Relationality and Temporality of Return Migration: Overseas Chinese Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

This study applies the perspectives of relationality and temporality to investigate how overseas Chinese students made their return decisions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Analysis of qualitative data obtained from 56 returning Chinese students during the pandemic indicates that their return decisions were relational and temporal: embedded in their familial and romantic relations and intertwined with their life trajectories of migration–education–employment. Identifying three types of return, namely hurried, predetermined, and thoughtful, during the pandemic, the study reveals the nuanced relational–temporal dynamics of the risks, opportunities, and emotions negotiated and contested between the students and their families and intimate partners during the crisis.