The Gradual Hybridization of Belonging: A Qualitative Study of Chinese Migrants in Geneva

This study conducts a qualitative approach to examine the everyday practices of Chinese migrants in Geneva, Switzerland, unveiling how they gradually shape a hybrid sense of belonging through the interplay of structural constraints, personal agency, and mediation by ICTs. The findings indicate that the construction of belonging among these migrants does not follow a linear path of assimilation but rather evolves through innovative uses of everyday media tactics and ICTs. Migrants tactically employ self-presentation, weave transnational information networks, construct digital communities, and engage in technological empowerment to convert gaps in the legal, social, and economic structures into spaces of flexible belonging. The research highlights the non-uniform, tactical, and open-ended nature of hybrid belonging. As this form of belonging continuously reconfigures itself, ICTs emerge as crucial mediators, and everyday practices become critical arenas that allow migrants to navigate their existence “here and there.” This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the complex processes that migrants navigate and broadens the conceptualization of digital diaspora and the digital transformation of social networks. It underscores the significance of hybrid belonging as an evolving, mediated, and lived experience, redefining how migrants negotiate their identities amidst the constraints and opportunities of their new environments.