International and Area Studies Commons^™

Do I Still Love China?, Xujun Eberlein

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

In Sunday’s New York Times, Ha Jin reflected on his decision to remain in the West after graduate school and to write primarily in English:

That was when I started to think about staying in America and writing exclusively in English, even if China was my only subject, even if Chinese was my native tongue. It took me almost a year to decide to follow the road of Conrad and Nabokov and write in a language that was not my own. I knew I might fail. I was also aware that I was forgoing an opportunity: the Chinese language had …

6/4 Reader

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

A set of links to readings about 6/4 from various sources:

1. A short and straightforward documentary from Al Jazeera (in English), posted at YouTube in two parts: Part I and Part II. This documentary has notably less emphasis on the influence of Western-style democracy than the average (Western) doc on the subject, and more on the opposition to authoritarianism…

2. Mara Hvistendahl has written a piece for The Chronicle of Higher Education on a well-trod topic—the shifts in China post-89, particularly among those of the 6/4 generation. Yet, Hvistendahl, in addition to getting the basics right (unlike others we …

U.S. Human Rights Activism And Plan Colombia, Winifred L. Tate

Faculty Scholarship

Non-governmental organizations claim to play a central role in defining U.S. foreign policy, particularly in the field of human rights. Here, I will examine the role of human rights and humanitarian groups in the debates over U.S. foreign policy towards Colombia, focusing on the design and subsequent additional appropriations for Plan Colombia, a multi-billion dollar aid package beginning in 2000. I argue that NGOs were able to build on the legacy of prior human rights activism focusing on Latin America, but failed to achieve significant grassroots mobilization around this issue. I examine the structural issues limiting such mobilization, as well …

Genres Populaires Et « Érographiques » En Afrique Francophone : Le Cas Des Romans De La Collection Adoras, Sathya Rao

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

This article will take the Adoras novels as a case study to address the aesthetics and institutional issues related to the emergence of popular literature in francophone Africa. As the promoter of an “erographic” discourse that strives to accommodate modernity and tradition, francophone romance, which has been largely under-examined if not denigrated, raises a wide range of questions on the status of francophone literature, the socioeconomic constraints on publication in Africa, and the construction of a truly African erotic imaginary.

Quand On Vient Aussi De L’Autre Monde: Appartenance(S), Conflit(S) Et Déchirement(S) Dans L’Enfant Des Deux Mondes De Karima Berger, Carla Calargé

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

My essay analyzes Karima Berger’s first novel, L’enfant des deux mondes (1989). The author who has been living in France for more than 25 years tells the story of a Muslim Arab girl (herself ?) educated in the French school system of pre-independent Algeria. In this study, I examine linguistic, cultural and religious issues raised by the novel in an effort to identify the factors that keep the protagonist imprisoned in a permanent state of being in-between-two-worlds without fully belonging to any of them.

Exponential Growth, Animal Welfare, Environmental And Food Safety Impact: The Case Of China’S Livestock Production, Peter J. Li

Agribusiness Collection

Developmental states are criticized for rapid “industrialization without enlightenment.” In the last 30 years, China’s breathtaking growth has been achieved at a high environmental and food safety cost. This article, utilizing a recent survey of China’s livestock industry, illustrates the initiating role of China’s developmental state in the exponential expansion of the country’s livestock production. The enthusiastic response of the livestock industry to the many state policy incentives has made China the world’s biggest animal farming nation. Shortage of meat and dairy supply is history. Yet, the Chinese government is facing new challenges of no less a threat to political …

Shanghai Girls

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

A few months ago, we ran an interview with Lisa See about her new novel,Shanghai Girls. The book was released last week and See is in the middle of a series of talks and readings, including one that China Beat is co-sponsoring on June 6 in Corona del Mar.

For those interested in learning more aboutShanghai Girls or Lisa See, you can check out this link to a few of her favorite books, anearly review of the novel, and an autobiographical piece in this Sunday’s Los Angeles Times.

