Friday, March 10, 2017

[Other Activities] Talks organized by Raising the Bar

Raising the Bar has invited Dr. Gordon Mathews and Dr. Chen to give talks on 28 March 2017! Those who are interested can purchase tickets at their website



China's Little Africa: Stories of the African Diaspora in Guangzhou
By Dr. Gordon Mathews

Date and Time: 28 March 2017 (Tue), 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM
Location: Orange Peel 2/F, 38-44 D'Aguilar Street Central, Hong Kong Island
Details / Ticket purchase: http://www.rtbevent.com/gordon-mathews

The megacity of Guangzhou is China’s most multicultural city today, and it is home to the largest concentration of Africans in the region - many of them entrepreneurs, merchants, and traders. Unlike the majority of foreigners working in China, Africans often seek to stay, marrying a Chinese wife and making Guangzhou their home. However, the country’s lack of citizen rights for African husbands and its racial prejudice prompt a recurring question: Will they ever be fully accepted - not as foreigners but as legitimate residents of China?

In this talk, Gordon Mathews will explore the business, personal, and romantic relationships between the Africans and Chinese as they pursue low-end globalization in Guangzhou.

BIO

Gordon Mathews is a professor in Anthropology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is also the author of “What Makes Life Worth Living?”, “Global Culture / Individual Identity”, “Hong Kong, China: Learning to Belong to a Nation”, “Ghetto at the Centre of the World: Chungking Mansions, Hong Kong”, as well as his forthcoming book, “The World in Guangzhou: Africans and Other Foreigners in South China's Global Marketplace”, upon which this talk is based.

Gordon is well-known for his expertise on Chungking Mansions, low-end globalization, and the African diaspora in Guangzhou. His work has been featured by key international publications like CNN, CNBC, BBC, The Economist, and the South China Morning Post.

* This talk will be delivered in English.


中國的「小非洲」:旅居廣州非洲人的故事


廣州是當今中國最紛陳的大城市之一,亦是東亞區內最多非洲人聚居的地方。他們當中大多是企業家和進出口商人。

非洲人跟其他在中國工作的外國人不同,他們大多選擇在當地覓偶,落地生根。不過, 非裔丈夫在中國缺乏公民權利並受種族歧視, 引致一個周而復始的問題:他們終會有被完全接納為中國居民而非外國人的一天嗎?

Gordon Mathews 會在此講探索中非人民在廣州追尋低端經濟全球化時建立的各種商業、個人以致情侶關係。

此講將以英語進行。

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Sunday Catwalks and Hong Kong's Filipino Beauty Pageants
By Dr. Ju-chen Chen

Date and Time: 28 March 2017 (Tue), 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM
Location: Rula Bula G/F, 58-62 D'Aguilar Street Central, Hong Kong Island
Details / Ticket purchase: http://www.rtbevent.com/juchen-chen

In Hong Kong, Filipinos are often homogenized and stigmatized as domestic workers who live without purpose beyond remitting money home. But every Sunday, they gather at friends’ birthday parties, engage in church services, attend association board meetings, and more. Interestingly, many even go on stage to compete in beauty pageants.

In this talk, Ju-chen Chen will bring us to the forefront of understanding individual aspirations - such as receiving a college education or working overseas as a maid - in the broader context of the Philippines’ class structure, colonial legacy, and global exodus.

Dive into the discourse of modernization and the impact of a global capitalist institution through the lens of Filipino beauty pageants in Hong Kong.

BIO

Ju-chen Chen is a lecturer in the Department of Anthropology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Her research focuses on migrant workers (mingong) in China and foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong. She is particularly interested in exploring relationships between the experiences of migration and the realization of motherhood and womanhood.

Since 2011, Ju-chen has been doing ethnographic research on the Filipino community in Hong Kong and has been invited to be a judge at several Filipino Beauty Pageants, including Miss Pinoyshot Princess and Top Model Queen.

Ju-chen holds a PhD degree in Anthropology from Rutgers University-New Brunswick.

*This talk will be delivered in English | One drink minimum


星期天的選美會:香港菲律賓籍家務傭工的渴望


香港的外籍家務傭工往往被社會簡化和標籤。儘管她們的背景和願望各不相同,卻一律被視作「除了賺錢寄回家就別無所求」,生存意義狹隘的一群。
但在多數外傭放假的星期天,他們其實有著緊湊的行程:處理個人雜務之餘還要參加會議、生日派對、教會活動、體育賽事等等。很多人有所不知的是,她們不少甚至走上舞台參加選美。

這次的演講想要處理一個謎題:經過ㄧ星期的忙碌之後,菲籍家務傭工為什麼不在星期天(休息日)好好喘口氣,反而全心投入既費時又花錢的選美活動?

Ju-chen這次演講會從菲律賓的階級結構、殖民歷史以致大量國民往外跑的全球現象入手,去理解每個菲籍傭人的志向。例如:為什麼她們有的選擇考取高等學歷,有的則選擇出國幫傭?
讓我們在認識菲籍傭人選美的同時, 看Ju-chen如何深入剖析現代化話語, 以及全球資本市場帶來的影響。

此講將以英語進行。

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