Asian Students’ Intercultural Preparation for Academic Mobility: Getting Ready for Diversities or Reproducing the Expected?

Many academic contributions on Asian students abroad focus on their lack of interactions with the local population and their unpreparedness for intercultural encounters. Asian students appear as socially deficient and unfit for the new environment. These assumptions are problematic because they do not take into consideration the input prospective students receive prior to their departure through institutional training and unsupervised research on the host country under the student’s own initiative or a mix of both. Representations are also based on cultural differentialism which locates individuals in distinct, boundary-making categories, thus silencing most forms of individual diversities in the home and host societies. The main question arising thus deals with the kind of input that Asian future mobile students acquire, which is susceptible to impact their intercultural experiences. Data used for this article come from three different sets of interviews with Asian mobile students. Using a critical discourse approach, the discourses of these students are analysed from the perspective of their preparation to move to the host destination. Recurrent othering processes—both from institutional actors and from the students themselves—appear prior to departure, independent of the students’ origin and destination. Rather than blaming students, it would be more significant to look at what materials are available for them prior to their departure.     

Sandeman centenary Luncheon

For many years huge expatriate populations have played a much documented role in the economic development of the Gulf monarchies. But a less well-told story is how expatriates have also contributed to their political stability. As non-citizens their presence in such large numbers has reinforced the elite status of most citizens in the region – an important non-pecuniary legitimacy resource for the various ruling dynasties. Moreover, the primarily employment-driven status of expatriates has meant that they have usually adopted either an apolitical or even prostatus quo stance. In some cases their perceived loyalty has led to selective naturalization or even direct co-option into security services. Disrupting this decades-old relationship, however, have been the recently changing political and economic circumstances of the Gulf monarchies. Already decisions have been made to reduce significantly expatriate populations due to accumulating pressures. Such measures are likely to threaten the historic political advantages the presence of expatriates has provided for these polities.     

Todos juntos: hippies,rock music,and the Popular Unity era

Scholars traditionally have characterized the 1960s and early 1970s as an era of political polarization in Chile stemming from an intensifying rift between those who supported the leftist Popular Unity government (1970–1973) and those who opposed it. While there is little question that this division was the fundamental political axis in Chilean society at that time, it was not the only one. This article traces the development of rock music and culture among Chile’s youth to assert that while Chilean society polarized over the Popular Unity government, an additional segment of society emerged as an additional socio-political pole. During the Popular Unity era, a significant number of Chile’s youth rejected both the political right and left by assertively refraining from taking stances in regards to party platforms or candidates, rejecting those sounds, images, and traditions tied to the right and to the left in favor of an alternative political and cultural orientation tied to rock music and hippie counterculture.     

Experiencing liminality: housing,renting and informal tenants in Astana

ABSTRACT

This article is intended to contribute broadly to research in post-socialist urban studies. Based on ethnographic fieldwork and interviews with ‘newcomers’ to the capital, Astana, from different parts of Kazakhstan, I examine the renting practices of newcomers. I analyse the experiences of newcomers in their new urban milieu of Astana, and try to answer the question of what it means to live in the city for various groups of individuals on a daily basis. I examine the Soviet and post-Soviet housing and the continuities of the Soviet legacy when it comes to the institution of propiska (city registration). I show that living in shared flats is a coping strategy to deal with expensive rents and meant to be a transitory step towards homeownership. For this reason many accept high rents and crowded housing as ‘normal’. Furthermore, I argue that informal renting practices are acceptable mostly for young and single people, who are free to experiment with city life, and are on their way to establishing careers and personal lives. However, elderly newcomers and young families with children who do not wish to live in shared flats, but have to rent, feel ‘homeless’ and trapped in ‘liminal housing’. For them, renting is undesirable, and they feel a sense of incarceration if they fail to secure housing.     

Representation and governance in the Netherlands, 1250–1983: materials for a comprehensive history of politics

SUMMARY

Traditionally political history tells the factual story of those who are in power and of those who want to be, often accompanied by studies of the formal expressions of power in the state and its institutions. During the past two decades this ‘old’ history of politics has been renewed and enriched by research from the perspective of political culture. Both in the Netherlands and abroad pioneering studies of political practices, concepts and styles of leadership have resulted from this new approach. In the next few years this cultural angle in the history of politics will be intensified, for instance in research of the understanding and institutionalization of democracy. The recently established research programme ‘Representation and Governance in the Netherlands’ (RGN) at the Institute of Netherlands History wants to take on board this ‘new’ type of political history as well as the ‘old’ variety in order to facilitate both the efforts of those scholars who want to explain cultural traditions and inherited appreciations in the day-to-day routines of politics as well as the work of historians who want to intensify the study of the formation and reach of the state. The RGN project ventures far back through the ages to explore the historicity of political institutions and bureaucratic procedures by opening up materials for analysing both the culture of governance and the practices of politics. In projects that link up the Middle Ages with the twentieth century, from the administrative organization of the counties of Holland and Zeeland during the Hainault period up to and including the establishment and reform of the constitutional state, sources will be recorded and made accessible. The interaction between society and government, often personified by intermediaries such as office-holders, civil servants, journalists, political advisers and the like, will become visible in the many documents to be edited. Upon their publication these sources will enable future researchers to study not only the history of the governing bodies, but also the role that subjects or citizens played or wished to play in shaping the state.     

