Provincial and Local China
Social and cultural change in China is often erroneously discussed as a single and coherent body. This perspective ignores the vast array of local and regional variation within the borders of "China".
Researchers at the Centre conduct in depth research on regions of China outside of the main metropolitan centres in order to understand this diversity.
The Centre houses the secretariat for an international research agenda called "The Provincial China project".
The Provincial China Project was started at UTS in 1994. It was designed to investigate social and political change as opposed to policy-based studies outside the political centre. Emphasising "the local" is the central part of its methodology and much of its research employs large measures of detailed fieldwork.
The project has involved over 70 social scientists, historians and cultural studies specialists around the world since its inception.
Since 1997 the project has produced the academic journal Provincial China. The current editor is Dr Yingjie Guo, from the UTS China Research Centre.
Each year there is a Provincial China Workshop, which usually meets in a different PRC province where papers on specific themes are discussed. Each workshop has concentrated on a specific theme. Participants include both Chinese and external academics and discussions are usually bilingual. The 2008 workshop, themed around 'Social problems and the local welfare mix in China: Public policies and private initiatives', is being held at Nankai University in Tianjin.
Workshops thus far have been held in Haikou, Hainan (1994); Suzhou, Jiangsu (1995); Hangzhou, Zhejiang (1996); Kunming, Yunnan (1998); Hong Kong (1999); Taiyuan (2000); Hangzhou, Zhejiang (2001); Haikou, Hainan (2002); Hamburg, Germany (2003); Hunter Valley, NSW (2004); Taiyuan, Shanxi (2006); Qingdao, Shandong (2007).
Papers from the workshop have appeared in edited volumes published by Routledge.
David S G Goodman (ed) 1997, China's Provinces in Reform: Class, Community and Political Culture, Routledge, London.
Feng Chongyi and Hans Hendrischke (ed) 1999, The Political Economy of China's Provinces: Competitive and Comparative Advantage, Routledge, London.
John Fitzgerald (ed) 2001, Rethinking China's Provinces, Routledge, London.
Barbara Krug (ed) 2004, China's Rational Entrepreneurs, RoutledgeCurzon, London.
David S G Goodman (ed) 2004, China's Campaign to 'Open Up the West: National, Provincial-Level and Local Perspectives', Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
Jing Wang (ed) 2005, Locating China, Routledge Curzon, London.
Tim Oakes and Louisa Schein (ed) 2006, Translocal China, Routledge Curzon, London.
Current projects being undertaken by researchers in the China Research Centre in this area include:
China's Qinghai Province: migration, colonisation and the contest for political spacey
Researchers: Dr. Susette Cooke and Professor David Goodman
This project examines the interactions of Han Chinese and minority nationalities in Qinghai Province in order to contribute to the debate on the developmental processes of the Chinese state at its social periphery. In particular it proceeds from consideration of contrasting interpretations of colonialism and colonisation to consider the formation of social and political identities. It will result in a book length study of the contemporary social and political development of Qinghai Province that in addition to its analysis of state development will also be of benefit to government and business with an interest in the region.
Yulgan Mongol Girls
China's Tibetan Buddhist margins: conflict and convergence
Researcher: Dr. Susette Cooke
In China's poor Western Regions, ethnic issues are as intrinsic to state policy as economic development. Focusing on the Tu and Nu ethnic minorities, this early-stage project investigates the politics of identity among marginal Tibetan Buddhist communities in the PRC’s West, and implications for conflict or convergence with China’s goals under the current Great Western Development policy.
Buddhist teaching, Nangchen
Local Governance in China
Researcher: Professor David Goodman, Professor Barbara Krug and Associate Professor Hans Hendrischke
This cooperative project is supported by the Dutch Science Council for 2004-2008. The project concentrates on patterns of economic management and political interaction at county level in China.
Taiyuan, Shanxi, October 2002
Germany in China: Colonial Interactions, Qingdao 1897-1914
Researcher: Professor David Goodman and Dr. Yixu Lü
Colonialism was usually articulated as a discourse of development that brought civilization to the backward parts of the world. The German colony of Qingdao, in East China (1897-1914) was an exception where China was recognized as an equal culture and civilization. A book-length study will examine the contemporary record of Chinese-German interaction to assess Qingdao's experience in practice as a potentially atypical example of colonialism. It will consider the theoretical and practical consequences of colonialism separated from a civilizing rhetoric and imperative, as well as filling gaps in both the history of colonies in China, and German colonial history.
.
