JUNE 2020

“Cosmopolitan Identity: Expatriate Children in Vietnam” 

SHIQIN CAO

ARTICLES

Published June 2020

ABSTRACT

This article explores the identity of expatriate children in the development of 
cosmopolitan individuals. Multinational corporations are creating a growing 
population of culturally savvy individuals who are able to operate within widely 
different cultural and linguistic contexts. These individuals are more inclined to 
develop cosmopolitan skills as contradictory cultural demands challenge their 
daily expectations. From corporate relocations to political exile, and from 
historical migrations to local globalization, these individuals confront diverging 
perspectives and possess the know-how to mediate them. Ethnographic 
interviews with Vietnamese and French expatriate high-school students in 
Vietnam illustrate the tension between the traditional French education system 
and the many diverse cultures native and expatriate students need to negotiate
in this globalized world. Using a multi-disciplinary framework, this article 
broadens the notions of self-identity, cosmopolitanism, corporate expatriations, 
cultural hybridity and paradox by taking them outside of their respective fields 
of study. 

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33682/04g4-3p4p
PDF

HOW TO CITE (CHICAGO):
Cao, Shiqin. "Cosmopolitan Identity: Expatriate Children in Vietnam." The Interdependent 1 (2020): 28-51. https://doi.org/10.33682/04g4-3p4p