Visiting Scholar
l.m.chan1[at]lancaster.ac.uk
Doctoral Candidate
Department of Sociology, Lancaster University
Research Keywords:
Political sociology of migration; citizenship theory; sociology of social location; Hong Kong Diaspora
Research Diaspora(s):
Hong Kong Diaspora
I am a PhD Candidate in Sociology at Lancaster University, where my research investigates the lived realities of the post-2019 BN(O) migration route to the United Kingdom. My work is primarily concerned with how migrants internalize and navigate a transactional contract with the host state, and how this mentality fundamentally reshapes their social boundary work and relational calibration in a new society.
In my current research, I explore the paradox of why high-status migrants often experience a profound political speechlessness despite arriving from a highly mobilized context. Rather than interpreting this quietude through the common lens of migrant political apathy my work aims to nuance our understanding of integration by examining how neoliberal settlement structures can effectively silence the voices they are intended to protect. I am particularly interested in how the "struggle and juggle" between the desire for societal integration and the moral duty of political visibility leads to a strategic negotiation of presence and erasure.
Beyond the specific case of the Hong Kong diaspora, my broader scholarly interests include the political sociology of migration, citizenship theory, and the sociology of social location. Through my findings, I hope to broaden the conversation on how state mandates and performance-based settlement models influence the political agency of displaced populations, ultimately offering a new framework for understanding how migrants seek out localized, institutional spaces to enact more sustainable modes of civic engagement.