Introduction: Chinese in Africa

Park, Yoon Jung; Huynh, Tu T.

doi:10.1163/156921010x515923

Cited by 15 publications

(9 citation statements)

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“…With Africa's largest number of South African born Chinese, who belong to different communities, South Africa offers unique insights into the processes of integration, alienation, and influence on its fulfilment of foreign and economic needs (Yap, 1996;Park and Tu, 2010). While the diaspora has created important societal links with South Africans over decades, ranging from cultural to economic ones, the most recent migration wave, which started at the beginning of the 21 st century, has given rise to "divided views on what being "Chinese means" (Alden and Wu, 2014:27) and has impacted on both relations with locals and those within the diaspora.…”

Section: The China Monitormentioning

confidence: 99%

The effectiveness of Confucius Institutes as a tool of China’s soft power in South Africa

Procopio

2015

AEAA

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The link between teaching Chinese as a foreign language and the role of China on the international stage has grown in importance since 2004 when the Confucius Institutes programme was launched. Despite the confusion that surrounds the categorisation of the relationship, Chinese circles increasingly consider the language institutes as a tool of soft power in "support of the rise of China". The paper analyses the meaning of "cultural" soft power and attempts to measure its effectiveness in support of China's foreign policy aims through the study of Confucius Institutes in South Africa. Based on fieldwork data, the paper unpacks the reality on the ground through a study of the process of attraction at the executive level as well as at the students' level. It concludes that Confucius Institutes, despite attempts by a number of Chinese actors to promote their presence and activities in South Africa, can only be partially effective tools of soft power. Focusing on the modalities, as opposed to the breadth, of the engagement provides a more accurate prediction of long-term outcomes. While the initiative's aim of exposing people to China, albeit briefly, is 99

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Section: The China Monitormentioning

confidence: 99%

The effectiveness of Confucius Institutes as a tool of China’s soft power in South Africa

Procopio

2015

AEAA

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“…And as Adem (2010) illustrates, relationships-such as those between China and commodity-poor African countries such as Ethiopia, Liberia, and Somalia-are far more complex and multidimensional than mere trade (p. 337). As Park and Huynh (2010) suggest, "each African country plays an active role in attracting capital and people" from China (p. 209).…”

Section: Weak Statementioning

confidence: 99%

“…If China is to be labeled as the new colonial power on the block, this cannot be on the basis of ill-defined, emotive, or rhetorical notions of imperialism and its guises, a trend that is already evident. As Park and Huynh (2010) have observed, "the discourse on Africa-China . .…”

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confidence: 95%

“…If China is to be labeled as the new colonial power on the block, this cannot be on the basis of ill‐defined, emotive, or rhetorical notions of imperialism and its guises, a trend that is already evident. As Park and Huynh () have observed, “the discourse on Africa‐China … has largely been framed by superficial understandings of western capitalist expansions and exploitation” (p. 208). This has resulted, they argue, in “rumours, speculation and misperceptions” (2010, p. 208).…”

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If the Hat Fits: Revisiting Chinese “Neo‐Imperialism” in Africa From a Comparative Historical Perspective

Hadland

2012

Asian Politics and Policy

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The debate on whether China's relationship with Africa can be characterized as “neo‐imperialist” has focused primarily on the features of the contemporary engagement. This has polarized the field. The debate has not yet made systematic reference to the mechanisms of imperialism through which the original “scramble for Africa” was carried out by colonial powers at the turn of the 20th century. This article carries out this historical comparison, contrasting the imperial partition of Africa around 1880–1914 with current Sino‐African relations. It is evident that there are many similarities, from the multiple agendas of the actors and the role of compradors through to patterns of investment and financing. The article raises questions, however, concerning the utility of the concept of “neo‐imperialism” given its implicit negativity.

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“…Moreover, while the Chinese South Africans had a national and racial "identity crisis" (Park 2008a(Park , 2008b(Park , 2009(Park , 2010, such sentiment is not evident among firstgeneration Chinese im/migrants who arrived after 1990. Their concern about identity has less to do with a sense of self-identity and more to do with the popular perception in South African society that "Chinese are rich" or "Chinese carry around loads of cash,"…”

Section: Challenges Of Translationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intra-Migrant Economy: Chinese Restaurant Entrepreneurship and Zimbabwean Migrant Workers In South Africa

Liu¹

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South Africa is "home" to the two largest populations of foreign nationals on the African continent. Its Chinese population numbers at least 300,000, and its Zimbabwean population, the largest outside of Zimbabwe, numbers at least one million. Many of these migrants end up working in Chinese restaurants as this is, by and large, a low-wage, lowskill, and low-barrier-to-entry sector. Based on original ethnographic research conducted in Johannesburg for fourteen months, this dissertation explores the cultural politics of diasporic entrepreneurs and migrant labourers, what I call the "intra-migrant economy," among everyday racialized insecurities in urban South Africa. I use the term "intramigrant economy" to refer to the employment of one or more group of migrants by another group of migrants as an economic strategy outside the mainstream labour market. With little capital, Chinese restaurant owners are able to maximize profit through cheap Zimbabwean labourers, while Zimbabweans can easily obtain jobs without proper procedure or formal training. Through exploring the structure of this sector, and the complex economic realities of and working relationships between Chinese and Zimbabwean migrants, I examine how the migrant and economic flows are negotiated and localized in South Africa's market, which also provides a concrete case study of intercultural (mis)communication.Anthropologists have paid attention to how economic practices are intertwined and embedded in historical, political, and cultural systems. This dissertation suggests that not only are these factors intertwined but they also reinforce each other. The intramigrant economy is thus more than a story about migrants' economic hardships; it is also a reflection on two migrant groups who are linguistically and culturally different, the social structures that create their exploitation, and how they construct informal labour relations and cope with wider forms of uncertainty in one of the most notably racialized states in history. ACKNOWLDEGEMENTFirst and foremost, I would like to thank my research participants for telling me their stories and sharing their restaurant life with me. I am especially grateful for those who fed me with their homemade food, invited me to their homes, gave me a ride when my car broken down, introduced me to more research participants, and shared their hopes and fears with me.

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Introduction: Chinese in Africa

Cited by 15 publications

References 0 publications

The effectiveness of Confucius Institutes as a tool of China’s soft power in South Africa

The effectiveness of Confucius Institutes as a tool of China’s soft power in South Africa

If the Hat Fits: Revisiting Chinese “Neo‐Imperialism” in Africa From a Comparative Historical Perspective

Intra-Migrant Economy: Chinese Restaurant Entrepreneurship and Zimbabwean Migrant Workers In South Africa

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