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Full-Text Articles in Chinese Studies

A Changing Tea Culture, A Changing China: Variations In Conceptions Of Gift Tea Among Tea Sellers, Tiana Wang May 2020

A Changing Tea Culture, A Changing China: Variations In Conceptions Of Gift Tea Among Tea Sellers, Tiana Wang

Student Work

A 2019-2020 Williams Prize for best essay in East Asian Studies was awarded to Tiana Wang (Ezra Stiles College '20) for her essay submitted to the Department of Sociology, "A Changing Tea Culture, A Changing China: Variations in Conceptions of Gift Tea Among Tea Sellers” (Jeffrey Alexander, Lillian Chavenson Saden Professor of Sociology, advisor).

Tiana Wang’s essay, “A Changing Tea Culture, A Changing China: Variations in Conceptions of Gift Tea among Tea Sellers” makes substantial use of original interviews and observations with twenty tea sellers across Jinan, Shanghai, and Beijing to show that tea culture is changing with new …

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Islam In China: Uyghurs In Crisis, Isabella Baez Apr 2020

Islam In China: Uyghurs In Crisis, Isabella Baez

Senior Honors Theses

Islam has been in China for hundreds of years and has been the religion to ten people groups in China, including the Uyghur people group. The Uyghurs have been under China’s domain since the mid-1700s and since then have stood out among the fifty-five recognized minority groups due to their ethnic differences in comparison to the Han majority. The Uyghurs have a rich and distinct history and cultural heritage, which is different than the Han majority culture. Since 2001 there have been campaigns to curb religious freedom in China by controlling the Uyghurs’ autonomous region of Xinjiang, located in western …

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What Explains The Rise Of Majority-Minority Tensions And Conflict In Xinjiang?, Reza Hasmath Dec 2018

What Explains The Rise Of Majority-Minority Tensions And Conflict In Xinjiang?, Reza Hasmath

Reza Hasmath

In the past few years there has been a rise of inter-ethnic violence in China. While ethno-cultural repression and ineffective state policies are correctly attributed as key culprits behind this reality, this article suggests that socio-economic factors play a fundamental contributory role as well. Using the Xinjiang case, the article maps ethnic tensions and violence as a manifestation and expression of a growing and heighten ethno-cultural consciousness stemming from ethnic minorities’ low socio-economic status due, in part, to internal Han migration, and a labour market process – involving agency and structure – that has shaped a split and segmented labour …

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Impacts Of Migration On Mosuo Cultural Identity: A Case Study Of The Mosuo People In Lijiang, Isabel Ullmann Apr 2017

Impacts Of Migration On Mosuo Cultural Identity: A Case Study Of The Mosuo People In Lijiang, Isabel Ullmann

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

China is currently in the midst of the largest labor migration in human history and yet we know very little about the cultural impact on the migrants themselves. For many ethnic minorities, like the Mosuo, who have been isolated from urban, if not Han, influence for much of their history, this migration is sure to result in some cultural disruption. As a matrilineal culture defined by large extended families traced by the matriline, a distinct, non-exclusive sexual-reproductive system, a housing layout that reflects religious beliefs and social structure, and a fluid interplay of the local ddaba religion and Tibetan Buddhism, …

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When A Joke Is More Than A Joke: Humor As A Form Of Networked Practice In The Chinese Cyber Public Sphere, Mathew Yates, Reza Hasmath Dec 2016

When A Joke Is More Than A Joke: Humor As A Form Of Networked Practice In The Chinese Cyber Public Sphere, Mathew Yates, Reza Hasmath

Reza Hasmath

Received wisdom views political humor, viz. egao, in the Chinese cyber public sphere as a form of resistance. This study creates and tests a framework that best conceptualizes how different functions of egao are connected with one another: to analyze the patterns of ties that link the different facets of the phenomenon together. The study contends that by framing egao within network society theory, we can appreciate its fluidity and better understand its online ubiquity. Analysis of survey data suggests that it is not the content solely but the networked practice of egao that dictates its true function. Namely, the …

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The Construction Of Touristic Modernity In Xizhou, Katherine E. Benton Oct 2016