See talks frequently about the historical research that undergirds her novels. Here …

Le Feu Sous La Soutane, Roman Populaire? Du Génocide À Sa Transposition Fictionnelle, Josias Semyjanga

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

A reflective, first-person account, Benjamin Sehene’s Le feu sous la soutane is the story of memories of a double crime of rape and genocide by a Catholic priest, Father Stanislas. At the beginning of the killings of the Tutsi, some people take refuge in a parish in Kigali. Its priest takes under his protection a few Tutsi women, hiding them in the presbytery. But, the Holy man will rape them. He also participates alongside with the Hutu militia to the extermination of the Tutsi who came to take refuge in the parish. Later the priest took refuge in France where …

Soleil, Sexe Et Vidéo: La Comédie Populaire Aux Antilles, Françoise Naudillon

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

The comedy of manners presented in the form of play or in the form of sketches or playlet by the medium of videos and DVDs is a phenomenon that develops in Guadeloupe, Martinique and Guyana, but also in France. These productions are the link between communities in the Creole area (Guadeloupe, Martinique and Guyana) and the outside (metropolitan France and diaspora). They will be analyzed for their popular and scholarly features between erudite comedy and farce, between traditional and postcréolitaire cultural affirmation, between Creole and French, between Italian theatre and yardplay, between creole comedy and vaudeville, between negropolitan diaspora and …

From Big Change To No Change: Discovering Lean Through Action, Christine Cother

Proceedings of the IATUL Conferences

No abstract provided.

A Re-Examination Of China's Share Issue Privatization, Guohua Jiang, Heng Yue, Longkai Zhao

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Previous studies show that in contrast to evidence that share issue privatization (SIP) in most other countries have improved firm profitability, China's SIP of the 1990s had no such effect. We argue that the main reason for the failure of China's SIP is likely to have been the weak institutional environment in place at that time. We examine China's SIP in a more recent period in which the institutional environment was greatly improved. Using a matching sample method, we find that SIP firms continued to experience negative post-SIP profitability changes in our sample period. However, their performance decline was significantly …

Science Education Policy For Emergency, Conflict, And Post-Conflict: An Analysis Of Trends And Implications For The Science Education Program In Uganda, Betty Pacutho Udongo

Dissertations

This study analyzes the impact of armed conflicts on the development of education policy and particularly science education program in Uganda. Since independence from the British colonial rule, Uganda has experienced a series of armed conflicts, with the most devastating being the 21 years of conflict in Northern Uganda.

The research study was guided by the following questions: (1) What is the level of government funding towards improving science education program in Uganda? (2) Have recent initiatives, such as free Primary and Secondary education, compulsory science, and 75% sponsorship for science-based courses, had a measurable impact on the proportion of …

Salespeople's Renqing Orientation, Self-Esteem, And Selling Behaviors: An Empirical Study In Taiwan, Ming-Hong Tsai, Shu-Cheng Steve Chi, Hsia-Hua Hu

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The purpose of this study was to investigate how salespeople's renqing orientation and self-esteem jointly affect their selling behavior. Data were obtained from a survey of salespeople from 17 pharmaceutical and consumer-goods companies in Taiwan (n = 216).Salespeople's renqing orientation (i.e., their propensity to adhere to the accepted norm of reciprocity) compensates the negative effect of self-esteem on their selling behaviors, such as adaptive selling and hard work. Our study results underscore the critical role of the character trait of renqing orientation in a culture emphasizing a norm of reciprocity. Therefore, it would be useful to consider a strategy of …

Case Comment: Robertson Quay Investment Pte Ltd V Steen Consultants Pte Ltd, Yihan Goh

