All in the Family: A Comparative Study of Identity and Place-making in the Chinese and Jewish Diasporas

Abstract

This thesis is a comparative analysis of identity development and place-making in the Chinese and Jewish diasporas. The family, both immediate and fictive kin, is explored as the primary site of identity formation, where the foundations of belonging created through childhood endure and are communicated inter-generationally. Interview data and a multi-disciplinary literature review are utilised to examine individual perspectives, interconnected with ideas from the collective, identifying both commonalities and diversity between and within the groups.