International studies as global capital: a case study in how Chinese students utilize their sojourns for achieving global mobility

Abstract

This is an ethnographic study of a group of Chinese students in Norway, and the ways in which their sojourns may be implemented for identity work. They speak of their home country in binary terms, juxtaposing it to the developed world. The areas in which they disparage China most are areas such as freedom of choice, and the control over one’s own life trajectory. Thus, through studying in a developed country, they seek to gain a wider range of possibilities than they would otherwise have had. Through such means as study and gaining cross-cultural skills, the students carry out identity work to redefine themselves as modern, cosmopolitan, globally mobile people.