At the Edges and on the Margins: Hearing the Voices of Young People in South Pacific Island Countries

Abstract

‘Youth’ are frequently referred to under the mantra of inclusivity in any aid-funded project, development initiative or government–donor initiative in the Pacific region. Indeed, ‘youth’ ranks alongside ‘women/gender’ as a catch term for communicating diversity compliance. But how are ‘youth’ framed and who speaks for this group of people who are not yet adults or are only just adults in law, and yet are beyond the voiceless or barely articulate stage of childhood? This question may be particularly pertinent in cultures such as those found in the Pacific, where the right to speak out is traditionally not afforded to those on the edge of adulthood, and where ‘youth’ for the purposes of inclusive dialogue frequently means people over the age of 20. Although they may seem isolated, the Pacific islands are linked to global, regional and national movements to give young people more voice, to recognise the valuable contributions they can make and to ensure that they are participants in determining their own futures.     

“Leavening British Traditions”: Integration Policy in Australia, 1962–1972

During the period 1962–72 integration replaced assimilation as official government policy in dealing with migrants in Australia. Migrants were now encouraged to incorporate themselves into the dominant Anglo‐Celtic society but also to retain elements of their own culture. The policy emerged in response to the unravelling of Britishness and the incremental dismantling of the White Australia policy as the twin pillars of Australian national identity. The “new nationalism”, which stressed a more independent and home grown Australian image, arose as a possible replacement to British race patriotism towards the end of this period. At the same time whiteness was also broken down.     

俄罗斯国家身份的探寻之旅——詹姆斯·比灵顿的俄国文化研究

詹姆斯·比灵顿是当代西方俄罗斯文化研究的领军人物。通过对他的三部关于俄罗斯文化的经典作品的研究,可以透视他以及受到他影响的西方人眼中的俄罗斯文化。比灵顿坚持跨学科的研究方法,形成了对俄罗斯文化的独特认识:对大自然的特殊感情、东正教信仰及对来自外界新生事物的周期性激情,是塑造俄罗斯文化的三个核心因素;俄罗斯文化的每一种形式都经历着"模仿-创新-摧毁"三个阶段;俄罗斯文化发展与其政治进程具有同构性;白银时代需要高度重视,白银时代的文化成果与苏联时期的文化发展有着紧密的联系。     

Study Abroad Beyond the Usual ‘Imagineering’? The Benefits of a Pedagogy of Imaginaries

This paper problematizes the imagineering of study abroad, especially in terms of set objectives and learning outcomes. The authors propose a shift away from a ‘pure’ cultural and intercultural preparation of mobile students, which tends to ignore the fact that unrealistic expectations and preconceived ideas about study abroad can be as much of a hindrance as e.g. ‘culture shock’. The concept of imaginaries is used to prepare international students, some from Asian countries, to reflect on, discuss and ‘reform’ their perceptions of study abroad. Imaginaries, which are constitutive of human beings living in groups, are of course necessary components of the study abroad experience. The results show that the students are able to deconstruct critically their own as well as others’ doxic discourses on the characteristics of study abroad. Yet at the same time, as one should expect, the students develop new imaginaries on mobility. We argue that by allowing them to develop more counter-narratives about study abroad—and thus multiplying imaginaries—the students can feel more apt to face the complexities and contradictions of the study abroad experience.     

Gender and Homosexuality as a Major Cultural Cleavage

In post‐modern society cultural cleavages are becoming at least as relevant as socio‐economic ones. They can only be properly researched by the survey method, which opens up a whole new area for both micro and macroanalysis. So, first, we pinpoint some of the main problems of research into value orientations. Second, we suggest a new analysis of attitudes towards gender and homosexuality, employing both micro and macro data. One key finding here is that attitudes towards gender and homosexuality are linked at the micro level, which explains some of the saliency of gender and homosexuality as a new emerging cleavage in advanced societies. At the macro level, the main finding is that attitudes towards gender and homosexuality are strongly embedded in cultural or civilisational differences among countries. The evidence suggests therefore that these attitudes do constitute a new cleavage in advanced societies.     

