Conceptualizing virtual transnational diaspora: Returning to the ‘return’ of Chinese transnational academics

Transnational migration brings to the fore the various social and professional connections migrants maintain with their home and sojourn countries. Drawing on a qualitative case study with 12 Chinese transnational academics in the field of the social sciences and humanities in three higher education institutions in Beijing, China, this article explores their transnational ways of being and belonging. Informed by the theoretical lens of transnational diaspora, our study indicates that the concept of “returnee” is too restricted to capture the transnational work and learning practices and the self-identification of Chinese transnational academics. Our analysis reveals that the study-abroad experience as a PhD student shapes the multiple and simultaneous ways of being and ways of belonging of the transnational academics in relation to China, the host countries where they pursued doctoral studies and, increasingly, de-territorialized transnational academic communities. Mobilizing digital communication technologies, they create spaces to negotiate their identities as researchers, ethnic Chinese and members of transnational academic communities. Their work and learning in transnational spaces have contributed to the formation of virtual transnational diaspora characterized by the inter-dependence of academics across borders.