Helena Hof
Biographic Data
| ID | 4780271 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Helena Hof |
| GIVEN NAMES | Helena |
| FAMILY NAME | Hof |
| SIGNATURE | HOF H |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Zurich |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-4131-3498 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 15 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 60 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 15 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2017 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
On Cruelty and Failure: The Elusive Futures of Transnational Startup Success
This article unravels the emergence of new migration pathways which I call ‘startup migration’ and their framing as desired and ‘highly‐skilled’. Basing its arguments on qualitative data from migrant startup founders and stakeholders of Singapore and Tokyo's startup ecosystems, the article connects anthropological conceptualisations of global startup cultures and the future orientations of a ‘cruel optimism’ with critical migration scholarship. I…
The immobility of the highly mobile: Existential (im)mobility among transnational entrepreneurs in post-pandemic Singapore
Based on qualitative data of 34 highly-educated migrant entrepreneurs this paper examines the paradoxical implications of pandemic-induced immobilities in Singapore, interrogating how the same pandemic-related situations – in terms of stringent border restrictions, immigration and workforce policy transformations, or shifting landscapes of population flows – could simultaneously entail both immobility and mobility along different dimensions. The …
Foreign entrepreneurship in the Japanese startup ecosystem: Can deviance fuel innovation
Employment as an anchor: The prospects of emerging East Asian skilled migration regimes through the lens of migrants’ access to the labor market
This paper uses social anchoring to emphasize the psychological dimension of foreign professionals’ access to employment in South Korea and Japan. South Korea’s “occupation-centered” employment system provides relatively easy access to migrants in high-tech fields. However, migrants outside such fields face psychological insecurity because of stringent visa regulations and limited job opportunities. In contrast, migrants in Japan’s “organization-…
Migratory class-making in global Asian cities: The European mobile middle negotiating ambivalent privilege in Tokyo, Singapore, and Dubai
This paper discusses the fraught status paradoxes and settlement impediments of European migrants in Asian cities like Tokyo, Singapore, and Dubai. Global European emigration is predominantly imagined as professional 'expatriation', framed as temporary if not steeped in linear career pathways of manifest privilege. The implied bifurcation between voluntary European mobilities and economic migrations from the Global South is complicated here by fo…
The EU Migrant Generation in Asia: Middle-Class Aspirations in Asian Global Cities
Drawing on a comparative study with individuals who migrated to Singapore and Tokyo in 2010s, this book demonstrates how migration to Asian business centres has become an alternative to a middle-class life in Europe and how the perceived insecurities of life in the crisis-ridden EU result in these migrants' prolonged stay in Asia.
Studying Japan: Handbook of Research Designs, Fieldwork and Methods
This volume, edited by Nora Kottmann and Cornelia Reiher, is a much-needed addition to the bookshelf of anyone conducting qualitative research on or in Japan. My encounter with this comprehensive volume—which boasts 501 pages, 17 chapters, and more than 70 authors—has been from a rather uncommon angle: as a lecturer for an interdisciplinary master’s programme in Asian Studies, in which the familiar Japanese Studies students mingled with graduate …
EU migrant retention and the temporalities of migrant staying: A new conceptual framework
Challenges of weak economic growth, population decline, and labour shortages led many countries across the world to introduce immigration policy changes in order to attract foreign migrants. This paper focuses on Japan (Tokyo) and the UK (Birmingham, Edinburgh and Glasgow) given common concerns over long term demographic trends and the burgeoning lack of labour supply in particular sectors of the economy through use of foreign labour. The paper s…
Intersections of race and skills in European migration to Asia: Between White Cultural Capital and “Passive Whiteness
Singapore used to be receptive to labour migration and Japan more restrictive. Recently, trends in both countries have reversed and a selection based on racial background has been noted by migrants. Using qualitative data of young white Europeans, this paper argues that amidst changing immigration policies, the way these migrants are received and perceived as “skilled” is not necessarily due to their acquired skills but rather to the passively ac…
