Foreign volunteers in China
Foreign volunteers in China
This chapter investigates the experiences of young Western migrants undertaking volunteer work in China. While destinations such as Africa and India have long been popular choices for young Westerners seeking international volunteering experience, China has more recently become a desirous port of call, due to demands from both sides: the young people’s thirst to gain work and travel experiences in ‘new’ and ‘exotic’ locations, and China’s need for native English-speaking skills. This chapter explores this growing phenomenon, asking why China is shifting towards accepting the immigration of what are often unskilled young people to volunteer, and how the experiences of the young people themselves live up to their expectations of transformative work and touristic encounters.
Volunteer, Western, China, Foreign, Youth, Migration, conviviality, Employment
Leonard, Pauline
a2839090-eccc-4d84-ab63-c6a484c6d7c1
27 September 2025
Leonard, Pauline
a2839090-eccc-4d84-ab63-c6a484c6d7c1
Leonard, Pauline
(2025)
Foreign volunteers in China.
In,
Østbø Haugen, Heidi and Wang, Bingyu
(eds.)
Handbook on Migration to China: Bingyu Wang, Professor in Sociology, Department of Sociology, Nankai University, P.R. China.
(Elgar Handbooks in Migration)
Cheltenham, UK.
Edward Elgar Publishing.
(doi:10.4337/9781035332700.00018).
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Abstract
This chapter investigates the experiences of young Western migrants undertaking volunteer work in China. While destinations such as Africa and India have long been popular choices for young Westerners seeking international volunteering experience, China has more recently become a desirous port of call, due to demands from both sides: the young people’s thirst to gain work and travel experiences in ‘new’ and ‘exotic’ locations, and China’s need for native English-speaking skills. This chapter explores this growing phenomenon, asking why China is shifting towards accepting the immigration of what are often unskilled young people to volunteer, and how the experiences of the young people themselves live up to their expectations of transformative work and touristic encounters.
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9781035332700-chapter11
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3. Pauline Leonard-Foreign Volunteers
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Submitted date: 2025
e-pub ahead of print date: 18 September 2025
Published date: 27 September 2025
Keywords:
Volunteer, Western, China, Foreign, Youth, Migration, conviviality, Employment
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 502357
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/502357
ISSN: 0353-3269
PURE UUID: adf1dff9-f955-4ea1-b9d1-ccabab4c73cf
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Date deposited: 24 Jun 2025 16:36
Last modified: 22 Oct 2025 01:34
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Contributors
Editor:
Heidi Østbø Haugen
Editor:
Bingyu Wang
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