Abstract

Here is a longitudinal sociological study of a group of hard-working Chinese immigrants in a foreign land. The study shows that immigrants from Wenzhou in Paris have very different experiences today in terms of what they do, where they live, how they organize themselves and interact with one another, including between different generations, from what I observed during my fi rst fi eldwork in that city in 1998. All these differences are refl ected in changes in their behavior space. The author presents an analysis of how immigrants from Wenzhou achieve the reconstruction of their own space and realize social integration by negotiating their social status both between two different countries and within the group itself.