Title  Portuguese and Chinese emigration in comparative perspective
Author  Tian Chen
Supervisors  João Carlos Ribeiro Cardoso Mendes and Sun Lam
Year  2015
Institution  University of Minho
Degree  Masters
Area  Portuguese/Chinese international studies
URI  http://hdl.handle.net/1822/41517

Abstract

As one of the fruits of human civilization, the mobilization of peoples in history has arisen for various reasons, as well as having distinctive characteristics in each historical period. The concept of "migration" became clearly defined after the formation of the so-called "Modern States". This dissertation focuses on the phenomenon of international emigration, taking as its starting point the genesis of so-called Modernity, revisiting the main processes of migratory development in both Portugal and China, including an analysis of the reasons, volume and trends in the various historical phases, as well as the current situations in both countries, in order to try to better understand the similarities and differences in emigration from Portugal and China. At the end, there is a note on future trends that can already be glimpsed. The study for this dissertation focused on legal emigrants, with reference to documentation from academic studies on emigration, as well as research from civil and official institutions on emigration. Its fundamental objective was to show in detail the realities of emigration from both countries, paying special attention to their respective histories.