Seniors’ organizations in China’s new rural reconstruction: experiments in Hubei and Henan

This article tracks the shifting cultural meanings that the East/West distinction has produced in the history of nationalism in colonial and post-colonial India. It does so by focusing on the word “civilization” and the role it played in promoting a rich sense of inter-cultural dialogue in the writings of nationalist leaders such as Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, and Jawaharlal Nehru. The article documents how the word figures with much reduced significance in contemporary cultural debates about globalization in India and concludes by asking if the rise of China and India to global prominence holds the potential today to initiate a conversation across cultures similar to the one that accompanied the rise of the West in the age of modern imperial rule.     

Made in China: the cultural logic of OEMs and the manufacture of low‐cost technology

Abstract

This paper investigates the conditions of the manufacture of low‐cost technology in China with the examples of ‘pirated’ VCD players, ‘no‐name’ DVD players, and Shenzhen’s development as a techno‐urban city. It emphasizes the significance of the cultural logic of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and argues that the various transformations and deflections that are derived from ubiquitous OEM experiences have gone beyond the original model of an authorized OEM, experiences that are to some extent embodied in the transgression of brand name and patent hegemonies, which are mainly controlled by high technology companies. OEMs have been associated with China’s current imperative and uninhibited development of low‐cost technology capitalism. ‘Made in China’ signifies the production of any product, legal or illegal, for transnational high technology giants or domestic technology manufacturers. Learning to ‘become an OEM’ in China has partly resulted in excessive technological mimesis that may be part of an unauthorized, underground economy that is based on low‐cost technology. Based on the Shenzhen experience, part of this study will show industrial production‐oriented OEM cultures in which illegal operations and counterfeit trade are incorporated, even in city projects that are shared by municipal governments and Chinese technological companies, and undergo spatial restructuring in the development of the economy, consumerism, and urbanism.     

The role of cultural pressures and group favouritism in shaping Syrian refugees’ identity in the Jordanian work environment

This study seeks to understand the cultural inclusion/exclusion practices that Syrian refugees encounter in the Jordanian work environment, explore whether an ingroup (Jordanian) over outgroup (Syrian refugees) favouritism exists and how such favouritism reshapes Syrian refugees’ social identity in this new environment. Drawing on qualitative-semi structured interviews with 12 Syrian refugees in Jordan, the study highlights different multi-layered cultural exclusion/inclusion practices that Syrian refugees in Jordan face. Through a combined underpinning of social identity theory (SIT) (Tajfel & Turner, 1979) and the acculturation framework (Arends-Tóth & van de Vijver, 2006), the study reports how these practices re-shape Syrian refugees’ identity around vocational skills. We go beyond the basic types of discrimination against refugees (e.g., gender, race, religion) to highlight economic and legal restrictions as important promoters of cultural exclusion despite the strong cultural cohesion factors. This highlights the significant role of community and societal practices that can go beyond cultural differences between groups, and extend our understanding of SIT.     

Villagers’ acculturation in China’s land expropriation-induced resettlement neighborhood: A Shanghai case

Land expropriation-induced resettlement (LEIR) is an emerging land phenomenon manifested in Chinese cities to accommodate urban transformation and outward expansion. The resettlement has forced affected rural dwellers to leave their villages and be resettled to high-density urban neighborhoods. By employing surveys with relocated villagers from two different types of LEIR neighborhoods in suburban Shanghai, this paper extends the acculturation discourse to examine villagers’ life transformation in resettlement neighborhoods. Our study addresses three research questions. First, what are the general acculturation patterns manifested among resettled villagers during their life transformation in LEIR neighborhoods? Second, how do individual acculturation outcomes vary by socio-demographic attributes of resettled villagers? Third, how do villagers’ acculturation outcomes influence their current residence preferences? The results indicate villagers’ stronger inclination toward rural village culture than urban neighborhood culture. For the socio-demographic attributes, we find that older villagers are more likely to maintain their original culture; villagers with higher education levels better adapt to urban neighborhood culture; multi-generation living benefits intercultural learning and exchange; and pre-resettlement conditions influence villagers’ acculturation. We further contend that an increase in the probability of a villager’s residence preference for LEIR neighborhoods aligns with an increase in that person’s adherence to urban neighborhood culture and/or a decrease in that individual’s continuity of rural village culture. Comparing the results collected from the two types of resettlement neighborhoods, we posit that socio-spatial mixture and diversity facilitates villagers’ urban integration. Finally, we suggest long-term institutional supports to be continuously provided to resettled villagers for building adaptive resilience.     

