Asian Studies Commons^™

Siphonaptera Of Mongolia And Tuva: Results Of The Mongolian- German Biological Expeditions Since 1962 – Years 1999-2003, Daniel Kiefer, Michael Stubbe, Annegret Stubbe, Scott Lyell Gardner, D. Tserenorov, R. Samiya, D. Otgonbaatar, D. Sumiya, Matthias S. Kiefer

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

This report provides an overview of flea species and the corresponding hosts in Mongolia and Tuva during 1999-2003. The taxonomical development of this vector group of great medical importance covers more than a century of flea research in Mongolia, resulting in the current number of 162 species known from this area.

Chinese Youth: A Quick Q And A With Mary Bergstrom, Jeffrey Wasserstrom

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Whenever I take a trip that includes stops in Shanghai and Beijing, two people I make sure to meet up with are Jeremy Friedlein and David Moser, the Academic Directors of the CET study abroad programs in those cities. I do this for several reasons. One is that CET has deep ties to China Beat, since the blog’s founding editor Kate Merkel-Hess and current editor Maura Cunningham are both alums. Another reason is that, for almost two years now, CET has been sponsoring a series of literary events at M on the Bund (in Shanghai) and now also Capital M …

“Unwavering Public Support” Not Quite So Easy To Find These Days, Duncan Hewitt

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

It was just like old times—in many of China’s major newspapers, a prominently displayed half-page story headlined: “Officials and citizens all across the country express unwavering support for central party leadership’s decision.” It followed hot on the heels of the previous day’s People’s Daily headline: “Resolutely support the party’s correct decision,” which appeared on many front pages. In the wake of the stunning news that Bo Xilai, one of China’s most prominent politicians, had been suspended from the ruling Politburo, and his wife arrested on suspicion of being involved in the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood, the Chinese Communist …

Book Review: The Gender Of Memory, Nicole Elizabeth Barnes

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Gail Hershatter and her Shaanxi-native research collaborator Gao Xiaoxian (of the Shaanxi Provincial Women’s Federation) spent ten years interviewing 72 women and a few men in rural Shaanxi province in northwest China. The Gender of Memory, Hershatter’s sole-authored product of this joint effort, fills a crucial gap in historiography of the 1950s, providing the first personal stories of land reform, the 1950 Marriage Law, collectivization, and the Great Leap Forward. Moreover, through incisive gender analysis, Hershatter illustrates how gender determined not only how Chinese women and men lived their lives, but also how they remember them. Whereas male interviewees …

A Q&A; With Janet Chen, Author Of Guilty Of Indigence, Jeff Wasserstrom

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Every society sees and treats its poorest members differently. The distinctive way that Victorian Britain dealt with poverty is a central theme in many novels by Charles Dickens, the prolific author whose books are getting even more attention as the bicentennial of his birth is being marked. For those more interested in India’s present than England’s past, the book of the moment on this theme seems to be Katherine Boo’s Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity, which is earning enthusiastic advance reviews and is due out soon (coincidentally or not on February 7, Dickens’ …

Book Review: Phoenix: The Life Of Norman Bethune, David Webster

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Millions of Chinese have memorized Mao Zedong’s 1939 lines “In Memory of Norman Bethune,” written soon after the Canadian surgeon’s death amidst the war against Japan. As a result, Bethune remains the best-known Canadian in China, still outstripping comedian Dashan (Mark Rowswell).

“Comrade Bethune’s spirit, his utter devotion to others without any thought of self, was shown in his great sense of responsibility in his work and his great warm-heartedness towards all comrades and the people,” Mao wrote, extolling Bethune’s “spirit of absolute selflessness.” If Bethune was pure selflessness and internationalist heroism after coming to China, it was only after …

Ai In Mumbai, Reshma Patil

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

The Chinese artist offered a firm handshake and his business card. The Indian curator hesitated for a split second. They were, after all, standing in a men’s loo in Gwangju, South Korea. The curator returned to Mumbai, a financial powerhouse that several Chinese artists in the study group at Gwangju had never heard of. “What is Mumbai?” they asked him. The artist, who happened to know where Mumbai lies, returned to his studio in Beijing. He and the curator communicated via email for over a year. There were long silent gaps, until one day this year, the curator received a …

A Flourishing Profession: Reflections On A Career In Asian Studies, Charlotte Furth

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

At the March annual meeting of the Association of Asian Studies, held in Toronto, the association recognized Charlotte Furth with the AAS Award for Distinguished Contributions to Asian Studies. Furth is Professor Emerita of history at the University of Southern California and has written and edited five books, including A Flourishing Yin: Gender in China’s Medical History, 960-1665 (UC Press, 1999). Below is an expanded version of remarks that Furth gave at the AAS award ceremony, in which she reflects on the changes to Asian Studies that have taken place since she entered the field in 1959, particularly regarding the …

Social Welfare Of Burmese Refugees And Human Security, Naruemon Thabchumpon

Asian Review

This paper investigates the social welfare and social security situation of Burmese refugees1 living in temporary shelters along the Thai-Myanmar border. The study applies the human security framework and right to education framework to analyze findings from both documentary and field research in order to examine the accessibility and availability of existing welfare services, as well as to identify the potential implications and the sustainability of access to local Thai education, health, and judicial services of these refugees in the future. Overall, the paper argues that under the human security framework finding sustainable solutions to the current protracted situation may …

Notes To Contributors

Asian Review

No abstract provided.

