Showing papers in "European Journal of East Asian Studies in 2008"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss how young people born and raised in rural areas of China perceive and account for individual choice and responsibility in relation to their family and the state, and argue that in spite of young people's growing demands for individual space and the rapid changes in the relations between the generations, the family remains the most important collective for these young people emotionally and as their only source of social security and support.
Abstract: This article discusses how young people born and raised in rural areas of China perceive and account for individual choice and responsibility in relation to their family and the state. Based on personal narratives of more than 100 young people, the article shows how concepts of freedom, independence, free love and personal development are widespread among young villagers who are searching, not merely for economic prosperity, but for a self-fulfilling life. They express a remarkably strong sense of individual responsibility for success or failure, and even tend to idealise individual choice. The article argues that in spite of young people's growing demands for individual space and the rapid changes in the relations between the generations, the family remains the most important collective for these young people, emotionally and as their only source of social security and support.
25 citations
TL;DR: This article conducted fieldwork in an urban branch of the China Youth Volunteers' Association and found that young volunteers use the party-linked volunteers' association not merely instrumentally to support their own personal ambitions, but also as a social space where the individual may find room to "give and share beyond the family".
Abstract: Based on fieldwork in an urban branch of the China Youth Volunteers' Association this article discusses how individual motivation for volunteering among young middle-class students plays a role in the internal reforming of one of the few officially authorised associations available for young people. Whereas Chinese volunteering was once a Party-driven effort supported by Maoist calls to 'Serve the people', contemporary Chinese volunteering is promoted with a focus on the volunteer's own experience and commitment. Interviews and participant observation demonstrate how young volunteers use the Party-linked Volunteers' Association not merely instrumentally to support their own personal ambitions, but also as a social space where the individual may find room to 'give and share beyond the family'. The analysis shows that volunteering is perceived differently by volunteers' families, the local media, the local community and the volunteers themselves. The article concludes that what attracts youth to the volunteer movement is the opportunity to be part of a collective where they can contribute to society while at the same time being recognised as individuals.
21 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss how the elderly react to the rapid changes in intergenerational relations and highlight the complicated patterns of social change that have emerged in China's villages in the wake of decollectivisation.
Abstract: China's rural elderly strongly feel the tension between the life patterns they had expected to follow and the risks and possibilities presented by a more dynamic and individualised society. This paper discusses how the elderly react to the rapid changes in intergenerational relations. The focus is on their strategies towards the two most common types of living arrangements during old age: maintaining an independent household, and living with a son's family. Earlier generations of elderly perceived cohabitation with a son as the only natural arrangement, but interviews indicate that living in an independent household has become an accepted alternative. This illustrates how China's rural elderly are able to create and accept changes in family relations and new life patterns. Their problems are generated by the lack of social services in rural areas rather than by any culturally determined resistance to change. The last part of the paper discusses recent social engineering projects aimed at reintegrating the elderly into society. By looking at how the elderly adapt to changing family relations and how others imagine their reintegration, the paper highlights the complicated patterns of social change that have emerged in China's villages in the wake of decollectivisation.
20 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on the recent transformation of the urban housing culture in South Korea through a geographical analysis of Seoulite apartment complexes (ap'at'ŭu tanji).
Abstract: The paper focuses on the recent transformation of the urban housing culture in South Korea through a geographical analysis of Seoulite apartment complexes (ap'at'ŭu tanji). The paper first analyses the changes in housing policy and the housing production system since the late 1970s, which have long been oriented mainly towards the middle and upper-middle classes. Not only have the lower-income classes been excluded from this new apartment culture, it also seems that the housing situation testifies to the partial failure of the so-called filtering process (in which the benefits of development are purported to spread through society from top to bottom). The paper then analyses the post-Asian crisis transformation of the housing environment in the city, where housing redevelopment projects are concentrated in highly speculative areas (Kangnam) and new forms of luxury condominium apartments (such as the Acroville complex) are appearing. At the same time, older apartment complexes are faced with more and more maintenance problems as well as with the constant pressure to reduce management fees. As in many world metropolises, emerging 'gated communities' and increasing social spatial segregations seem to characterise the housing culture and geography of Seoul today.
18 citations
16 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyse Japan's role in the Six-Party Talks and conclude that Tokyo has exercised obstructive power over other actors involved in the talks, and compare Japanese behaviour with that of the USA, China, Russia and North Korea.
Abstract: The idea that Japan is playing an 'alternative role' in its foreign policy—that it is keeping a 'conspicuously low profile' and that its stance is in some sense 'unique'—has been a recurring theme of analysis of Japanese foreign policy. This article aims to critique this idea of Japanese exceptionalism, epitomised for instance in the 'aikido state' metaphor. By analysing Japan's role in the Six-Party Talks—arguably a suitable case for testing this metaphor—the article concludes that, far from keeping a low profile, Tokyo has exercised obstructive power over other actors involved in the talks. This conclusion is substantiated by comparison with Tokyo's role in other important instances of North Korea policy coordination over the period 1993–2002. By comparing Japanese behaviour with that of the USA, China, Russia and North Korea, the article concludes, furthermore, that the concepts of 'obstructionism' and 'power' facilitate understanding of their behaviour as well—with the implication that Japan's foreign policy is not so unique.
8 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the dynamics in the nexus between the Chinese party-state and private entrepreneurs are considered and it is argued that informal political agency is part of the political dynamics of the nexus and that it develops through critical tension between private business people and the autocratic party state.
