Abstract:

The transnational immigrant social spaces in China have become diverse both in function and form because of the growing immigrant population. This research chooses Huaihai Street in Suzhou as an example, to explore the renewal of transnational ethnic food consumption space by analyzing interaction in different actors and the actor-network construction, and then to answer the question of 'how to choose, integrate, and translate the ethnic resources'. Inspired by actor-network theory, the research found that the actor-network in Huaihai Street included local government, stakeholders, operators/practitioners, consumers and other ethnic nonhumans. Additionally, the actor-network experienced changes from 'convergence' to 'cohesion' and later became 'dispersal' during the urban renewal process. On the one hand, the government promoted the renewal projects based on local investment attraction needs, mobilizing various secondary administrative departments and stakeholders, while operators were engaged due to shared interests. On the other hand, these shared interests were influenced by public opinion and business competition, leading to difficulties in sustaining and maintaining the tourism development. This case reveals that the tourism development of ethnic economic spaces in Chinese cities is essentially a comprehensive strategy, involving economic transition, internationalization of population and capital, and the construction of multicultural consumption spaces; and the ethnic resources have the potential to serve for place-making, although the public opinion and national feelings should be taken into consideration. This research represents a new attempt at the 'cultural turn' in ethnic tourism and immigration research in the Chinese context, offering reference suggestions for Chinese cities to enhance the internationalization of urban populations and create diverse multicultural consumer experiences.

Key words: transnational immigrant, ethnic food consumption space, ethnic neighborhood tourism, actor-network theory, Huaihai Street, Suzhou

摘要：

随着我国跨国移民规模的增长，跨国移民社会空间的功能和形态呈现多元化态势。本文以苏州淮海街为例，从行动者网络理论视角探讨跨国饮食消费空间的更新改造，以回应族裔社区旅游研究中“族裔资源如何遴选、整合与有效转译”的问题。研究发现：街道更新改造的行动者由人类行动者的当地政府、资本、经营者/从业者、多元消费群体，及非人类主体的族裔资源组成；其族裔资源遴选是基于日本移民社区的族裔消费内容，且与日资日企的软环境改善和城市发展目标相整合；改造前，政府基于地方招商引资需求推动改造项目，改造中次级行政部门与资本被征召，各经营者因利益趋同被动员参与，最终达成有效转译；然而改造后，社会舆论与经营竞争等异议使后续发展易遭受挫折。本研究是中国语境下族裔社区旅游和移民研究文化转向的新尝试，揭示了跨国饮食消费空间的更新改造是一种地方经济转型、城市国际化、多元文化消费的综合策略，族裔资源虽具有促进地方营销的潜力，但需要纳入社会舆论与国民情感等考量。

关键词: 跨国移民, 饮食消费空间, 族裔社区旅游, 行动者网络理论, 苏州淮海街