47 / 2018
Martina Bofulin

On Milk Formula and Diapers: The Entangled Mobilities of People and Objects within Chinese Transnational Spaces



The article addresses multiple mobilities within Chinese transnational spaces by highlighting the circulation of products for children between Chinese migrants and members of their social networks in China. It focuses on the buying, sending and/or selling of milk formula and diapers as a special type of commodity that brings light to the complex relationships of (im)mobile Chinese and draws attention to the role of objects in producing particular types of transnational subjects – migrants as intermedi­a­r­ies between producers outside China and consumers within China. The paper aims to add to the discussion on commodities consumed by children as well as to illustrate what specific objects tell us about diverse experiences of migration. KEY WORDS: milk formula, diapers, Chinese migrants, transnationalism, informal trade


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