Between positionality and nudging: A rising China and Chinese voluntary associations in Southeast Asia

Abstract

Drawing upon cases studies from Southeast Asia, especially Singapore and Malaysia, this article addresses the following questions pertaining to the rise of China and its impact upon Chinese voluntary associations (CVAs) in the region over the past two decades. By employing theoretical insights of positionality, nudging and de‐territorialisation and by focusing on various strategies pursued respectively by CVAs and the state, we conclude: (i) the growing economic ties between China and Southeast Asia serve as the platform through which the reconstruction of the CVAs take place; (ii) the reconstitution of the CVAs has been significantly driven by their own initiatives to compete in a new economy, in which knowledge of and connection with a rising China as an expanding market and a culture has advantages; (iii) the states in both China and Southeast Asia have played a part in the reconfiguration of the CVAs, motivated by their respective political and economic agendas; and (iv) it is imperative to go beyond the conventional approaches in understanding CVAs (internal structure and external connections) that have dominated much of the existing literature; and we argue that it is in the interactions and intersections between the internal dynamics and external political economy that a new type of CVAs has emerged.

Diasporic Chinese voluntary associations engage China's rise

“…This is evident not only in the revitalisation of existing CVAs but also in the establishment of new ones, especially those founded by new Chinese migrants (Xinyimin) who left China after China's opening up and market reform launched in 1978. Based on their empirical studies conducted in Singapore and Malaysia, Liu and Ren (2023) document that diasporic Chinese voluntary associations display four new structural characteristics, including the revitalisation of locality associations, the emergence of new migrants' pan-China associations, the internal reorganisation of Chinese associations, and the flourishing of business associations. The structural reconfiguration of CVAs, as they argue, is largely an outcome of the growing economic ties between China and Southeast Asia at a time of China rising and especially the launching of BRI.…”

“…This can involve a process of deterritorialisation in which the mandate of a given CVA gets disembedded from the specific ethnic politics of its social organisation and broadened to represent a larger community thereby increasing its social relevance and inclusion in a multicultural society. Liu and Ren's (2023) study shows this most clearly by describing the strategies through which CVAs are working together with non-ethnic Chinese community partners and also advocating for issues beyond those articulated by the only one local ethnic community. They suggest that this is a 'nudging dynamic' (Liu and Ren, 2023) in which CVAs respond to state mandates for multiracial and multicultural collaboration.…”

“…Liu and Ren's (2023) study shows this most clearly by describing the strategies through which CVAs are working together with non-ethnic Chinese community partners and also advocating for issues beyond those articulated by the only one local ethnic community. They suggest that this is a 'nudging dynamic' (Liu and Ren, 2023) in which CVAs respond to state mandates for multiracial and multicultural collaboration. This strategic positioning, giving rise to new structural characteristics of CVAs, reflects the changing and expanding needs to the CVAs and the ways they reposition themselves in the new era and reconstruct their relations with local societies to cope with challenges from a rising China and anxiety from the local states.…”

Negotiating China's rise: The dynamics of Chinese business associations and the Belt and Road Initiative in Brunei Darussalam

“…In Southeast Asia, where the largest Chinese diaspora reside, the unprecedented business opportunities presented by the BRI provided a turning point to many Chinese associations that were experiencing a phaseout (see Ren andLiu, 2021, Liu andRen, 2023). From being just a cultural space for the preservation of ethnic identity among the Chinese diaspora (Hertzman, 2022), Chinese associations have also become a commercial space for Chinese business elites to capitalise on the ascending economic opportunities offered by China.…”

Dual‐facing bridges and brokers: Diaspora politics and Chinese voluntary associations

“…Expanding and deepening our understanding of how Chinese voluntary associations navigate the demands placed on them at both ends of the spectrum (e.g. see Liu and Ren, 2023;Zhang, in press;Liang and Zhou, 2023) is particularly important in contemporary times given China's growing political and economic clout globally, as well as the potentially distrustful way in which such associations (especially the newer ones) may be viewed by domestic publics in their countries of settlement.…”