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HS3052TutorialQuestions.docxTutorial Questions
19th January No tutorial
26th January
a) General introduction and assignment of tutorial duties
b) General Discussion on the video on the Shared Values and Ethnic tensions along the Silk Road
2nd February – Topic 1
a) Discuss Appadurai’s global cultural flows in understanding Asia’s cultural landscapes.
b) Do you think Appadurai’s framework is relevant for our study of the Ancient Silk Road and the One Belt One Road Initiative and their connectivity to the outside world?
Essential Reading
1. Appadurai, Arjun. (1996). Chapter 2: “Disjuncture and Different in the Global Cultural Economy” in Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. University of Minnesota Press, 1996. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ntusg/detail.action?docID=310379.
Other Reading (alternative viewpoint):
2. Heyman, J. McC. and Campbell, H. (2009). “The anthropology of global flows: A critical reading of Appadurai’s ‘Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy’”. Anthropological Theory, Vol 9(2): 131–148. Doi: 10.1177/1463499609105474.
3. Beck, U. (2011). “Cosmopolitanism as Imagined Communities of Global Risk”. American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 55(10), pp. 1346-1361.
Case Examples (choose one from each theme)
Ancient Silk Road
4. Kyan, W. (2010). “Family Space: Buddhist Materiality and Ancestral Fashioning in Mogao Cave 231”. Art Bulletin, Volume XCII (Nos. 1-2, March – June), pp. 61-82.
5. Jones-Leaning, M. and Pratt, D. (2012). “Islam in China: From Silk Road to Separatism”. Hartford Seminary, Blackwell Publishing Ltd., Oxford, UK and MA,USA. DOI: 10.1111/j.1478-1913.2012.01399.x
6. Zvi Ben-Dor Benite (2014). “Taking Abduh to China: Chinese-Egyptian Intellectual Contact in the Early Twentieth Century” in Global Muslims in the Age of Steam and Print, edited by James L. Gelvin and Nile Green. Berkeley, California: University of California Press, pp. 249 – 267.
One Belt One Road Initiative
7. Tim Summers (2016) China’s ‘New Silk Roads’: sub-national regions and networks of global political economy, Third World Quarterly, 37:9, 1628-1643, DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2016.1153415
8. Bhoothalingam, R. (2016). “The Silk Road as a Global Brand”, China Report, Volume 52 : 1, pp. 45–52, SAGE Publications Los Angeles/London/New Delhi/Singapore/Washington. DC DOI: 10.1177/0009445515613869
9th February – Topic 2
a) Discuss Anderson’s idea of an imagined community and its relevance to our understanding of the emergence of Asian nation-states.
Essential Reading
1. Anderson, B. (1983). Imagined Communities: The Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London: Verso, pp. 1 – 46.
Other Reading (Choose one to read - discussion on Imagined Communities)
2. Calhoun, C. (2016). The Importance of Imagined Communities – and Benedict Anderson. Debats. Journal on Culture, Power and Society, 1, 11–16.
3. Tiryakian, E.A. (2011) “The Missing Religious Factor in Imagined Communities”, American Behavioral Scientist, Volume: 55 issue: 10, page(s): 1395-1414. https://doi-org.ezlibproxy1.ntu.edu.sg/10.1177/0002764211409563
Case Examples (Read One)
4. Kuah, Khun Eng, (2018). “Maintaining Ethno-Religious Harmony in Social Cultural Engineering and the Singaporean State, Singapore: Springer, pp. 43-62.
5. Tomass, Mark K. (2012). “Religious Identity, Informal Institutions, and the Nation-States of the Near East”. Journal of Economic Issues, Vol. XLV I No. 3. DOI 10.2753/JEI0021-3624460306
6. Goh, Daniel P. S. (2012). “Oriental Purity: Postcolonial Discomfort and Asian Values”. Positions: East Asia Cultures Critique, Volume 20 (4), pp. 1041-1066.