When “global talents” struggle to become local workers: The new face of skilled migration to corporate Japan
Although more Japanese companies are recruiting foreign employees, few studies have paid attention to foreign workers’ struggles in the workplace and their perceptions of their career over the long term. This study qualitatively explores the experiences of Asian and European locally hired white-collar employees in Japanese firms. It finds that although their numbers are rising, foreigners struggle with Japanese firms’ expectations for foreigners …
Opting out for Getting in: Existential Mobility in European Graduates’ Migration to Asia
This article examines young Europeans’ emigration from Europe. Qualitative interviews with mostly white Europeans in Singapore and Tokyo reveal how these young migrants’ motility, or “potential to move”, enables them to migrate through largely overlooked channels. Fear of immobility in Europe triggers these highly-educated Europeans’ existential and physical mobility to Asia where they compete with host-country nationals and non-white migrants fo…
Expatriate Managers: The Paradoxes of Living and Working Abroad, Anna Spiegel, Ursula Mense-Petermann and Bastian Bredenkötter (2019)
Review of: Expatriate Managers: The Paradoxes of Living and Working Abroad , Anna Spiegel, Ursula Mense-Petermann and Bastian Bredenkötter (2019) New York: Routledge, 242 pp., ISBN 978-1-13819-021-4, h/bk, £115
The Eurostars go global: Young Europeans’ migration to Asia for distinction and alternative life paths
This paper describes young Europeans’ labour migration to Asian global cities as one emerging consequence of European bureaucrats’ vision of the ideal citizen. Qualitative interviews with highly educated European millennials working in Singapore and Tokyo demonstrate that they have internalised mobility as a norm. They perceive international experience as beneficial for their career and self-development and view the lack of such experience as a p…
Worklife Pathways’ to Singapore and Japan: Gender and Racial Dynamics in Europeans’ Mobility to Asia
Professional migrants’ numbers are rising throughout the world, but the phenomenon itself is changing. Research on professional migration often examines the situation in ‘Western’ countries. In contrast, this paper investigates the rising numbers of (mainly) young, educated, middle-class EU citizens who relocate to Singapore and Japan. Singapore, as a hub for the Asia-Pacific region and forward-looking industries, attracts career-oriented profess…
Migration, Whiteness, and Cosmopolitanism: Europeans in Japan
Migration, Whiteness, and Cosmopolitanism: Europeans in Japan offers a fascinating insight into the migration experiences of a heterogenous group of Europeans in contemporary Japan. The case study is an empirically and theoretically strong contribution to recent publications which address not only the rapidly growing percentage of the foreign population in Japan, their bonds to home, socialization in ethnic communities and interaction with Japane…
Intersections of race and skills in European migration to Asia: Between White Cultural Capital and “Passive Whiteness
Singapore used to be receptive to labour migration and Japan more restrictive. Recently, trends in both countries have reversed and a selection based on racial background has been noted by migrants. Using qualitative data of young white Europeans, this paper argues that amidst changing immigration policies, the way these migrants are received and perceived as “skilled” is not necessarily due to their acquired skills but rather to the passively ac…
The Eurostars go global: Young Europeans’ migration to Asia for distinction and alternative life paths
This paper describes young Europeans’ labour migration to Asian global cities as one emerging consequence of European bureaucrats’ vision of the ideal citizen. Qualitative interviews with highly educated European millennials working in Singapore and Tokyo demonstrate that they have internalised mobility as a norm. They perceive international experience as beneficial for their career and self-development and view the lack of such experience as a p…
Migratory class-making in global Asian cities: The European mobile middle negotiating ambivalent privilege in Tokyo, Singapore, and Dubai
This paper discusses the fraught status paradoxes and settlement impediments of European migrants in Asian cities like Tokyo, Singapore, and Dubai. Global European emigration is predominantly imagined as professional 'expatriation', framed as temporary if not steeped in linear career pathways of manifest privilege. The implied bifurcation between voluntary European mobilities and economic migrations from the Global South is complicated here by fo…
When “global talents” struggle to become local workers: The new face of skilled migration to corporate Japan