Abstract: The article considers the dynamics in the nexus between the Chinese party-state and private entrepreneurs. It develops in response to both globalization and market reforms which promote accelerated individualisation and disembedding of citizens anchored in the new capitalist economy, such as private business people. It is argued that informal political agency is part of the political dynamics of the nexus and that it develops through critical tension between private business people and the autocratic party-state. This is illustrated through the case of Sun Dawu, a Hebei businessman turned political activist. Referring to both Bech and Bech-Gersheim's and Baumann's discussions about the effects of the twin processes of globalisation and individualisation, one of the main conclusions is that Sun Dawu has engaged in 'self-politics' through creating a sub-political or 'peg' community where he and others can exert informal political agency. The construction of such a community is an example of how assertive private business people may exploit the dynamics of the state-private business nexus through critical tension.
5 citations
TL;DR: This article argued that most of the activities can be viewed as rites of passage and that the entire program is constructed according to that logic. But they also pointed out that these ceremonies have a valid purpose although they lead not to integration but to separation: defining the diaspora continues to rely on defining what is outside the national territory.
Abstract: Today, international adoptees are welcomed to South Korea by the government, adoption agencies and different associations These institutions organise educational programmes called 'cultural programmes' Relatively cheap, these programmes generally include a tour of South Korea, visits to welfare facilities, and classes related to Korean culture: music, language, history, cuisine, martial arts International adoptees are seen as Koreans of the diaspora, and as such need re-education to discover their true identity When they return to their adoptive countries, they will be able to represent their birth country accurately and therefore contribute to Korea's successful globalisation However, what is at stake in these programmes is less political and economical than social I argue that most of the activities can be viewed as rites of passage and that the entire programme is constructed according to that logic As a problematic category, international adoptees must be redefined by ritualised actions inside South Korean society Recent studies considered these ceremonies as mock rituals; however, this article aims to show that these rituals have a valid purpose although they lead not to integration but to separation: defining the diaspora continues to rely on defining what is outside the national territory
4 citations
TL;DR: The use of skinniness to portray opium smokers contributed to creating a system whereby the opium smoker was tagged as a destitute person, of a low social position as discussed by the authors, which drove more and more people to turn away from the use of the drug.
Abstract: An ambiguous image of opium prevailed before the 1890s. At that time, despite opponents who often warned of the physical and moral damage it caused, the drug was considered to have positive aspects. In particular, opium was an expression of wealth and a wonderful way to socialise, and its analgesic properties made it the equivalent of a panacea. But from the last decade of the nineteenth century onwards, anti-opium visual propaganda succeeded in imposing the cliche of the smoker as a skinny man dressed in rags. This way of representing smokers went far beyond the limits of specialised anti-opium posters and publications: it became, indeed, almost universal. The use of skinniness to portray opium smokers contributed to creating a system whereby the opium smoker was tagged as a destitute person, of a low social position. This successful 'deglamorisation' of opium drove more and more people to turn away from the use of the drug. It is a crucial factor in explaining why consumption was much less alarming in the 1920s and 1930s than it used to be in the late nineteenth century.
3 citations
TL;DR: The Sino-Japanese War of 1937-1947 has not been sufficiently understood as a narrative in its own right, but rather, as a transitional conflict between Nationalist and Communist rule.
Abstract: The Sino-Japanese War of 1937–1947 has not been sufficiently understood as a narrative in its own right, but rather, as a transitional conflict between Nationalist and Communist rule. The examination of the visual imagery of warfare disseminated through newsprint and books is one way to reinterpret the history of this period. Through a close reading of images printed in a Shanghai newspaper, Zhonghua ribao, during the final days of the battle for the city in 1937, we see how the news was shaped to impose a narrative of order with a positive teleology at a time when China was plunged into chaos with no guarantee of the eventual outcome of the war. The nature of this narrative is explored through examination of images of the body, as well as the positioning of images in the context of the printed page. The conclusion then contrasts these images with a pictorial history of the Sino-Japanese War published during the Civil War, in 1947. It suggests that although this book is able to bring narrative closure to the earlier conflict, its own narrative is imbued with an unease caused by the reality of the new war that had broken out within months of the ending of the war against Japan, and suggests that narrative closure is never truly obtained.
3 citations
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TL;DR: The use of photographs in the service of these conflicting narratives shows that on the Chinese side coverage emphasised the link between the plainclothesmen and Japan by contrasting Japanese aggression with Chinese victimhood as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: In November 1931, Japanese-hired Chinese 'plainclothesmen' attacked strategic locations in the Chinese portions of Tianjin leading to the eruption of a mini war for most of the month. At the time the Chinese and Japanese sides engaged in a bitter dispute about the basic facts of the events. The use of photographs in the service of these conflicting narratives shows that on the Chinese side coverage emphasised the link between the plainclothesmen and Japan by contrasting Japanese aggression with Chinese victimhood. Photographs in Japanese sources portrayed an enclosed and claustrophobic Japanese concession surrounded by threats from Chinese agitators goaded on by the Nationalist government. In all versions, photographic content and political narrative often fit awkwardly. Captions, juxtaposition and accompanying news stories placed otherwise cryptic photographs in larger political narratives. The ubiquitous use of photographs indicates a belief in their power which derived from both their claim on veracity and their ability to create an emotional conenction with the viewer. As a political tool, the photograph functioned in public mass media where readers hungered for the poignant and sensational. In the end, veracity and emotional charge, political narrative and sensationalist photo, militarism and wartime reporting were all inextricably linked.