The Construction Of Touristic Modernity In Xizhou, Katherine E. Benton

Student Publications

Tim Oakes’ (1998) concept of touristic modernity accurately describes how the Chinese national discourse surrounding tourism, as both a tool for economic growth and nation-building, has shaped what the local reality has become for many towns and villages in the peripheral regions of China, especially those with large populations of ethnic minorities. Specifically in the Dali Bai Autonomous Region, foreign tourism followed by nostalgia-fueled domestic tourism has transformed Dali into a commercialized tourist destination, which has begun to spill out to other towns around the lake such as Xizhou. Touristic modernity is not, however, a singular homogenous force that culturally …

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Actually, Let’S Not Talk About Sex: The Value-Laden Sex Education Received By China’S Young Women, Allyson Tsu Oct 2016

Actually, Let’S Not Talk About Sex: The Value-Laden Sex Education Received By China’S Young Women, Allyson Tsu

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

No abstract provided.

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Evolving Patterns: Conflicting Perceptions Of Cultural Preservation And The State Of Batik’S Cultural Inheritance Among Women Artisans In Guizhou, China, Katherine B. Uram Jun 2016

Evolving Patterns: Conflicting Perceptions Of Cultural Preservation And The State Of Batik’S Cultural Inheritance Among Women Artisans In Guizhou, China, Katherine B. Uram

Lawrence University Honors Projects

My exploration features Miao batik-making in Guizhou Province and explores several sets of overlapping questions. The first set focuses on the status of the craft of Miao batik-making and the perceptions of its future. Is batik-making a dying art form? To what extent is Batik-making a thriving cultural practice today, or do Miao in China (and other ethnic groups involved in batik-making) perceive an inheritance crisis? My next focus is on the role of institutions and the tourism industry. If taught less and less in the domestic sphere (traditions passed from mother to daughter), what role do public domains such …

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Globalization Of Taste And Modernity: Tracing The Development Of Western Fast Food Corporations In Urban China, Anastasia Gonchar Apr 2016

Globalization Of Taste And Modernity: Tracing The Development Of Western Fast Food Corporations In Urban China, Anastasia Gonchar

Student Publications

Food globalization has become an important topic in the discourse on globalization. There has been a rapidly rising trend of multinational food corporations integrating and dominating foreign agro-food markets. A clear example of this trend is present in China, whose economy and food industry experienced an influx of foreign direct investment and multinational retail and restaurant branches during the country’s economic opening in the 1980s. The aim of this research is to analyze the development of food globalization through the lens of Western fast food corporations and their successful integration into the Chinese market. The research also assesses the companies’ …

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Theravada Buddhism, Identity, And Cultural Continuity In Jinghong, Xishuangbanna, James H. Granderson Oct 2015

Theravada Buddhism, Identity, And Cultural Continuity In Jinghong, Xishuangbanna, James H. Granderson

Student Publications

This ethnographic field study focuses upon the relationship between the urban Jinghong and surrounding rural Dai population of lay people, as well as a few individuals from other ethnic groups, and Theravada Buddhism. Specifically, I observed how Theravada Buddhism and Dai ethnic culture are continued through the monastic system and the lay community that supports that system. I also observed how individuals balance living modern and urban lifestyles while also incorporating Theravada Buddhism into their daily lives. Both of these involved observing the relationship between Theravada monastics in city and rural temples and common people in daily life, as well …

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Freedom From Violence And The Law: A Global Perspective In Light Of Chinese Domestic Violence Law, 2015, Rangita De Silva De Alwis, Jeni Klugman Jan 2015

Freedom From Violence And The Law: A Global Perspective In Light Of Chinese Domestic Violence Law, 2015, Rangita De Silva De Alwis, Jeni Klugman

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

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The Power Of Creativity: How Web-Based Parody Encourages Chinese Civil Participation, Amber Boczar Jan 2015

The Power Of Creativity: How Web-Based Parody Encourages Chinese Civil Participation, Amber Boczar

