In 2004, Vanessa Fong offered a groundbreaking ethnographic exploration of the social, economic, and psychological development of children born since China's one-child policy was introduced in 1979. Her book Only Hope left readers with a picture of stressed, ambitious adolescents for whom elite status was the ultimate goal, though relatively few were in a position to achieve it. In Paradise Redefined, Fong tracks the experiences of many in her initial cohort of Chinese only-children-now college-age-as they study abroad in Australia, Europe, Japan, New Zealand, North America, and Singapore. While earning a prestigious college education in China is the main path to elite status, study abroad provides an alternative channel by offering a particularly flexible "developed world" citizenship. This flexible citizenship promises the potential for greater happiness and freedom afforded by transnational mobility, but also brings with it unexpected suffering, ambivalence, and disappointment. Paradise Redefined offers insights into China's globalization by examining the expectations and experiences that affect how various Chinese students make decisions about studying abroad, staying abroad, immigration, and returning home.
"Fong's new book follows the experiences of young Chinese students in countries such as Ireland, Australia, the USA, Canada, Singapore, Britain, and Japan. Her exhaustive data collection amongst these students involves a combination of classic ethnographic methods with a firm quantitative twist at times, providing an excellent overview of this increasingly significant transnational flow of people
The China Journal
"[A] model of migration studies . . . Any scholar with the drive and skill to carry off such a remarkable research design deserves our applause."
The China Quarterly
"Despite the obvious methodological challenges, which she describes in her 'Introduction,' Fong followed students to the UK, the US, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and Singapore, among others. The result is a rich and enjoyable book which leaves the reader feeling that he/she has genuinely achieved a deeper understanding of the people behind the much debated topic of China's role in the world."