Human Security And Chinese Political Economy, Vorasakdi Mahatdhanobol

Asian Review

This article examines how China looks at the issue of human security and the change of their internal and external policies toward human security. Chinas repressive regime is now having a hard time maintaining itself while trying to enter into the world market. Opening up the country involves applying international versions of human rights for their citizens, adjusting their production system to suit international standards, cooperating with foreign countries, and so on. Changes that came with economic liberalization are shifting China into a new phase of development and governance with problems of ethnic conflict, corruption, and abuse of authority by …

Introduction, Surat Horachaikul

Asian Review

No abstract provided.

Environment, Conflict, And Security Problems In Thailand's Tenth National Economic And Social Development Plan, Supamit Pitipat, Surat Horachaikul

Asian Review

This paper illustrates the connection between environmental problems, social conflict, and security problems, both individual's security and state's security. It argues that environmental and security problems are not a result of natural resource depletion, environmental degradation, or of a failed state only, but are also caused by the modern sovereign state exercising its rights to possess and manage natural resources over the rights of community. There are two factors that lead to social conflicts and that question the state's legitimacy, which will eventually become a legitimacy problem that challenges the state's security. These factors are: the lack of public governance …

A Refugee-Centered Perspective On Refugee Protection Mechanisms: The Case Of The Lao Hmong Refugees In Thailand, My Lo, Vira Somboon

Asian Review

Refugees are people seeking for stability and security in their life which the government of their own country failed to provide them. In many countries refugees are still treated as illegal migrants and are not granted the protection that they need to pursue a secure life with dignity. Failing to protect asylum seekers is a threat to human security and this problem should be addressed in the public sphere. Thailand has adopted many waves of refugees from neighboring countries but refugees who seek asylum in Thailand have never had the protection they deserve from the Thai authorities. The case of …

Thai Foreign Direct Investment And Human Security Implications: A Case Study Of The Xayaburi Dam In Lao Pdr, Naruemon Thabchumpon, Carl Middleton

Asian Review

The Xayaburi Dam is a 1,260 megawatts project proposed to be built on the Mekong River's mainstream in Xayaburi Province, Lao PDR. The projects lead developer is the Thai construction company Ch. Karnchang, the proposed financiers are Thai commercial banks, and 95 percent of the electricity generated would be exported to Thailand. This paper determines how the Xayaburi Dam could affect human security at the regional scale and in the locality of the project, and evaluates the extent to which decision-making through the intergovernmental Mekong River Commission and the energy planning process in Thailand has accounted for these potential changes …

An Excuse For Common Goods: The Multipurposeness Of The "Human Security" Concept In Japan's Foreign Policy, Teewin Suputtikun

Asian Review

This article examines the functions of the concept of human security in Japans foreign policy. Tracing the process by which Japan internalized the idea into policy formation and public discourse, the article shows that human security as a concept has served multiple purposes in the national quest for appropriate international roles. On one hand, the concept is used to resist the twin forces pulling Japanese roles away from the desirable status quo. These forces are the external pressure for a more active military contribution from Japan; and the domestic constraint against contribution policy in general. On the other hand, the …

India's Neoliberal Progress And Food Insecurity, Surat Horachaikul

Asian Review

Two decades ago India's then finance minister and current prime minister Dr. Manmohan Singh set India on a new course of liberalization, privatization and globalization. This paper argues that the economic reform of 1991 was based on the concept of progress in the philosophy of neoliberalism, realized through the typical structural adjustment imposed by the World Bank and IMF, combined with Manmohan Singh's own vision of reform. This paper also evaluates the effects of neoliberal reform on food security in India. Despite high economic growth as measured by traditional GDP, food insecurity in India has shown little or no signs …

Contributors

Asian Review

No abstract provided.

Teaching Public Relations To Students With A Confucian Cultural Background, Jurrien Gregor Halff

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper explores how the Confucian cultural background of students influences their perceptions of and reaction to the dominant public relations curriculum from the ‘West’. Using focus groups of Asian students, three heuristics that affect the students’ affinity to learn public relations are identified. Instructors working with students from a Confucian cultural background are advised to incorporate these heuristics when planning their curriculum.

Taiwanese Preferences And Cultural Factors Influencing Visuals In Taiwanese Health Pamphlets, Lucas Keola Baclayon

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This study aims to discover what preferences Taiwanese people have for visuals in health documents, with the research question being, "What are Taiwanese preferences for visuals and visual elements in health documents?" Research is conducted through a mixed-methods approach with a comparative analysis of a collection of American and Taiwanese health pamphlets, surveys conducted with Taiwanese people inquiring about preferences concerning visuals in health documents, and interviews conducted with doctors educated and practicing in Taiwan. In this way, the study moves from what visuals are currently being used, to what kinds of visuals Taiwanese people prefer, to how health professionals …