Although more Japanese companies are recruiting foreign employees, few studies have paid attention to foreign workers’ struggles in the workplace and their perceptions of their career over the long term. This study qualitatively explores the experiences of Asian and European locally hired white-collar employees in Japanese firms. It finds that although their numbers are rising, foreigners struggle with Japanese firms’ expectations for foreigners …
EU migrant retention and the temporalities of migrant staying: A new conceptual framework
Challenges of weak economic growth, population decline, and labour shortages led many countries across the world to introduce immigration policy changes in order to attract foreign migrants. This paper focuses on Japan (Tokyo) and the UK (Birmingham, Edinburgh and Glasgow) given common concerns over long term demographic trends and the burgeoning lack of labour supply in particular sectors of the economy through use of foreign labour. The paper s…
Opting out for Getting in: Existential Mobility in European Graduates’ Migration to Asia
This article examines young Europeans’ emigration from Europe. Qualitative interviews with mostly white Europeans in Singapore and Tokyo reveal how these young migrants’ motility, or “potential to move”, enables them to migrate through largely overlooked channels. Fear of immobility in Europe triggers these highly-educated Europeans’ existential and physical mobility to Asia where they compete with host-country nationals and non-white migrants fo…
Foreign entrepreneurship in the Japanese startup ecosystem: Can deviance fuel innovation
Employment as an anchor: The prospects of emerging East Asian skilled migration regimes through the lens of migrants’ access to the labor market
This paper uses social anchoring to emphasize the psychological dimension of foreign professionals’ access to employment in South Korea and Japan. South Korea’s “occupation-centered” employment system provides relatively easy access to migrants in high-tech fields. However, migrants outside such fields face psychological insecurity because of stringent visa regulations and limited job opportunities. In contrast, migrants in Japan’s “organization-…
Migration, Whiteness, and Cosmopolitanism: Europeans in Japan
Migration, Whiteness, and Cosmopolitanism: Europeans in Japan offers a fascinating insight into the migration experiences of a heterogenous group of Europeans in contemporary Japan. The case study is an empirically and theoretically strong contribution to recent publications which address not only the rapidly growing percentage of the foreign population in Japan, their bonds to home, socialization in ethnic communities and interaction with Japane…
Worklife Pathways’ to Singapore and Japan: Gender and Racial Dynamics in Europeans’ Mobility to Asia
Professional migrants’ numbers are rising throughout the world, but the phenomenon itself is changing. Research on professional migration often examines the situation in ‘Western’ countries. In contrast, this paper investigates the rising numbers of (mainly) young, educated, middle-class EU citizens who relocate to Singapore and Japan. Singapore, as a hub for the Asia-Pacific region and forward-looking industries, attracts career-oriented profess…
The Eurostars go global: Young Europeans’ migration to Asia for distinction and alternative life paths
This paper describes young Europeans’ labour migration to Asian global cities as one emerging consequence of European bureaucrats’ vision of the ideal citizen. Qualitative interviews with highly educated European millennials working in Singapore and Tokyo demonstrate that they have internalised mobility as a norm. They perceive international experience as beneficial for their career and self-development and view the lack of such experience as a p…
When “global talents” struggle to become local workers: The new face of skilled migration to corporate Japan
Although more Japanese companies are recruiting foreign employees, few studies have paid attention to foreign workers’ struggles in the workplace and their perceptions of their career over the long term. This study qualitatively explores the experiences of Asian and European locally hired white-collar employees in Japanese firms. It finds that although their numbers are rising, foreigners struggle with Japanese firms’ expectations for foreigners …
Opting out for Getting in: Existential Mobility in European Graduates’ Migration to Asia
This article examines young Europeans’ emigration from Europe. Qualitative interviews with mostly white Europeans in Singapore and Tokyo reveal how these young migrants’ motility, or “potential to move”, enables them to migrate through largely overlooked channels. Fear of immobility in Europe triggers these highly-educated Europeans’ existential and physical mobility to Asia where they compete with host-country nationals and non-white migrants fo…
Expatriate Managers: The Paradoxes of Living and Working Abroad, Anna Spiegel, Ursula Mense-Petermann and Bastian Bredenkötter (2019)
