International Migration and Stereotype Formation: Indonesian Migrants in Hong Kong

This article analyses the impact of international migration on the formation and maintenance of stereotypes about the ethnic and national identities of migrant workers. It demonstrates that the employment conditions of Indonesian domestic workers in Hong Kong encourage certain types of behaviour, which in turn contribute to the processes of stereotype formation and maintenance about them in the host society. Intergroup contact theory predicts that even superficial interaction should disconfirm existing stereotypes, but this article shows how the ‘context of reception’ in host societies prevents this from happening through its creation of sub-optimal conditions, such as unequal power relationships.