Home Away From Home: The Social and Political Roles of Contemporary Chinese Associations in Zambia

Li, Hangwei; Shi, Xuefei

doi:10.1177/1868102620907224

Cited by 9 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…For Chinese private investors, formal and informal associations of Chinese living in Zambia are much more important when it comes to day-to-day business activities (Li & Shi 2020). As demonstrated by Li (2022), WeChat – a Chinese multi-purpose messaging, social media and mobile payment app – has undoubtedly become the most important communication channel for Chinese migrants in Zambia.…”

Section: The Chinese Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development studies meet Pierre Bourdieu: the case of Chinese Private FDI in Zambia

Polus,

2023

J. Mod. Afr. Stud.

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Inspired by Bourdieu's field theory and utilising the case of Zambia, this article aims to enhance the understanding of the intricate relationship between Chinese private investors and sub-Saharan state institutions. The study proposes an epistemological framework that integrates sociological, anthropological and neo-institutional approaches to development studies. Through extensive fieldwork and over 75 interviews with both Chinese and Zambian stakeholders, we explore various contexts in which group-actors related to foreign capital in Zambia operate. We argue that three separate habiti – inhabited by the Zambian political class, Chinese investors and ‘ordinary’ Zambians – are crucial for comprehending private foreign capital operations in this sub-Saharan state. The ordinary Zambians and Zambian political class fields converge primarily during elections, while interactions between ordinary Zambians and Chinese investors have remained very limited (predominantly employee–employer relations), creating an ideational structure of hostility. In contrast, the Zambian political class and Chinese private investor fields crosscut and are mutually constitutive.

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Section: The Chinese Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development studies meet Pierre Bourdieu: the case of Chinese Private FDI in Zambia

Polus,

2023

J. Mod. Afr. Stud.

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“…Furthermore, the establishment of migrant communities in Africa occurs in existing Chinatowns and, also, places with few Chinese. Chinese associations, founded by Chinese migrants with extensive connections to China, occupy an essential role creating ‘home away from home’ (Li & Shi, 2019). Rather than being by‐products of exclusion, the contemporary associations self‐consciously provide organization within the destination country, promulgate Chinese culture and values within the local society and maintain unity with the home country.…”

Section: The Chinese Presence In Africa a Current Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

Emerging China–Africa relations in the context of increasing mobility – The Chinese presence in Africa from a historical and current perspective

Huynh

2021

International Migration

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Since the 2000s, when the Chinese presence in Africa is mentioned, 'the Chinese' no longer refers only to the people, whether they are ethnic Chinese holding non-Chinese passports or Chinese nationals living overseas, but also to the current deeds of the Chinese state. China's strengthened position on the global stage conflates the term with the state. The conflation is clearest in the context of China-Africa relations. The title of Tubei's (2018) article in the Business Insider South Africa, '10 massive projects the Chinese are funding in Africa', presents an example of such conflation. What Tubei means by 'the Chinese' is the state. When 'the Chinese' does refer to the people, they are portrayed as state agents -'colonists'', in French's (2014) China's Second Continent. According to French, there are one million plus Chinese migrants, settling or becoming long-term residents in just a decade's time, nearly everywhere across Africa. Furthermore, these 'ordinary Chinese', who have penetrated every conceivable walk of life, from farming to prostitution, are 'China's export'. French's assertions fuel a neo-colonial view of China, treat Chinese mobility as exceptional and undermine the people's agency as well as history in Africa.In this commentary, I address the importance of distinguishing between the Chinese state and Chinese people who, as part of their livelihood strategy, are sojourning or making Africa their home. For the Chinese people who have lived in South Africa for a number of years (or generations), livelihood matters range from economic prospects to political autonomy, access to clean air and a different pace of life. Their current presence on the continent is part of a longer and broader history of mobility, connected to nineteenth-century British imperial exploitations of both Africa and Asia and to later neo-liberal policies. As significantly, distinguishing between the Chinese state and Chinese people is not only necessary against the backdrop of rising Sinophobia, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, but also it is important to do so to recognize substantial changes within the diaspora, beyond the increasing number of Chinese in Africa, in terms of gender, class and regional compositions that complicate notions of 'Chineseness'. The latter is now entangled with and defined through the Chinese state's efforts, as discussed below.

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“…Furthermore, competition in the gambling business is not as fierce as in South Africa. 48 Stronger relations between Zambia and China, as well as loose structures on labour, led to an increase from a mere 3,000 Chinese migrant workers in the 1990s to 30,000-50,000 in 2019 (Li and Shi 2020). Chinese onsite casinos receive no financial incentives from the policy banks, central or provincial government, or other state-oriented programs.…”

Section: Zambian Onsite Casinosmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chinese Workers and Their “Linguistic Labour”: Philippine Online Gambling and Zambian Onsite Casinos

Camba¹,

Li²

2020

chinaperspectives

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Home Away From Home: The Social and Political Roles of Contemporary Chinese Associations in Zambia

Cited by 9 publications

References 27 publications

Development studies meet Pierre Bourdieu: the case of Chinese Private FDI in Zambia

Development studies meet Pierre Bourdieu: the case of Chinese Private FDI in Zambia

Emerging China–Africa relations in the context of increasing mobility – The Chinese presence in Africa from a historical and current perspective

Chinese Workers and Their “Linguistic Labour”: Philippine Online Gambling and Zambian Onsite Casinos

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