全球化、跨國流動與都市飛地：中和緬甸街移民社區之研究

Abstract

移民社區的現象一直是許多都市研究所關注的焦點，這些被稱作為都市飛地的移民社區，在都市空間裡往往角色曖昧、神秘，然而移民社區卻是國家與國加之間政治、經濟等折衝關係下的產物，都市飛地本身亦隨著都市發展的腳步而有所流變。本研究主要了解移民社區在全球流動下的改變，我以中和南勢角之「緬甸街」為田野地點，並從公民身分、空間與認同三個主要概念，討論移民社區的形成、擴張，以及在全球脈絡下的轉化。 本研究藉參與觀察、訪談等方式檢視緬甸街的日常生活，發現由緬甸華僑所構築的「緬甸街」移民社區，是透過緬甸華僑不斷來回移動，並在跨國社會網絡之持下於都市空間所展現出的異文化表徵，它是緬甸推、台灣拉的產物，也是移民持續跨國移動的表現，更是移民維繫日常生活的所在。隨著台北都會區擴張，緬甸街成為都市再發展的策略之一，此都市飛地正逐漸褪去原來的邊緣特質，轉向新興的發展地帶。 緬甸華僑由於具有雙重公民的彈性身分，使緬甸街得以成為其長久以來維繫身分、生計與參與社會政治生活的地方，然而此彈性公民的身分卻也意外提供緬甸華僑跨界與向外流動的機會，使原來已有歧異認同的緬甸華僑群體，產生游移、選擇性身分認同之情形。緬甸街作為移民社區的功能因此不斷重組。近年來全球化流動更進一步形塑緬甸街，除了全球資本帶給緬甸街新的面貌外，來自各方的新移民更賦予緬甸街各種同的想像與意義，讓緬甸街從都市飛地轉化為多移民的接收器，同時在認同流動的情況下，其意義也從家，轉化全球流動中的跳板。透過緬甸街的案例，本研究最後回應傳統移民理論的缺漏與限制，並提示對於移民社區之研究，應放置於國家、資本與移民與全球流動的相互作用下來討論。

Immigrant communities have been the focus of urban studies. For people who don’t live in these urban enclaves, these places are loaded with marginal and enigmatic images. However, these immigrant spaces are shaped by the social networks and political struggles through multiple levels of territorial scales. By focusing on Hua-Hsin Street of Taipei, the immigrant community of Chinese Burmese, this research aims to explore the characters of spatial changes and the place identity within the global dynamic of urban development and people’s flows. The interactive forces among three dimensions: citizenship, space and identity form the theoretical lens to this research. Based on the observation and interviews in the daily life of the Burmese community, it argues that the community was shaped and constantly reconfigured by the transnationalism between the sending place in Burma and the residence in Taipei. Their community space at the Hua-Hsin Street expresses a unique cultural representation of ethnic enclave in the urban area. And the social networks of the immigrants work to compensate the weakness of citizenship. However, along with the expansion of the mega-urban region of Taipei, Hua-Hsin Street is under development pressure from both local government and developers, which lead to both the threats and changes of its spatial characters. Hua-Hsin Street overtime has served as a social space for Chinese Burmese to keep their cultural identity, social networks and ethnic economy. However, the meaning of the place as home to Chinese Burmese is contested. On the one hand, various types of citizenship among the Chinese Burmese highly intermediate the levels and forms of their place identities and the tightening policy on citizenship have turned Hua-Hsin Street more difficult to be ‘home’. Furthermore, as an urban enclave without clear boundaries in the fast growing area, the social discrimination and exclusion between local Taiwan people and the Chinese Burmese and their descents are detectable. Besides, growing numbers of new immigrants from Southeast Asian countries from the 1990s, including migrant workers and spouses who live, work, or frequent Hua-Hsin Street also further turn it into a place with higher ethnic hybridity. Lastly, real estate developers, business groups like coke cola, and the local government’s programs of marketing Hua-Hsin Street as a tourist spot are reshaping the local landscapes rapidly. These dimensions together shape the dynamic nature of Hua-Hsin Street in a global era.