Marktkonstitution durch narrativen Wettbewerb

This paper aims to bridge recent developments in the sociological analysis of culture with that of economic phenomena. I suggest to understand narrative competition as constitutive for market processes and, dually, for the identity formation of market actors. Following a discussion on the sociology of markets, I will point out possible linkages to cultural analyses. I show that stories actors tell on the market provide a linkage for structural and cultural analyses. I examine the main idea of narrative competition using an empirical case study of the emergent market of capital city newspapers at the end of the 1990s in Berlin. The analysis shows that in ongoing disputes about the interpretation of social reality market participants position themselves in the market. The evaluative positioning takes place over time and relationally with other competitors, by which they collaboratively construct the market. The positioning occurs at a time of great uncertainty and demands flexibility. Results nevertheless point to typical patterns of niche formation of market participants.     

MONUMENTALIZING THE EVERYDAY: The Edo-Tokyo Museum

The Edo-Tokyo Museum is both the crowning achievement of the populist historiography of Edo-Tokyo studies and the monumental embodiment of an era of cultural nationalism in Japan. It embodies the perennial tension between the city as home to a unique local culture and the city as a site of state power. The historians who oversaw the design of the exhibits envisioned a celebration of local everyday life, and focused their efforts on narrating the history of a mythic urban folk. A critical walk through the museum reveals three fundamental modes of mythic projection that underwrote this folk narrative: the city of the past as a “world we have lost,” commonplace tools as icons of an essential native culture resisting modernization, and the modern century as a march of progress in everyday life, indexed by ever-improving commodities. Throughout this narrative, the protagonists are the “ordinary people” (shomin) of Edo-Tokyo. In contrast, the building's architect saw the city solely in terms of its national significance and sought to project an image of grandeur suited to the position of Japan as triumphant superpower. No conflict was recognized between the two seemingly contradictory impulses, however, since myths of the everyday, exploited by government as well as academics in these years, promoted the easy fusion of local and national narratives.     

The Voice of (Which?) Africa: Miriam Makeba in America

Throughout her time as a concert singer in 1960s America Miriam Makeba was promoted as the embodied voice of a sonic, imagined Africa. Where her white audiences were attracted to the complete ‘‘otherness’’ of her African blackness, her black American audiences saw themselves – or imagined versions of themselves – put on stage, and built solidarities between their own struggle and the struggle against apartheid. In this essay, I argue that the discourses that followed Makeba’s voice and body reflected the evolving attitudes of America towards Africa, and, through Africa, its contradictory relationship to its own African American citizens. Makeba played on these discourses to craft a political and musical identity in solidarity with black and diasporic causes. This identity, embodied in the persona of ‘‘Mama Africa,’’ allowed Makeba the flexibility to speak to and for her fellow (South) Africans with cultural authority. By joining the oft-opposed positions of ‘‘Africa’’ and ‘‘The World,’’ Makeba became what I’m calling an African Cosmopolitan.     

Asian Tiger Enters the Land of Diversity: Cultural Adaptations for South Korean Businesses in India

‘Come, Make in India’, India’s Prime Minister has invited global firms to invest and manufacture in India and also to promote exports. As with this campaign, India has given a scope of promising growth to the companies which is also been seen to solve India’s multiple economic problems. Many countries have shown their interest to invest in India and one of them is South Korea. Now the question arises whether companies from South Korea in this competitive environment can mark their presence in India—a nation of cultural diversity, which can affect the initial start-ups, if ignored. Apart from the historical cultural ties, there are cross-cultural differences between South Korea and India. So, this paper aims to build up a study that brings together the parity and cross-cultural differences between South Korea and India. The paper opens with the discussion about the various historical, cultural and poetic relations to describe the scenario between the two countries, whereas for the analysis, a macro-meso-micro framework has been used to answer the research question. The three-level analysis helps this paper to see the overlooked influence of culture from a broader perspective. The results of the study reveal a list of cultural adaptations suited for South Korean start-ups to run businesses in India by avoiding the cultural threats and contribute to the existing literature. The study findings could be used by companies, marketers and practitioners to devise and re-vamp their strategies in India, and it will also serve as a cultural guide for them.     