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In recent times, the venerable principles relating to remoteness of damage in contract have undergone a period of sustained re-evaluation. Key amongst this exercise is the House of Lords’ decision in Transfield Shipping Inc v Mercator Shipping Inc—referred to as ‘The Achilleas’, which represents a fundamental shift in the understanding of remoteness principles. Caught in the winds of The Achilleas is the considered judgment of the Singapore Court of Appeal in Robertson Quay Investment Pte Ltd v Steen Consultants Pte Ltd.In direct contrast with some of the speeches in The Achilleas, the judgment delivered by Andrew Phang JA in Robertson …

Degrees Of Institutionalization: Family Planning Policies And Programs In Senegal, 1980-2005, Yazmine Michelle Watts

Dissertations

Senegal's population growth rate of 2.7% is greater than double that of the world average of 1.16%. The Government of Senegal acknowledges the population problem and has made efforts to address this issue. For over the past two decades the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has served as the predominant donor in Senegal's health sector and has been a strong supporter of Senegal's family planning program. The evolution of family planning in Senegal cannot be understood without considering the roles of culture, religion, decentralization and funding in the institutionalization process. This research addresses important questions concerning factors that …

Exporting Expertise: Singapore’S Gambits In The Middle East, Caroline Yeoh, Wilfred Pow Ngee How

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Singapore’s regionalization stratagem points increasingly towards the influence of both the sociopolitical environment and the economics of competition, in a business environment with an ever-growing number of competitors; to the extent that other forces, particularly political ones, are often sidelined. A more in-depth study of the above two influences is best performed in a context comparatively free of the implicit complex political facets but with sufficiently rich environments to challenge internationalizing firms, and distinct influences to draw pertinent conclusions from. For this purpose, the continually expanding business environments and the unique cultures of the Middle East provide the perfect context …

An Empirical Analysis Of Stock Market Integration: Comparison Study Of Singapore And Malaysia, Zheng Yi, Swee Liang Tan

Research Collection School Of Economics

Using a GARCH (1,1) model, this paper compares the extent to which financial sector liberalization in Singapore and Malaysia each has led to integration of its domestic equity market with external markets. The results show that the level of integration of the domestic markets with the external markets is higher when MSCI regional and global data are used, as compared to when individual country data are used to proxy regional and global markets. Inferences are made about the preferred pace of liberalization in Singapore, as well as, the impact of the Asian financial crisis and capital control measures imposed in …

Study On Singapore's Experience Of Regional Economic Cooperation, John Wong, Kim Song Tan, Yang Mu, Sarah Tong, Tim Seng Lim, Chee Kia Lim

Research Collection School Of Economics

Singapore and Hong Kong share many similarities in their growth experiences and challenges. Both were traditionally entrepot economies and service hubs for their hinterlands – China for Hong Kong, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), in general but Malaysia and Indonesia in particular, in the case of Singapore. The two economies have gone through major structural changes over the years in response to changes in the global economy and in their relationships with their respective hinterlands. The changing relationships with their hinterlands play a crucial role in driving their external economic policies.

Do We Have A Winner? What The China-India Paradox May Reveal About Regime Type And Human Security, Devin K. Joshi

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

As the concept of human security spreads in the pose-Cold War period it is often presumed chat non-democracies have worse human security than democracies. But the national human security (NHS) siruation in weak or failed democracies can be even worse than in some non-democracies. So how exactly do the NHS records of stares with different regime types like non-democratic China and democratic India compare? To address this question the paper assesses and compares NH S in terms of "freedom from want" (anti-poverty security) and "freedom from fear" (anti-violence securiry). Ir develops a theory of how different regime types might impact …

Danny Pudi Interview, Shariq Jefferi

Asian American Art Oral History Project

2009 interview with comedian Danny Pudi by Shariq Jefferi

Geithner In Beijing–What To Read (Or Perhaps Re-Read)

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

With press reports circulating about Timothy Geithner’s plan to speak at Peking University/Beida tomorrow, this might be the perfect time to dip into China in 2008: A Year of Great Significance and read Geremie Barmé’s “Facing Up to Friendship” (pages 212-214), a smart look at the talk Kevin Rudd gave at the same campus on April 9, 2008. (If you don’t have the book, check out the earlier and slightly shorter version of it that appeared in the April 12, 2009, edition of theSydney Morning Herald, under the title “Rudd Rewrites the Rules of Engagement.”)