International ResearchScape Journal

This article investigates that relationship between e’gao (parody using web-based media) and Chinese civil participation. E’gao (恶搞 EUH-gow) uses videos, images, and text based campaigns that use humor to remove fear of political commentary and action. By detailing the development of China’s internet use, and the creation of the e’gao movement, I argue that e’gao removes the fear of participating in campaigns and movements, which criticize government policy and actions on both local and state levels, by using humor and anonymity of large online numbers. E’gao can provide a way for the common citizens to mold policy, and hold authority …

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Navigating Uncertainty: The Survival Strategies Of Religious Ngos In China, Jonathan Tam, Reza Hasmath Dec 2014

Navigating Uncertainty: The Survival Strategies Of Religious Ngos In China, Jonathan Tam, Reza Hasmath

Reza Hasmath

This article looks at the strategies religious non-governmental organizations (RNGOs) with strong transnational linkages use to maintain a continued presence in mainland China. It does so by utilizing neo-institutional theory as an instrument for analysis, with an emphasis on outlining the coercive, mimetic, and normative pressures RNGOs face. One of the key findings of the study is that there is creative circumvention of isomorphic pressures by working with local agents, fostering trust with the local government, and keeping a low profile. Moreover, RNGOs dealt with the uncertain institutional environment in China through staff exchanges, denominational supervision, tapping into global platforms, …

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Job Acquisition, Retention, And Outcomes For Ethnic Minorities In Urban China, Reza Hasmath, Benjamin Ho Dec 2014

Job Acquisition, Retention, And Outcomes For Ethnic Minorities In Urban China, Reza Hasmath, Benjamin Ho

Reza Hasmath

This article estimates wage differentials between ethnic minorities and the Han majority in China. While Han-minority wage differentials estimated with regression analysis demonstrate little evidence for ethnic minority disadvantages, evidence looking at the process of ethnic minority job acquisition and retention suggests that minorities perceive they are at a disadvantage in the job search process. The article assesses potential factors for perceived disadvantages in China’s labor market such as discrimination, social network capital, and working culture.

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Participatory Democracy In The Chinese Cyber World: Case Studies From Weibo, Duyi Li Dec 2014

Participatory Democracy In The Chinese Cyber World: Case Studies From Weibo, Duyi Li

Master's Theses

This thesis discusses features of citizen communication on Weibo, the Chinese social media platform, and its relationship to participatory democracy in China. Weibo is a complex social space due to the interplay of different forces and social actors. On the one hand, Weibo provides the space for bottom-up political participation: it expands the horizontal discursive space where plural discourses coexist and interact; provides a social sphere where counter-discourses are created; a space where the culture of resistance is formed; and serves as an alternative source for information. On the other hand, the vertical political control of the state, and the …

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The Interactions Of Ethnic Minorities In Beijing, Reza Hasmath Dec 2013

The Interactions Of Ethnic Minorities In Beijing, Reza Hasmath

Reza Hasmath

Drawing on six years of fieldwork in Beijing, this article looks at the daily interactions of ethnic minorities in local neighbourhoods and places of economic activities. Moreover, it examines ethnic minorities’ negotiations with public institutions, the Han majority and other ethnic minority groups. The article suggests that celebratory ethno-festivals and ethnic oriented restaurants that showcase minority traditions serve as a mechanism to encourage Han interactions with ethnic minority groups. However, the attendant risk in utilizing this practice is that the socio-economic struggles of many ethnic minority groups are being masked when a celebratory version of their culture and traditions are …

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Ida Pfeiffer In China: Examining The Suppression Of Gender Roles In The Face Of European Colonial Superiority, Alec Down Jan 2013

Ida Pfeiffer In China: Examining The Suppression Of Gender Roles In The Face Of European Colonial Superiority, Alec Down

Library Research Grants

No abstract provided.