Melbourne (1835–1927): The Birth of a Music City

Music heritage in cities has become a significant area of interest in the twenty-first century because it is linked to profitable music tourism and a growing cultural economy. Melbourne, the Victorian state capital, is used as a case study; in March 2013, the city was unofficially crowned Australia’s music capital because it, at the time, had the most music venues and a vibrant music economy. However, this paper argues that this identification is somewhat ahistorical for two reasons. Firstly, it leaves out the colonial and gold rush prehistory of Melbourne’s music culture. Secondly, it omits the critical recognition of Melbourne’s (and Australia’s) first international music superstar exports, such as opera diva Dame Nellie Melba (nee Helen Porter Mitchell), who was named after her home town of Melbourne, and pianist prodigy and composer Percy (Aldridge) Grainger. Drawing on a textual analysis of government policies, economic reports, and the work of historians, musicologists and journalists, this paper synergises the history of Melbourne’s music culture from its colonial beginnings in 1835, until 1927, when the city was no longer Australia’s political capital. It identifies four early stages of Melbourne’s musical development, which laid the foundations for iconic music venues, Australia’s first opera company, music entrepreneurs, and the initial nurturing of the nation’s first music superstars in Melba and Grainger.     

"Culture up to our Arseholes": Projecting Post-Imperial Australia

In December 1967, Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt announced his Government's intention to establish an ambitious new Council for funding the visual and performing Arts in Australia. Holt had formed the view that Australian culture was fundamentally deficient— that urgent measures (and money) were needed to project a more distinctive, mature, and culturally sophisticated Australian image at home and abroad. His ambition was taken up by his successor, John Gorton, who set up the Australian Council for the Arts in 1968 and its stablemate, the Australian Film Development Corporation. This essay considers the rationale behind the new government schemes to promote national culture, and argues that these processes need to be understood in terms of the demise of British emblems of civic identity and belonging in the 1960s. It examines the dilemmas faced by those charged with the task of projecting a distinctive new face of Australian culture for a post-imperial age. While there was a broad consensus about the need for a "new nationalism" in cultural policy, there was little agreement as to what that policy should entail. The idea of "Australian content" proved notoriously difficult to pin down, and aroused scepticism as to whether Australia could ever live up to the aesthetic standards of "real nationhood"—a scepticism that was most vividly conveyed by Barry McKenzie's typically crass observation that "back in Oz now we've got culture up to our arseholes".     

Can spirits play a role in peace and reconciliation projects? Perspectives on traditional reconciliation in Zimbabwe

ABSTRACT

There is a long history of spirit-oriented systems of reconciliation and healing in Zimbabwe. However, under white rule, this work was marginalised and driven underground. In Zimbabwe today, diverse views on reconciliation, reparation, justice and national healing are producing rich but frequently conflicted initiatives around ‘traditional’ and ‘community’ reconciliation. The article considers contradictions and pressures facing the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission and different approaches to ‘spirit-led’ trauma healing work from three grassroots organisations: Heal Zimbabwe; Tree of Life; and the Centre for Conflict Management and Transformation. It indicates how religious, cultural and political affiliations influence participants’ openness to traditional and spirit-led forms of reconciliation; and how this, in turn, constrains how perpetrators, victims and reparation are defined by those working in this field. Rather than identifying specific practices as ‘authentic’ traditions, the article suggests that a continuity of community/cultural approaches can inform contemporary national healing initiatives in Zimbabwe.     

The Prisoner Dilemma: Britain,Germany, and the Repatriation of Indian Prisoners of War

Abstract

Between October 1914 and December 1915, nearly 135,000 Indian riflemen—known as sepoys—fought in the trenches of France and Belgium at the battles of Ypres, Festubert, Givenchy, Neuve Chapelle, Second Ypres and Loos, suffering some 34,252 casualties. At a prisoner of war camp outside Berlin, Indian revolutionaries and emissaries from the Ottoman Empire attempted to convert the allegiances of the sepoys in their custody with a combination of pan-Islamic and nationalist appeals. Although this campaign ultimately failed, it profoundly shaped British repatriation policy at the end of the war when, cautioned Secretary of State for India Austen Chamberlain, the British could not allow men who had been exposed to ‘strongly hostile influences’ to return home unmonitored. The 1918 armistice and British repatriation policy therefore presented a host of new challenges to Britain’s colonial subjects from South Asia as they navigated the post-war imperial landscape and secured what was most important to them—safe transportation home.     

Is All Politics Indeed Local? A Comparative Study of Dual Mandate‐Holders’ Role Attitudes and Behaviours in Parliament

The practice of dual mandate‐holding, i.e. the simultaneous occupation of a political mandate at the (sub)national and the local level, is understudied in the comparative literature. Dual mandate‐holders embody the most direct link between local and central government, yet research has disregarded whether these actors actually feel and act as local ambassadors in parliament. In this article, we study whether councillors in parliament feel responsive for local grievances in terms of their respective role attitudes and behaviour, using the PARTIREP Comparative MP Survey. The estimated regression models demonstrate that dual mandate‐holders indeed perceive themselves as local brokers, even when controlling for various systemic‐, party‐ and individual‐level factors. On the other hand, they struggle to translate their localized attitudes into localized parliamentary behaviour, which could call one of the main arguments in favour of dual mandate‐holding into question.