16th February No Tutorial (Chinese New Year public holiday)
23rd February – Topic 3
With reference to your readings and provide empirical examples, discuss the meanings and representations embedded in these two sayings:
a. “the grass is greener over the fence”
b. “it is good to touch the green, green grass of home”
Essential Reading (subdivided into themes)
Migrant adaptations and integration (select one)
1. Liu, H., 2014, “Beyond Co-ethnicity: the politics of differentiating and integrating new immigrants in Singapore”, Ethnic and Racial Studies, vol. 37(7): 1225 – 1238.
2. Accone, D. and Harris, K., 2008, “A Century of Not Belonging – The Chinese in South Africa” in Kuah-Pearce, K.E, and Davidson, A.P. (eds.), At Home in the Chinese Diaspora: Memories, Identities and Belongings , Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 187 – 206.
Reconnecting to Hometown
3. Kuah-Pearce, Khun Eng (2006). “Moralising Ancestors as Socio-moral Capital: A Study of a Transnational Chinese Lineage”. Asian Journal of Social Science, Vol. 34, No. 2, pp. 243-263.
Talent Migrants
4. Huang, Y. & Kuah-Pearce, Khun Eng (2015). “ ‘Talent circulators’ in Shanghai: return migrants and their strategies for success”. Globalisation, Societies and Education, Volume 13(2), pp. 276 – 294. DOI: 10.1080/14767724.2014.934075
5. Qin, F. (2015), “Global talent, local careers: Circular migration of top Indian engineers and professionals”. Research Policy, Vol. 44, pp. 405–420. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2014.08.007
2nd March – Topic 4
a. Discuss the relevance and shortcomings of the Transnational Self in the Chinese Diaspora: A Conceptual Framework in understanding modern day and lifestyle migration. Cite empirical examples
Essential Reading
1. Kuah-Pearce Khun Eng (2006). “Transnational Self in the Chinese Diaspora”. Asian Studies Review (Vol. 30, pp.223-239)
Case Examples
2. Green, P. (2017). “Racial hierarchies and contradictory moral regimes in lifestyle destinations: Older, Western residents in Ubud, Bali”. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, Vol. 26(2), pp. 161–180. DOI: 10.1177/0117196817696505
3. Smith, G. (2012). “Sexuality, space and migration: South Asian gay men in Australia”. New Zealand Geographer, Vol. 68, pp. 92–100. Doi: 10.1111/j.1745-7939.2012.01229.x
5th - 9th March Reading Week
15th March - Topic 5
a) Space is a visible reminder of our past, enables us to live our present and catapult us into the future. Ethnic spaces today are either buzzling with life or withering away as migrants integrate into mainstream society and move out of their ethnic enclaves. With reference to two ethnic towns, discuss the social production of ethnic spaces, the dynamics, tensions and community life within them.
Essential Reading
1. Gottdiener, M. (1985). “Floating Paradigms: The Debate on the Theory of Space” [Chapter 4], in The Social Production of Urban Space , Austin: University of Texas Press, pp.110 – 156. (This is a theoretical piece – you need to put some efforts into reading this piece – quite abstract)
Case Examples
2. Kuah, Khun Eng (1998). State, Conservation And Ethnicization Of Little India In Singapore, Urban Anthropology and Studies of Cultural Systems and World Economic Development, Vol. 27, No. 1, pp. 1-48. [This paper will also appear in Social Cultural Engineering and the Singaporean State (2018). Singapore: Springer, pp. 127 – 152].
3. Anderson, K., 1987, “The Idea of Chinatown: The Power of Place and Institutional Practice in the Making of a Racial Category”, in Annals of the Association of American Geographers , vol. 77 (4):580 – 598.
4. Takagi, P. and Platt, P., 1978, “Behind the Gilded Ghetto: An Analysis of Race, Class, and Crime in Chinatown”, Crime and Social Justice 9, (Spring-Summer 1978): 2–25.