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Just Sing What You Want To Say: The Importance Of Linguistic Tone In Bai Songs, Lisa Andrews Dec 2012

Just Sing What You Want To Say: The Importance Of Linguistic Tone In Bai Songs, Lisa Andrews

Masters Theses

The Bai people, a minority group in the People's Republic of China numbering at least 1.6 million, live mostly in the Dali Autonomous Prefecture in northwest Yunnan. Historically, Bai from the central region would gather annually at the base of Shibaoshan Mountain to sing partner style love songs in search for a suitable marriage partner; today, this time is marked by a three-day festival officially titled "Shibaoshan." The annual song competition invites skilled singers to spontaneously compose melodies in response to their counterpart, crafting lyrics to flatter or tease their singing partner. The study quantifies the close relationship between Bai …

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From Job Search To Hiring To Promotion: The Labour Market Experiences Of Ethnic Minorities In Beijing, Reza Hasmath Dec 2010

From Job Search To Hiring To Promotion: The Labour Market Experiences Of Ethnic Minorities In Beijing, Reza Hasmath

Reza Hasmath

Drawing on micro-level census data and interviews with individual workers and employers, this article examines the job-search, hiring and promotion experiences of ethnic minority workers and jobseekers in Beijing. Labour market data indicate that ethnic minorities are at a disadvantage relative to the dominant Han ethnic group, particularly when it comes to employment in high-wage, skilled jobs. The evidence provided here suggests this may be attributable to gaps in the institutional framework that encourage reliance on social-network capital for job search, hiring and promotion. [Winner of the Society for the Study of Social Problems’ Poverty, Class, and Inequality Division Paper …

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The Education Of Ethnic Minorities In Beijing, Reza Hasmath Dec 2010

The Education Of Ethnic Minorities In Beijing, Reza Hasmath

Reza Hasmath

This article investigates the operations of minority schools, and the subsequent on-the-ground experiences of ethnic minorities in Beijing at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels. The article suggests that the ‘inter-sectionality’ of ethnic identities, particularly minority-majority, rich-poor and urban-rural, must be factored in when examining the varying differences between minorities who have graduated from Beijing’s minority schools and non-Beijing ethnic minorities, who have enrolled in the capital city’s universities. The article draws upon recent statistical data, interviews with minority actors and public stakeholders, and participant observation in the city’s schools and universities.

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De La Búsqueda De Empleo Al Ascenso. Experiencias De Las Minorías Étnicas En Pekín, Reza Hasmath Dec 2010

De La Búsqueda De Empleo Al Ascenso. Experiencias De Las Minorías Étnicas En Pekín, Reza Hasmath

Reza Hasmath

Valiéndose de datos del censo y de entrevistas personales, el autor estudia las experiencias laborales de los trabajadores y solicitantes de empleo de Pekín pertenecientes a minorías étnicas. Los datos del mercado de trabajo indican que estas personas se hallan en desventaja respecto de la etnia han, que es la dominante, sobre todo en el acceso a los puestos más cualificados y mejor remunerados. Las comprobaciones del autor dejan entrever que ello puede achacarse a las lagunas de que adolece el orden laboral y que fomentan la dependencia de las redes sociales en este terreno. [Winner of the Society for …

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The Big Payoff? Educational And Occupational Attainments Of Ethnic Minorities In Beijing, Reza Hasmath Dec 2007

The Big Payoff? Educational And Occupational Attainments Of Ethnic Minorities In Beijing, Reza Hasmath

Reza Hasmath

Ethnic minority development in Beijing has been marred by deep-seated historical experiences of strained ethnic relations. In spite of this situation, this article demonstrates that ethnic minorities in the capital city have achieved greater educational attainments than the dominant, Han group. Yet, when it comes to their occupational outcomes in high-wage, education-intensive (HWEI) sectors, minorities seemingly pay an ‘ethnic penalty’. That is, the Han demographic are disproportionately represented in HWEI occupational sectors. Building upon previous evidence, this article discusses this discrepancy and offers suggestions for improvement. [Winner of the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes’ Research Prize for …

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Some Thoughts On China's Sexual Revolution: Sexuality And Social Change In Contemporary China, Sun Zhongxin Jan 2007

Some Thoughts On China's Sexual Revolution: Sexuality And Social Change In Contemporary China, Sun Zhongxin

Center for LGBTQ Studies (CLAGS)

The last two years saw several changes in the public discourse around sex and sexuality in China. So what are some of the most controversial sex-related topics to be raised in China recently?

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