China's Search for Cultural and National Identity from the Nineteenth Century to the Present

Meissner, Werner

doi:10.4000/chinaperspectives.3103

Cited by 34 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Although it initially relied heavily on the West as a benchmark of success, since the turn of the twenty‐first century, China has adopted a more aggressive and assertive approach to nation‐building, defining its own values and perspective (i.e. the China model), with Chinese national identity prescribed under the ‘One‐China policy’, which manifests itself in the unification of different races and ethnicities, including Tibetans and Uyghurs, as well as the Taiwanese, Hongkongers and Macanese (Cheung ; Meissner ).…”

Section: Division and The Post‐1990s Queer/tongzhi Generationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transnational queer sociological analysis of sexual identity and civic‐political activism in Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China

Kong

2019

British Journal of Sociology

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The sociology of homosexuality lacks engagement with queer theory and postcolonialism and focuses primarily on the global metropoles, thus failing to provide a plausible account of non‐Western non‐normative sexual identities. This research adopts the author’s newly proposed transnational queer sociology to address these deficiencies. First, it critiques the Western model of sexual identity predominantly employed to elucidate non‐Western, non‐normative sexualities. It does so by examining not only the queer flows between West and non‐West but also those among and within non‐Western contexts to produce translocally shared and mutually referenced experiences. Second, the proposed approach combines sociology with queer theory by emphasizing the significant role of material, as well as discursive, analyses in shaping queer identities, desires and practices. This article employs the approach to examine young gay male identities, as revealed in 90 in‐depth interviews conducted in Hong Kong (n = 30), Taiwan (Taipei, n = 30) and mainland China (Shanghai, n = 30) between 2017 and 2019. More specifically, it highlights the interplay between the state and identity by investigating the intersection and intertwining effects of these young men’s sexual and cultural/national identities, revealing three different forms of civic‐political activism. The article both demonstrates the way in which sexuality and the state are mutually constituted and provides nuanced analysis of the heterogeneity of contemporary homosexualities in Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China. In applying a new sociological approach to understanding sexuality, this research joins the growing body of scholarship within sociology that is decentring the Western formation of universal knowledge.

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Section: Division and The Post‐1990s Queer/tongzhi Generationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transnational queer sociological analysis of sexual identity and civic‐political activism in Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China

Kong

2019

British Journal of Sociology

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“…On account of its long historical presence and role of structuration of Chinese society, Confucianism was favored by many to represent Chineseness. Attempts were even made to set up Confucianism as the exclusive national religion (Duara 1995;Goossaert and Palmer 2011;Jensen 1997;Meissner 2006). The New Life Movement sponsored by Chiang Kai-shek's Republican government (1934)(1935)(1936)(1937)(1938)(1939)(1940)(1941)(1942)(1943)(1944)(1945)(1946)(1947)(1948)(1949) sought to rehabilitate Confucian values and moral standards and inculcate them in people's everyday life on the grounds that Confucianism embodied Chinese national essence (Duara 1995).…”

Section: Symbolic Boundaries Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Meanwhile, much has happened in the heartland of Mainland China that might have made people accustomed to relating religion to national identity in this rapidly modernizing country. The postsocialist party‐state has downplayed communist ideology and resorted to traditional Chinese culture as symbolic resources for legitimacy and national solidarity (Meissner ; Potter ; Wu ). Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism are redeemed—albeit not without caution on the part of the Chinese government—as essential elements of the Chinese cultural tradition and constitutive of the Chinese identity (Billioud and Thoraval ; Ji ; Meissner ; Sun ; Wu ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contesting Chineseness: An Examination of Religion and National Identity in Mainland China

Jun

Gao

2018

Scientific Study of Religion

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For citizens of many countries around the world, religion is a necessary—though often contested—component of their national identity. From the vantage point of the symbolic boundaries approach, we argue that the Chinese government and various other social actors are in contestation to define “Chineseness” in religious terms. Using data from the 2007 Spiritual Life Study of Chinese Residents, this study explores the extent to which religion functions as a constitutive part of Chinese national identity. We find that the effectiveness of the Chinese government's demarcation of the symbolic boundaries around Chineseness related to religion varies across religious groups. Believers of each religion are likely to be strong advocates for their own religion's connection to Chinese national identity. Among the religions, traditional Chinese religions tend to demonstrate a stronger affinity with one another than with Christianity. Daoists are a particularly strong contestant in aligning Daoism with Chineseness, to the extent that they discredit the other religions’ suitability for the Chinese. We discuss the implications of these findings and point out directions for future research.

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“…Many scholars argue modern notions of race in contemporary China emerged after the Opium Wars with a shift in governmental reasoning (Dikotter, ; Meissner, ; Sigley, ). During this time, they argue, nationality became equated with race and produced a construction of the Han race (90% of Chinese population) as a way to resist foreign power and influence, minimize internal divisions, legitimize Chinese sovereignty (Sigley, 1998), and foster identification with the nation state (Oakes & Schein, ).…”

Section: Sociohistorical Context Of Racial Thinking In Chinamentioning

confidence: 99%

The Politics of Racism: Constructions of African Immigrants in China on ChinaSMACK

Pfafman

Carpenter

Tang

2015

Communication, Culture & Critique

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The purpose of this study is to identify the politics of Chinese netizens' racism toward Africans on the website, ChinaSMACK. Critical and grounded theory analysis reveals that racism on ChinaSMACK (a) is triggered by perceived threats to identity, economic stability, and State fidelity; (b) exists in a paradoxical relationship with globalization; and (c) perpetuates sexist attitudes toward women. We conclude that racism functions politically to disguise criticism of the government, scapegoat Africans for social problems, and obscure netizens' role in perpetuating social inequality.

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China's Search for Cultural and National Identity from the Nineteenth Century to the Present

Cited by 34 publications

References 5 publications

Transnational queer sociological analysis of sexual identity and civic‐political activism in Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China

Transnational queer sociological analysis of sexual identity and civic‐political activism in Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China

Contesting Chineseness: An Examination of Religion and National Identity in Mainland China

The Politics of Racism: Constructions of African Immigrants in China on ChinaSMACK

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