End of the China dream? Young Western entrepreneurs' trajectories of leaving China during Covid-19

ABSTRACT

This research examines two groups of young Western entrepreneurs' experiences of leaving China during the Covid-19 pandemic, either due to business failure or due to being stuck abroad when China closed its border to international travelers. Based on semi-structured long-distance interviews with twenty young white entrepreneurs who had previously worked in different Chinese cities, this article highlights the impacts of the Covid-19 crisis on their businesses, social status, and identities before and during the pandemic. We identify two prominent themes in our respondents' highly emotional reflections on their involuntary return experiences loss and victimhood. We argue that such narratives betray multi-layered tensions between privileges and precariousness in the social construction of whiteness in a transnational context. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Asian Anthropology (1683478X) is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)