle migration, transnational communities, countercultures, gender and travel, temporary migration, and ethnographic research methods. She has been a visiting scholar in the Sussex Centre for Migration Research, UK. Dr. Korpela has published both in national and international journals as well as written several book chapters to international edited volumes.  Dr. Mustafa Aksakal is a senior researcher at Bielefeld University, Germany, and he has a PhD in sociology and development studies. Currently, he is involved in different international national research projects. His research is concerned with temporary transnational migration between Asia and the EU, with youth mobility within the EU, Indian professionals’ and students’ mobility and the integration into the German labor markets and society. He has published in these research contexts his doctoral thesis, journal articles and book chapters on methodological, conceptual and empirical themes. He is also teaching in the disciplines of migration, education, development and climate change at Bielefeld University. < Dr. Kerstin Schmidt is a senior researcher at the Faculty of Sociology at Bielefeld University, Germany. She holds a PhD in migration studies (human geography) from the University of Sussex, UK. Her research and teaching interests include the transnational perspective on migration, current developments of migration and mobility to Germany and related policies, migration and international development, the social dimensions of global environmental change (GEC), and GEC governance. She is currently involved in several research projects on temporary migration, youth mobility as well as high-skilled migrants. She has published on different methodological and conceptual aspects of migration and mobility as well as on her empirical findings.

Introduction: Temporary Migration in European-Asian Social Spaces: Mustafa Aksakal, Kerstin Schmidt, Mari Korpela and Pirkko Pitkänen.- Education, Skill Flow and Integration: Temporary Transnational Migration between China and Europe: Tian Fangmeng and Hu Xiaojiand.- Experiences of temporary Migrants in the Indian-European Transnational Space: S. Irudaya Rajan, Arya Suresh and M. Mahalingam.- Enriching Journeys: Transnational Temporary Migration between the Philippines and Europe: Maruja M. B. Asis and Karen Anne S. Liao.- Transnational Migration between Thailand and Europe: Migrants' Experiences and Perceptions: Sakkarin Niyomsilpa, Manasigan Kanchanachitra, Pattraporn Chuenglertsiri and Sureeporn Punpuing.- Flexibility and Ambiguity: Impacts and Temporarinesss of Transnational Mobility in the Case of Turkey: Ilke Sanlier Yüksel and Ahmet Içduygu.- Transit Migrants in a Country Undergoing Transition: The Case of Greece: Georgios Agelopoulos, Elina Kapetanaki and Konstantinos Kousaxidis.- The Diversity of Temporary Migration in the Case of a Transit Country: Experiences from the Asian-Hungarian Transnational Space: Ágnes Hárs.- Ukraine and Temporary Migration in the European-Asian Transnational Space: Ihor Markov, Svitlana Odynets and Danylo Sudyn.- Temporary Migrants' Experiences, Perceptions and Motivations in Asian-German Transnational Spaces: Mustafa Aksakal and Kerstin Schmidt.- Unfulfilled Expectations: The Contradictions of Dutch Policy on Temporary Migration:  Natasja Reslow.- Navigating Bureaucracies, Intentions and Relationships: Temporary Transnational Migration between Finland and Asia:  Mari Korpela, Jaakko Hyytiä and Pirkko Pitkänen.- Conclusion: Characteristics, Experiences and Transnationality of Temporary Migration: Pirkko Pitkänen, Mari Korpela, Kerstin Schmidt and Mustafa Aksakal.- Biographical Notes.