Review of: Expatriate Managers: The Paradoxes of Living and Working Abroad , Anna Spiegel, Ursula Mense-Petermann and Bastian Bredenkötter (2019) New York: Routledge, 242 pp., ISBN 978-1-13819-021-4, h/bk, £115
EU migrant retention and the temporalities of migrant staying: A new conceptual framework
Challenges of weak economic growth, population decline, and labour shortages led many countries across the world to introduce immigration policy changes in order to attract foreign migrants. This paper focuses on Japan (Tokyo) and the UK (Birmingham, Edinburgh and Glasgow) given common concerns over long term demographic trends and the burgeoning lack of labour supply in particular sectors of the economy through use of foreign labour. The paper s…
Intersections of race and skills in European migration to Asia: Between White Cultural Capital and “Passive Whiteness
Singapore used to be receptive to labour migration and Japan more restrictive. Recently, trends in both countries have reversed and a selection based on racial background has been noted by migrants. Using qualitative data of young white Europeans, this paper argues that amidst changing immigration policies, the way these migrants are received and perceived as “skilled” is not necessarily due to their acquired skills but rather to the passively ac…
The EU Migrant Generation in Asia: Middle-Class Aspirations in Asian Global Cities
Drawing on a comparative study with individuals who migrated to Singapore and Tokyo in 2010s, this book demonstrates how migration to Asian business centres has become an alternative to a middle-class life in Europe and how the perceived insecurities of life in the crisis-ridden EU result in these migrants' prolonged stay in Asia.
Studying Japan: Handbook of Research Designs, Fieldwork and Methods
This volume, edited by Nora Kottmann and Cornelia Reiher, is a much-needed addition to the bookshelf of anyone conducting qualitative research on or in Japan. My encounter with this comprehensive volume—which boasts 501 pages, 17 chapters, and more than 70 authors—has been from a rather uncommon angle: as a lecturer for an interdisciplinary master’s programme in Asian Studies, in which the familiar Japanese Studies students mingled with graduate …
Foreign entrepreneurship in the Japanese startup ecosystem: Can deviance fuel innovation
Employment as an anchor: The prospects of emerging East Asian skilled migration regimes through the lens of migrants’ access to the labor market
This paper uses social anchoring to emphasize the psychological dimension of foreign professionals’ access to employment in South Korea and Japan. South Korea’s “occupation-centered” employment system provides relatively easy access to migrants in high-tech fields. However, migrants outside such fields face psychological insecurity because of stringent visa regulations and limited job opportunities. In contrast, migrants in Japan’s “organization-…
Migratory class-making in global Asian cities: The European mobile middle negotiating ambivalent privilege in Tokyo, Singapore, and Dubai
This paper discusses the fraught status paradoxes and settlement impediments of European migrants in Asian cities like Tokyo, Singapore, and Dubai. Global European emigration is predominantly imagined as professional 'expatriation', framed as temporary if not steeped in linear career pathways of manifest privilege. The implied bifurcation between voluntary European mobilities and economic migrations from the Global South is complicated here by fo…
The immobility of the highly mobile: Existential (im)mobility among transnational entrepreneurs in post-pandemic Singapore
Based on qualitative data of 34 highly-educated migrant entrepreneurs this paper examines the paradoxical implications of pandemic-induced immobilities in Singapore, interrogating how the same pandemic-related situations – in terms of stringent border restrictions, immigration and workforce policy transformations, or shifting landscapes of population flows – could simultaneously entail both immobility and mobility along different dimensions. The …
On Cruelty and Failure: The Elusive Futures of Transnational Startup Success
This article unravels the emergence of new migration pathways which I call ‘startup migration’ and their framing as desired and ‘highly‐skilled’. Basing its arguments on qualitative data from migrant startup founders and stakeholders of Singapore and Tokyo's startup ecosystems, the article connects anthropological conceptualisations of global startup cultures and the future orientations of a ‘cruel optimism’ with critical migration scholarship. I…
Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy (11 works) · Economics (10 works) · Migration and Labor Dynamics (10 works) · Political science (10 works) · Sociology (10 works) · Gender Studies (6 works) · Demographic economics (5 works) · Geography (5 works) · History (4 works) · Immigration (4 works)