5. Wardhaugh, J., 1996, “‘Homeless in Chinatown’: Deviance and Social Control in Cardboard City” Sociology , 30(4): 701-716.
22nd March – Topic 6
a. What are the various types of capital available for groups, communities and individuals to tap into? Why are they important to them?
b. Discuss how individuals and groups within two different communities operationalise their formal and informal networks.
Essential Reading
1. Bourdieu, P. (1997). “The forms of capital”. In Halsey, A. H., Lauder, H., Brown, P., & Wells, A. S. (eds.), Education: Culture, Economy and Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pp. 46-58.
2. Lin, N., 2001, Social Capital: A Theory of Social Structure and Action , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.19 – 28.
3. Granovetter, M. (1973). The strength of weak ties. American Journal of Sociology, 78, 1360- 1380.
Case Examples
4. King, Ambrose Y.C., "Kuan-hsi and Networking Building: A Sociological Interpretation", pp. 109-126 in Tu, Weiming (ed.), 1994, The Living Tree: The Changing Meaning of Being Chinese Today , Stanford: Stanford University Press, pp. 109 – 126.
5. Adas, E.B. (2009). “Production of Trust and Distrust: Transnational Networks, Islamic Holding Companies and the State in Turkey”, Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 45(4), pp. 625-636.
6. Horak, S. & Taube M. (2016). “Same but different? Similarities and fundamental differences of informal social networks in China (guanxi) and Korea (yongo)”, Asia Pac J Manag, Vol. 33, pp. 595–616. DOI 10.1007/s10490-015-9452-x
7. Uddin, M.J. (2014). “Microcredit and building social capital in rural Bangladesh – drawing the uneasy link”, Contemporary South Asia, Vol. 22 (2), pp. 143–156, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09584935.2014.899979
30 March Good Friday (Public Holiday)
6th April – Topic 7
a) Discuss the strategies used by marginal women to create spaces for themselves through transnational marriages. What are the key problems that they encountered.
Essential Reading
1. Kuah-Pearce, Khun Eng (2004). "Introduction" in Kuah-Pearce (ed.), Chinese Women and Their Social and Network Capitals , Singapore: Marshall Cavendish International, 2004, pp.1-20. (It also appears as "Chinese Women and The Strategy of Social Networking", in Chinese Cross Currents , Special Issue on Success and Values, 2005, 2(2): 70 – 91.
Case Examples (for comparative purposes, select intelligently two of different countries)
2. Oh, J-H & Lee, J-H (2014), “Asian Values, Ethnic Identity, and Acculturation Among Ethnic Asian Wives in South Korea”, Int. Migration & Integration, Vol. 15, pp. 73–91. DOI 10.1007/s12134-012-0269-x
3. Lan, P-C. (2008). “New Global Politics of Reproductive Labor: Gendered Labor and Marriage Migration”, Sociology Compass, Vol. 2(6), pp. 1801–1815. DOI 10.1111/j.1751-9020.2008.00176.x
4. Burgess, C. (2004). “(Re)constructing Identities: International Marriage Migrants as Potential Agents of Social Change in a Globalising Japan”, Asian Studies Review, vol. 28, pp. 223-242. DOI: 10.1080/1035782042000291079
5. Qureshi, K. (2016). “Shehri (city) brides between Indian Punjab and the UK: transnational hypergamy, Sikh women’s agency and gendered geographies of power”, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Vol. 42, No. 7, 1216–1228 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2015.1068107
13th April – Topic 8
a. Discuss Castells’ theoretical blueprint in understanding the network society.
b. With reference to two communities, discuss how social media facilitate the rise of social activism among Asian youths.
Essential Reading
1. Castells, M. (2004). “Informationalism, networks, and the network society: a theoretical blueprint” in Castells, M.. The Network Society : A Cross-Cultural Perspective, Edward Elgar Publishing, pp 3-48.