Mindsets about language learning and support for immigrants’ integration

People rely on their lay theories, or mindsets, to make meaning of their experience in intercultural contact. Given that proficiency in the local language is a crucial social marker of immigrants’ integration, we argue that language mindsets (i.e., beliefs about whether language learning ability is fixed or changeable) guide members of the receiving society to make inferences about immigrants’ language ability (e.g., “can immigrants improve their language ability?”). This social inference, in turn, predicts their willingness to interact with immigrants and support immigrants’ language education. In a correlational study (n = 231) and an experimental study (n = 106), we investigated whether and how language mindsets influence participants’ support for immigrants’ intercultural contact. We found that trait and experimentally-induced fixed (vs. growth) mindsets led to negative judgments of immigrants’ potential to develop their skills in the local language, which in turn predicted avoidance of contact with migrants and opposition to governmental funding of immigrants’ language education. The effects held even after controlling for participants’ political orientations, perceived difficulties of the English language, and judgments of target immigrants’ language fluency. These findings suggest that promoting growth mindsets about language ability can lead to more positive intercultural attitudes that impact the acceptance of migrants. We discussed the implications of language mindsets for understanding the processes of intercultural communication and forming positive intercultural relations.     

In between home and homeland: Diaspora identity as a cultural hybrid in Mohsen Namjoo’s “Cielito Lindo”

ABSTRACT

Rather than resisting either new or old culture, Iranian musicians in the diaspora embrace both their new host environments and their native homeland, as they create a place between cultural assimilation and preservation, helping to shape new sounds of exile. This essay explores how Iranian musicians embrace the new and the familiar, the traditional and the popular, creating an original cultural hybrid. Questions of cultural identity and the politics of location and displacement are addressed using a theoretical cultural studies framework, incorporating themes of personal and collective nostalgia. This discussion is supplemented by documented narrative experiences from Iranian musicians and artists. Furthermore, the textual and musical analysis of singer-songwriter Mohsen Namjoo’s readaptation of the familiar Mexican ranchera song “Cielito Lindo” uncovers unique nuances and layers of meaning that not only shed light on one musician’s personal journey to exile, but also speak to a greater collective experience of Iranians today who continue to be torn between home and homeland.     

College Students’ Positive Strategic SNS Involvement and Stress Coping in the United States and China

Based on a self-administered online survey of undergraduate students, this study aimed to explore college students’ social media involvement in relation to their stress coping in the United States and China. A total of 262 survey responses were received from American participants and 265 survey responses were received from Chinese participants. Results indicated that American student users’ positive strategic social networking sites (SNS) involvement to a certain extent assisted in their adaptive coping with stress. However, the positive effect of positive strategic SNS involvement was not found as an adaptive coping strategy among Chinese student respondents. In addition, perceived support from friends on Facebook was the key mediator of positive strategic SNS involvement and adaptive coping for U.S. students.     

Alternative responses to ‘the modern dream’: the sources and contradictions of Rural Reconstruction in China

ABSTRACT

The title is supposed to be a paradox, as the two notions are opposed in Gramsci’s work: hegemony being the heterogeneous aspect of the dominating alliance in a given historical period (e.g. fascism), whereas the national‐popular representing the unified cultural resistance from below. The question mark thus refers to a short circuit of opposites, to an unexpected consequence of liberation itself, rather than to the domination of some new cultural industry, as the one Adorno had fought against. Not that cultural industries aren’t stronger than ever; but cultural studies have developed various strategies to critique them over the post‐war years. I want to argue here that the new amorphous world without transcendence and alternative (usually called ‘globalization’) puts the discipline in a more difficult situation. Is there a danger of cultural studies becoming an accomplice to such a new hegemonic culture of the global‐popular?     

