Contract in My Soup: Chinese Contract Formation and Ritual Eating and Drunkenness

Szto, Mary

doi:10.2139/ssrn.2148829

Cited by 3 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…The fact that the expatriates had very limited social lives in Ethiopia made participating in interviews a past-time activity. "Talking whilst eating/drinking" is also an important element of Chinese social culture for relationship cultivation and information-sharing (Szto, 2013). Once I asked a Chinese manager, in his office, about the company's tactics to manage local discontent.…”

Section: System Of Power At Workplacementioning

confidence: 99%

Negotiating Chineseness: Incorporating critical reflection into workplace research on Chinese investment in Ethiopia

Fei

2020

Area

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Critical geographic reflection on researcher subjectivity is inadequately practised by scholars studying workplaces, especially those involving emerging powers from the global south. In the context of growing Chinese investment in Africa, this paper reflects on the negotiation of my Chineseness during multi-sited research on capital-labour and expatriate-local relations in three Chinese companies in Ethiopia. It examines the nexus of identity, power, and place to shape my fieldwork process at three stages: seeking access to the enclosed space of companies, building credibility in front of different groups of participants, and arranging interviews in the particular socio-spatial contexts of the workplace. Specifically, I explain the enabling and problematic nature of my Chinese identity when intersectioned with my multiple subjective positions as a US-based female student-researcher. I elaborate how my engagements with expatriates and locals are influenced by the existing system of power relations in Chinese companies. I demonstrate that the place of interview can generate crucial insights into management practices and work relations, and facilitate researcher autonomy and employee agency to momentarily revert the power relations in the workplace. My field experiences highlight the importance of critical reflection to assist researchers to navigate the layered complexity and unexpectancy of doing fieldwork.

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Section: System Of Power At Workplacementioning

confidence: 99%

Negotiating Chineseness: Incorporating critical reflection into workplace research on Chinese investment in Ethiopia

Fei

2020

Area

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“…Jiu (alcohol) is inextricably linked to Chinese culture, and many Chinese believe that moderate consumption of alcohol is healthy and improves social relationships [ 7 ]. Alcohol is seen as a representation of happiness [ 5 ]; has cultural associations with career advancement and prosperity [ 4 ], and is an important element of business negotiations [ 8 ]. Alcohol consumption often occurs as part of complex toasting rituals at family, business and community meal gatherings and Chang [ 9 ] and others [ 8 ] have argued that consumption of alcohol in this context is central to the development and maintenance of relationships.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Alcohol is seen as a representation of happiness [ 5 ]; has cultural associations with career advancement and prosperity [ 4 ], and is an important element of business negotiations [ 8 ]. Alcohol consumption often occurs as part of complex toasting rituals at family, business and community meal gatherings and Chang [ 9 ] and others [ 8 ] have argued that consumption of alcohol in this context is central to the development and maintenance of relationships. According to Hwang [ 10 ], in Chinese culture effective relationships may help people maintain “psychological homeostasis” (p.171), and navigate systems of government and gain access to resources.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to Hwang [ 10 ], in Chinese culture effective relationships may help people maintain “psychological homeostasis” (p.171), and navigate systems of government and gain access to resources. Drinking may therefore perform important social and business functions for many Chinese, which may impact attempts by others to limit consumption [ 5 , 8 , 9 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Historically, baijiu was the drink of choice at ritualised drinking parties through which individuals sought to establish and strengthen social ties, and attain creative and spiritual development [ 15 ]. Today, it remains popular in social situations such as the abovementioned toasting rituals at business, community and family meal gatherings through which personal and business relationships may be fostered and maintained [ 8 , 13 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Relationships between consumption patterns, health beliefs, and subjective wellbeing in Chinese Baijiu consumers

Metcalf

Saliba

McKenzie³

et al. 2021

Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy

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Background Alcohol consumption in China has increased rapidly, and there have been calls for policies and programs to address the issue. Alcohol plays a complex and important role in Chinese culture, where it is considered a symbol of happiness and is associated with wellbeing. Alcohol reduction policies may fail unless they take these cultural and social meanings of alcohol, and its relationship to wellbeing into consideration. Baijiu is a clear fermented spirit that is widely consumed in China and has strong cultural associations with health, wellbeing and prosperity. There is a lack of research on how consumption patterns relate to cultural beliefs and subjective wellbeing. Methods An online survey of n = 1992 Chinese adults was conducted to determine frequency and volume of baijiu consumed; beliefs about health benefits and traditional importance; and associations with subjective wellbeing. Results Higher frequency and volume consumed were associated with higher subjective wellbeing, controlling for age and income. We also found small to medium significant associations between consumption frequency and volume and: belief that baijiu is healthy; and that tradition dictated they should drink baijiu. Conclusions The traditional and health values placed on baijiu, and its association with wellbeing, may help inform policy developments and alcohol reduction campaigns.

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Leveraging shark‐fin consumer preferences to deliver sustainable fisheries

Zhou

Booth

et al. 2021

CONSERVATION LETTERS

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At least one third of sharks and their cartilaginous relatives (Class Chondrichthyes) meet the IUCN Red List Criteria for being threatened with extinction. Overfishing is the primary threat, with less than 4% of the world's shark catches managed for sustainability. The high-value shark-fin trade has gained the greatest attention as a conservation issue, yet there has been little research on shark-fin consumer preferences, and how these might be leveraged to deliver sustainability goals. We used an online discrete choice experiment to explore preferences for price, quality, rarity, and finning among 2914 shark-fin soup consumers in China. Overall, consumers prefer higher priced and rare shark-fins, obtained without finning, yet we found three distinct groups with substantial heterogeneity between them. Our results provide evidence for the conspicuous consumption nature of shark-fin use, but also suggest these preferences could be leveraged to incentivize responsible shark fishing. In addition, messaging for future unsustainable demand reduction should focus on shark-finning and animal welfare as opposed species rarity and extinction.

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Contract in My Soup: Chinese Contract Formation and Ritual Eating and Drunkenness

Cited by 3 publications

References 20 publications

Negotiating Chineseness: Incorporating critical reflection into workplace research on Chinese investment in Ethiopia

Negotiating Chineseness: Incorporating critical reflection into workplace research on Chinese investment in Ethiopia

Relationships between consumption patterns, health beliefs, and subjective wellbeing in Chinese Baijiu consumers

Leveraging shark‐fin consumer preferences to deliver sustainable fisheries

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