For two typically smart wrap-ups …

5/28/09: Chai Ling’S Last Will And Testament, Philip J. Cunningham

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

This piece is excerpted from the manuscript of Philip J. Cunningham’s forthcoming book, Tiananmen Moon, part of an on-going China Beat feature of excerpts from Cunningham’s book, and describes the set-up for one of the most famous interviews of the final days of the student movement. Interested readers can see more at Cunningham’s website.

A petite sun-bronzed woman wearing a stained white tennis shirt and dusty beige trousers sits next to me in the back of the taxi, grimacing as if in pain, weeping quietly to herself. Named to the police blacklist, she says she fears imminent arrest. Up front …

Chris Naka Interview, Cheryl Franzen

Asian American Art Oral History Project

2009 interview with new media and video artist Chris Naka by Cheryl Franzen

Cynthia Tom Interview, Lauren Swift

Asian American Art Oral History Project

2009 interview with painter and president of the Asian American Women Artists Association Cynthia Tom by Lauren Swift

Vincent Chung Interview, Pete Koszulinski

Asian American Art Oral History Project

2009 interview with the Foundation for Asian American Independent Media's graphic designer Vincent Chung by Pete Koszulinski

In Search Of Old Shanghai (Buildings)

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Earlier this week, the Washington Postpublished a fascinating article by Maureen Fan, paired with a very effective video that the same reporter narrates (hat tip to Shanghaiist for bringing both to my attention), that combines architectural and family history. This is because the grandfather of the Post‘s Beijing bureau chief was Robert Fan, a leading local architect who designed, among many other buildings, the one pictured here.

I won’t try to summarize her piece, which is part memoir and part analysis of the fate of buildings her grandfather designed (some of which are shown in the accompanying video), as it …

From Sugar To Blackberries: Restructuring Agro-Export Production In Michoacán, Mexico, Donna Chollett

Anthropology Publications

In recent years, economic crisis in the sugar industry and the closure of an important sugar mill in Michoacán, Mexico, have fostered the entry of transnational agribusinesses that contract with local growers for blackberry production. Land concentration is under way as wealthy growers rent ejido (agrarian-reform) land to grow berries and small-scale growers shift to less capitalized berry production or migrate out of the region. An analysis of the impact of this transition, part of the globalization of the agro-food system, on campesinos, workers, and their communities reveals that a general improvement in the economy has been accompanied by increased …

Larry Lee Interview, Ami Shah

Asian American Art Oral History Project

2009 interview with installation artist and curator Larry Lee by Ami Shah

Larry Lee website

View Larry's work in the AAOH project gallery

5/26/89: An Audience With An Audience, Philip J. Cunningham

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

On May 26 I got another glimpse of student command central, when Chai Ling was at the height of her power. She was holding court in the broadcast tent, the ideological hothouse of student-occupied Tiananmen Square. It wasn’t easy getting in. I had to pass three rings of student security to secure an “audience.”

The BBC had yet to give me any kind of ID, so I learned to talk my way into things. My only “press” pass was my wit, which worked okay because I liked to talk and could do so in Chinese. There were times when the …

A News Story On School Collapses Tantalizes, Then Disappears, David Bandurski

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Yesterday, China Media Project’s David Bandurski published a post that highlights the best of what CMP does: muckraking in the China media and blogosphere, in this case regarding school construction in Sichuan. If CMP isn’t already on your RSS feed, we encourage you to add them. In the meantime, Bandurski kindly agreed to let us re-post this piece on the suppression of findings regarding shoddy school construction in Sichuan.

China Economic Weekly, a spin-off magazine of the official People’s Daily, ran an important story Monday about the collapse of school buildings in last year’s Sichuan earthquake. But the story, posted …