Coping with cultural differences in healthcare: Chinese immigrant mothers’ health information sharing via WeChat

Immigrants face the challenge of obtaining culturally specific health information and adapting to a new healthcare system. Through qualitative content analysis, this study explores how Chinese immigrant mothers use the ethnic social media—WeChat to engage in health information sharing and coping with cultural differences in healthcare between the U.S. and China. Based on the data collected from one WeChat group in a metropolitan city in the northeastern U.S., Chinese immigrant mothers frequently discuss the topics of “doctors and hospitals,” “insurance and cost,” “medicine and treatment,” and “alternative health care.” They constantly compare Chinese health care beliefs and practices with western ones. They adopt various acculturation strategies to manage the cultural differences in healthcare beliefs, practices, and systems. We call for future research to further examine immigrants’ health information sharing via social media and consider acculturation as coping strategies or processes in the health communication context.     

＂ China in London 2008＂ Brings China and UK Closer

On February 6, 2008, the eve of the Chinese Year of Rat, Chinese red lanterns ignited major shopping streets of London. For the third year running, the ＂China in London＂ season was officially launched with grand parades. This spectacular event, aiming to showcase China＇s fascinating history and culture and strengthen ties between China and UK, has attracted a huge number of local residents and many prestigious institutions like the British Museum and the Royal Opera House.     

Team cohesion and ethnic–cultural identity in adolescent migrant athletes

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of sport participation in the social integration of adolescents with non-dominant ethnic and cultural backgrounds. In particular, this study investigated the relationship between team cohesion and ethnic–cultural identity. Participants were 83 young migrant athletes (mean age 15.60 years). Participants completed the Ethnic/Cultural Identity Salience Questionnaire and the Youth Sport Environment Questionnaire. Regression analyses showed that cohesion negatively predicted feelings of fringe and lack of interaction. Our findings suggest that sport participation, particularly in cohesive teams, can facilitate the development of adaptive identity toward the goal of social integration in migrant adolescents.     

China Cultural Center in Seoul:Photo Exhibition on the 70 Anniversary of China’s Foreign Assistance

In January 2021,China Cultural Center in Seoul launched an Online Photo Exhibition on the 70^(th)Anniversary of China's Foreign Assistance on its new media plat...     

China’s Dragon and Lion Dance Tours Turkey

<正>The end of a nine-hour flight marked the beginning of China Dragon and Lion Dance Troupe’s tour in Turkey. This tour is an important component of the 2012 Ch...     

Shadow Play Drama Performed in China’s Xiaoyi

<正>Xiaoyi is a county located in the central part of north China’s Shanxi province. Over the sweep of history, many theatre forms were and developed in Xiaoyi, ...     

Access,efficiency and excellence: Measuring non‐economic performance in the English subsidised cultural sector

The requirement to evaluate policies and measure performance in the publicly funded cultural sector in the UK has become increasingly pressing since the early 1980s. This chapter reviews the various attempts to do that. It demonstrates how economic and other quantifiable measures have tended to be emphasised whereas the qualitative aspects of cultural provision, which are more difficult to measure, have tended to be neglected.

The chapter presents the first overview of the subject. It covers developments within what is referred to as the ‘cultural framework’ ‐ the infrastructure associated with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which includes the ‘arts funding framework’. It also looks at developments affecting local authorities’ provision of cultural services.

The chapter draws on various published and unpublished policy documents, and accounts, as well as interviews with individuals involved in the development of performance management in the cultural sector. Their views are presented throughout the chapter to illustrate the points raised.

The chapter opens by examining the history of performance indicators in the sector, and maps the current requirements to measure performance. The second section considers the resistance to measuring the performance of arts organisations and museums. In doing so, it examines critical inheritance of former attempts to measure performance, and the issues raised in relation to current aspirations to do so. The third section presents attitudes to future developments, and is based on speculations by those currently involved in museums, galleries, the arts funding system and the introduction of Best Value as to the kinds of impact that the introduction of performance measurements might have. The fourth and final section draws together a series of observations about the introduction of non‐economic performance in the English subsidised cultural sector.     

Georges Braque-Father of Cubism’s First Exhibition in China

正When it comes to Cubism, one thinks of Picasso. But he was not the only founding father of Cubism. Georges Braque was the other equally important one. Georges ...