Case Examples (choose wisely -- two to read)
1. Cassegård, C. (2014). “Lovable Anarchism: Campus Protest in Japan From the 1990s to Today”, Culture Unbound, Volume 6, 2014: 361–382.
2. Kwan, J.P. “The Rise of Civic Nationalism: Shifting Identities in Hong Kong and Taiwan” Contemporary Chinese Political Economy and Strategic Relations: An International Journal, Vol. 2(2), pp. 941-973.
3. Au, A. (2016). “Reconceptualizing Online Free Spaces: A Case Study of the Sunflower Movement”, Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia, Vol. 15, No. 2, pp. 145-161
http://dx.doi.org/10.17477/jcea.2016.15.2.145
4. Pang, L. (2016). “Civil Disobedience and the Rule of Law: Hong Kong's Umbrella Movement”, Verge: Studies in Global Asias, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 170-192.
5. Ho, M. and Jamal, A. (2012). “The Youth and the Arab Spring: Cohort Differences and Similarities, Middle East Law and Governance, Vol. 4, pp. 168–188.
6. Al-Rawi, A.K. (2014). “The Arab Spring and Online Protests in Iraq”, International Journal of Communication, Vol. 8, pp. 916–942.
7. Juris, J.S. (2004). “Networked social movements: global movements for global justice”, Castells, M.. The Network Society : A Cross-Cultural Perspective, Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 341 – 362.
20th April – Topic 9
1) Religion plays an important role in modern society. Today, religious organisations are increasingly becoming socially-engaged in religious philanthropy. Discuss how different religions engaged in religious charity and philanthropy in Asia. Compare and contrast two religions in their delivery of philanthropy.
Case Examples (choose wisely 2 readings)
2. Abul Hasan M. Sadeq, 2002, “Waqf, perpetual charity and poverty alleviation”, International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 29 No. 1/2, pp. 135-151.
3. Huang, C.J. and Weller, R.P., 1998, “Merit and Mothering: Women and Social Welfare in Taiwanese Buddhism”, The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 57, No. 2. (May, 1998), pp. 379-396.
4. “Engendering Buddhist Philanthropy and the Micro-politics of Volunteerism” in Asian Journal of Social Sciences , 2015 (43): 257-275.
5. Kuah-Pearce Khun Eng, 2014, “Understanding Suffering and Doing Compassion: The Reach of Socially Engaged Buddhism into China” in Anthropology and Medicine , April issue, vol. 21(1): 27-42. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13648470.2014.880872]
Topic 10 – The discussion format for this theme will be online blogging.
· Self-reading is essential.
· Students will be required to discuss the questions online.
· Two students will be assigned discussion leaders to kickstart the discussion.
a. What are the characteristics of soft power?
b. With reference to two countries, discuss how the media and popular culture are seen as influential soft power.
Essential Reading
1. Nye, J.S. (2008). “Public Diplomacy and Soft Power” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 616, pp. 94-109.
Case Examples (choose wisely – two to read)
2. Leung, L.Y.M. (2009). “ Daejanggeum as ‘affective mobilization’: lessons for (transnational) popular culture and civil society”, Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, Volume 10, Number 1, pp. 51 – 66. DOI: 10.1080/14649370802605209
3. Liu, K. (2012). “Searching for a New Cultural Identity: China’s soft power and media culture today” Journal of Contemporary China, 21(78), 915–93.
4. Otmazgin, N.K. (2012). “Japan imagined: popular culture, soft power, and Japan’s changing image in Northeast and Southeast Asia”, Contemporary Japan 24 (2012), 1-19. DOI 10.1515/cj-2012-0
5. Heng, Y-K. (2014). “Beyond ‘kawaii’ pop culture: Japan’s normative soft power as global trouble-shooter”, The Pacific Review, Vol. 27, No. 2, 169–192, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09512748.2014.882391
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