2007 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Reconstruction of Ethnicity among the Asians in the Caribbean- Globalization and Creolization
| Project/Area Number |
16310162
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Area studies
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| Research Institution | Kobe University |
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Principal Investigator |
SHIBATA Yoshiko Kobe University, Graduate School of Intercultural Studies, Professor (30183891)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2004 – 2007
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| Keywords | Caribbean societies / globalization / creolization / ethnicity / diasporas / transnationalism / Asians / Chinese |
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| Research Abstract |
I focused on the most neglected Chinese among the Asians in the Caribbean studies, hence my research contribution to the said area studies both at home and abroad. I have clarified bow their ethnicity has been re-vitalized and how they have contributed to the local society especially with the 150^th anniversary of their arrival, through participant-observations in their special events and lives and both intensive and extensive interviews for many local-born Chinese, who have speedily advanced themselves in socio-economic fields. With the Chinese Open Door policy with reformation since the 1980s, coincided with Jamaica's changed policies to economic liberalization, young Chinese laborers swarmed into the Free Zone factories. Traditional types of migrants through kin networks have also continued. Both movements have greatly challenged the local Chinese community, of which aspects and dynamism I could research on. Especially important was the re-organization of the long-pending Chinese Cemetery, which became desolate through the 70s' radicalization of Jamaica's political economy, which caused 'exodus' of the 'haves' to overseas. It has been possible with the latest knowledge and technology (esp. IT) and transnational diasporic networks of finance connecting generations. Such movements have shown different aspects of macro-scale globalization and micro-level creolization of the mainstream Afro-Creoles, which provide significant examples of differences in glocalization, diaspora studies and transnationalism. Moreover, Guyana exemplifies stark differences, where Indians and Chinese have positioned unequally. Creolized Chinese community have dysfunctioned with their emigration, but new Chinese have taken place. However, their mutual communication have seldom been established due to their differences in language, religion and lifestyles, affecting decisively on their split.
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Research Products
(19 results)
